Business Skills and Permanence

How often do we attend a seminar or other training event...and get psyched about what we have learned, only to have our new-found skills fade away?

Think about high school or college. We often forget practical skills that we have learned because we do not use the skills on a regular basis...even though they could have saved us money or made our lives easier. (How many of us wish we had used those skills we learned in shop class more often...especially after we spend thousands on a remodeling project!)

During our careers, many of us will spend thousands of dollars to improve our skills. If we're lucky, our organizations may pick up the tab.

...And without a plan to commit to use what we have learned, we can fall into what is often called the "knowledge trap". When our good intentions to turn our new knowledge into skills and our old habits collide, what will win out? Almost always the answer is our old habits!

Huge amounts of training and education dollars are wasted each year because we attend a learning event with no realistic, specific plans to use what we have learned. There is often little or no follow-up (and yes accountability!) to connect our new knowledge to tangible results.

It has been said that practice does NOT make perfect...rather it makes our skills permanent.

When we commit to use what we have learned, we build permanence for our skills...and we avoid wasting lots of time, money, and effort!