Why Knowledge Is Not Enough

Learning a skill versus practicing a skill are two very different things.

As much as I’d love to tell you learning is the goal, it’s not.

When it comes to learning new skills, the information available is endless.

But knowledge alone is not sufficient.

• Think back to school…how much of the information have you retained?

• Better yet, how much of the info is applicable to real world skills needed in the workplace?

Your desire to learn is a start, but nowhere near the finish line.

As a soft skills expert, I’m here to ask you to consider how you do training at your company.

Here’s a workout analogy:

There’s a difference between having a gym membership and hiring a personal trainer.

• The former requires a lot of self-discipline, research into methods, functionality and strength exercises.

• While the latter just asks that you show up, ready to learn and be held accountable for results.

Effective training calls for application of skills, both now and in the future.

For example, in the training sessions I lead: demonstrations, role playing and group discussions are featured.

It’s not just the knowledge of the new skill(s) that matters most, but the hands-on training of how to implement the skill that moves the needle.

That’s the difference between taking an async course or watching a YouTube video versus someone showing you the steps towards mastery.

Choosing the delivery based on the goal matters, as illustrated in the table below.

Each method of delivery above includes: application or course of action.

Otherwise it’s purely knowledge that will be forgotten by the end of the week.

Once you start prioritizing action over information, results will follow.

Isn’t that the argument for ROI?!

In fact, for greater retention I recommend selecting multiple options to build on one another.

For instance, start with a talk, follow that up with training and finish up with coaching.

Training gets a bad rap because executives don’t see the value of the investment.

But if you look at why turnover is so high at your company, it can always be tracked back to a lack of training.

Why? Because leaders should constantly be growing and most individuals rely upon employers to push them in that area (whether it’s fair or not).

True training is application personified, so get ahead of the problem before it gets too big to handle.

Now that you agree that application is paramount, let me know which option above suits your situation the best by contacting me here.

God Bless,

Scott

If you found this helpful and you’re looking to improve your soft skills as a leader, here are ways to work with me directly:

• 🗣 Hire me to speak at your company or next event (watch my speaking reel here)

• 🎤 Invite me to lead an interactive training workshop, remotely or in-person (depending on location)

• 🤝 Start 1:1 coaching with me as a new manager, current leader or executive (I once managed 30 people 1:1 weekly❗️)

Also, you can help me out by forwarding this to friends whom would benefit from it! Thank you!