Training and learning

- A friend loses his job. He immediately signs up for a training class hoping it will land him a new job.

- An industrial worker, threatened with layoffs due to downsizing, demands training for a new job.

- Congress approves an appropriations bill which includes money for training.

- Your boss comes to you with your reward for loyal and devoted service over the past year; off site training.

Training is bad news.

- If you are paying for it, you are wasting your money.
- If you are getting laid off, it will not help you.
- If you boss rewards you with it, you are a failure bordering on termination.
- If government pays for training, it is probably outdated and mediocre.

Training is a death sentence. It is a money pit. It is punishment.

Don't confuse this with learning. Learning can be as simple as independent study for a few hours a night with a desktop application or an advanced course in electronics repair.

Learning is acquiring knowledge about a certain subject.

- I can learn about a subject and write an ebook about it in one weekend.

- A technician learns how an air conditioner compressor works and how to perform maintenance on the unit.

- An intern learns about the human heart and how to clear a clogged valve.

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Trainees get told how to tighten a screw, complete a report or put on a uniform.

Trainees get told "how things work and how they have always worked and how not to break it".

Training is what we do with horses and diaper wearing babies.

Training is for the dogs. Learning is for people.

Yesterday and Today

25 years ago - An unskilled laborer remarks how much easier it was in the 1960's to get a fulltime warehouse job which paid enough to support his family.

20 years ago - An autoworker complains about the unstable state of his industry and its inability to guarantee his job longterm.

5 years ago - A Microsoft systems engineer complains about a recent layoff from his once lucrative job and the subsequent migration of his job overseas.

Today - I/You/Someone complains about?

Questions

1) Is your job portable? Can it be done by someone else, somewhere else for less?

2) Is your job non-challenging? Can it be performed by someone younger, with less education, who speaks a different language, for less money?

3) Is your job expiring? Is it based upon old technology or no technology?

4) Is your job evolving? Have you been doing the same task for more than five years? One? Forever?

5) Has your company outlined its roadmap for future growth? Does it exist? What happens tomorrow where you work? Do you know?

6)How high is the ladder where you work? How many layers of management and employees are there? 1? 4? 12? More? How hard is it to speak with the CEO? President?

7) Do you know where the exit is at work? Do you have an escape plan? A back door?

Answer these questions or be one of the people at the top of the page. Now.