As a researcher and designer of training, I’m in the very lucky position to be invited into organisations to get a feel for the place and get a fascinating insight into the various jobs within it. I once spent 3 days working in a retail store, a day in a call centre, and a day on a building site to understand the culture, spot best practice and understand the everyday challenges being faced by potential delegates .
As a complete outsider with little or no knowledge of the technical aspects of the job, I’m in a wonderful position to do two things: Ask the stupid question, and state the blindingly obvious.
When you ask the stupid question, you are trying to find out why people do the things the things they do. You are asking from a position of innocence, and as such have no assumptions, and are not worried about the judgements that will be made of you. It is often very interesting what you find out by asking the stupid question and listening with an open mind to the response. You uncover lots of useful information of course, but you also uncover a lot of misconceptions, assumptions and ignorance, which can then be addressed.
When you state the blindingly obvious, you are in effect reflecting back what you see or hear, to the people engaged in that activity. Giving an impartial viewpoint can also be highly useful. It often makes people question their own behaviour, policies or practices. It enables them to spot opportunities, or potential problems that they should be focussing on.
So, even before pen has been put to paper (or finger put to keyboard), and way before anyone attends a training course, the invisible trainer can bring about positive change. Of course, this impact will hardly ever be recognised as something that came about through training, but then that doesn’t matter if it brings about improvement.
It makes me think, how often do internal managers and trainers miss the opportunity to ask the stupid question and state the blindingly obvious? Is the fact that they are supposed to understand the business and the roles within it, sometimes a hindrance rather than a help? Go on, ask a stupid question today. You never know what you might find out!
Happy questioning!
Sheridan Webb
