Throwback Thursday: What Does Art Have to Do with a Performance Gap?
This was originally publish in Bob Pike’s Creative Training Techniques Newsletter in July 1999.
What does art have to do with a performance gap in an organization?
For a bank client of mine in Switzerland, a great deal.
Earlier this year the company brought 150 of its bankers together for a special weekend conference. Among the topics:
How to Read a Painting
Understanding Art Through Impressionism
Cross-Cultural Communications
The Art of Social Conversation
The History of Piano Music in One Hour
Not the sorts of topics you’d find in the average training program.
But consider that these bankers work with customers who have personal accounts worth more than $1 million, who live and travel throughout the world, who consider art an investment (one this bank handles), and who make business connections at gallery openings.
The course selection begins to make sense.
These bankers must be able to understand and communicate on their clients’ level.
The bankers themselves don’t typically move in their customers’ social and professional circles. But they must feel comfortable when they find themselves in those settings. They need demonstrable proficiency, the skills to interact with connoisseurs.
Training is part of the solution.
It would be easy to shrug and say, “Well, that’s high-class Old World business. Mine isn’t.”
But there is a lesson in it for us, however mundane we may think our organizations are by comparison.
What are our clients’ clients like?
Do we understand the challenges that face the people in our organizations who connect with our outside customers?
What are those outside customers like?
What are their needs and interests?
Are we focused only on a transaction-based relationship?
Or do we want a relationship with the outside customer that builds loyalty and longevity?
Do we know the answers to these questions?
Do we even know whom to ask?
If we are to build the value of the training function, we must understand our organization, its goals, and its customers.
It starts by doing our homework.
In my case, it involves looking at my clients’ annual reports and doing research on the Internet.
It also involves researching the countries in which my clients do business and studying differences from country to country: how each culture does business, values time, and manages social obligations.
When we do our homework, we become problem-solvers and consultants rather than just content providers.
We become more adept at demonstrating, measurably and in more subtle ways, the value of what we’re doing.
Let’s lift our heads up and take a broader look at our organizations.
It’s the first step to ensuring that we continue to add value.
It’s also the first step from being reactive to proactive.
Duane’s Take
What I appreciate about this article is that Bob challenges us to think beyond the classroom.
Too often, trainers become experts in learning while knowing very little about the business they’re trying to support. We know instructional design. We know facilitation. We know adult learning.
But do we know our customers?
The Swiss bankers Bob describes weren’t learning about art because someone thought it would be interesting. They were learning about their customers.
That’s a distinction worth making.
The best training isn’t built around content. It’s built around context.
The more we understand the people our learners serve, the better we can prepare them for the conversations they’ll have, the decisions they’ll make, and the relationships they’ll build.
I’ve found that some of the best ideas for training don’t come from asking, “What course should we build?”
They come from asking, “What does success look like for the people we’re trying to help?”
Sometimes that leads to technical training.
Sometimes it leads to communication skills.
And sometimes, as Bob’s example shows, it leads to art history.
The point isn’t the topic.
The point is that effective training starts with understanding the business, the customer, and the performance we’re trying to improve.
That’s when we stop being course builders and start becoming trusted advisors.
And as Bob used to say,
Until next time, add value and make a difference.
Timeless Principles. Modern Results.
Bob Pike’s work has shaped generations of trainers because it focused on engaging learners instead of simply delivering information.
I help organizations apply those same participant-centered principles to today’s classrooms, virtual environments, and leadership development programs, ensuring timeless ideas produce modern results.
If you’d like to strengthen your trainers, facilitators, or learning culture, let’s talk.
Learn more at DuaneLester.com.
