Offbeat: The new trainer’s dictionary

Discover playful new training terminology designed to enhance learning and workplace culture. From "entertrainment" and "workafrolic" to "funcomfortable" and "delightmare," trainer Haider Imam explores creative words that capture modern training concepts and attitudes toward professional development.
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Would you describe yourself as a workafrolic, capable of entertrainment of the highest value, greeting every problem as a delightmare? This week’s Offbeat comes from Haider Imam, who explains some fantastic new training terms. Have you got some words to add? Post a comment below.




Entertrainment: Sticky, fit-for-purpose learning and a ‘hoot’ at the same time. Whether it’s a trainer being a stand-up comedienne or the group making a presentation on performance management (in the style of a Scooby Doo episode). Humour aids learning.

Delightmare: A wonderful ‘problem’ to have. For example, do I drive the Porsche or the Aston to work today? Nightmare! On a more useful note, it’s a ‘reframing’ attitude at it’s best: unless you’re facing imminent physical or emotional threat, you can always find a way that your current challenge serves you. Delightmare!

Workafrolic: Doing what you do because you simply love it and can’t imagine not doing it. For example, a workafrolic wins £10 million on the lottery and still goes back to work because they can’t think of a better way to spend their time than pursuing their passion.

Learnertic: A learning monster; a voracious consumer and sharer of research, stories, theory, applications, case studies, courses, media. Learning something gives a learnertic an opiate high!

Funcomfortable: It’s fun. It’s uncomfortable. It’s edgy. When you experience this state you’re alive and in the present moment and open to major learning.

Co-op-etition: A scenario where an organisation is working hand-in-hand with a competitor to produce a new product / service, or to service a mutual customer (increasingly common in progressive organisations).

Draining officer: Someone who runs draining workshops when people expected training workshops. They literally suck the life out of you with 57 PowerPoint slides, chalk-and-talk and boring content. Avoid.

Penergetic: A creative state where you’re inspired to pick up a pen (or type an email) to write down some fabulous ideas and the words flow wild and beautiful, like the Amazon River!

Manageritis: An illness of leaders whose heads are spinning due to an inflammation of their ‘power’ and influence glands, thus alienating themselves from the rest of the organisation.

Co-aching: When coaching turns into a sympathy session, and the coach fails to help the coachee create empowering choices, they simply ‘ache’ together!

Haider Imam is a trainer, coach and facilitator for Kaizen Training and the most recent winner of the National Sales Trainer of the Year.

Would you describe yourself as a workafrolic, capable of entertrainment of the highest value, greeting every problem as a delightmare? This week's Offbeat comes from Haider Imam, who explains some fantastic new training terms. Have you got some words to add? Post a comment below.








Entertrainment: Sticky, fit-for-purpose learning and a 'hoot' at the same time. Whether it's a trainer being a stand-up comedienne or the group making a presentation on performance management (in the style of a Scooby Doo episode). Humour aids learning.

Delightmare: A wonderful 'problem' to have. For example, do I drive the Porsche or the Aston to work today? Nightmare! On a more useful note, it's a 'reframing' attitude at it's best: unless you're facing imminent physical or emotional threat, you can always find a way that your current challenge serves you. Delightmare!

Workafrolic: Doing what you do because you simply love it and can't imagine not doing it. For example, a workafrolic wins £10 million on the lottery and still goes back to work because they can't think of a better way to spend their time than pursuing their passion.

Learnertic: A learning monster; a voracious consumer and sharer of research, stories, theory, applications, case studies, courses, media. Learning something gives a learnertic an opiate high!

Funcomfortable: It's fun. It's uncomfortable. It's edgy. When you experience this state you're alive and in the present moment and open to major learning.

Co-op-etition: A scenario where an organisation is working hand-in-hand with a competitor to produce a new product / service, or to service a mutual customer (increasingly common in progressive organisations).

Draining officer: Someone who runs draining workshops when people expected training workshops. They literally suck the life out of you with 57 PowerPoint slides, chalk-and-talk and boring content. Avoid.

Penergetic: A creative state where you're inspired to pick up a pen (or type an email) to write down some fabulous ideas and the words flow wild and beautiful, like the Amazon River!

Manageritis: An illness of leaders whose heads are spinning due to an inflammation of their 'power' and influence glands, thus alienating themselves from the rest of the organisation.

Co-aching: When coaching turns into a sympathy session, and the coach fails to help the coachee create empowering choices, they simply 'ache' together!

Haider Imam is a trainer, coach and facilitator for Kaizen Training and the most recent winner of the National Sales Trainer of the Year.

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