Paradigm Learning Blog: Paradigm Learning Community

Capturing Our Company in One Sentence … It’s Not as Easy as It Looks!

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:08:55 GMT

Over the holidays I was catching up on some blog sites and read one about what the author called a company’s “legacy sentence.” Unfortunately, I can’t remember the blog site! I remember, however, he/she ...

Leaders Who Can Think Critically Are Needed Critically!

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:15:20 GMT

Executive Development Associates (EDA) releases a report on trends, growth and the evolution of executive development every two years. In 2010, the results indicated deficiencies in a variety of leadership competencies and in the crucial area of ...

A Management Training “Game” in 1994? What Were We Thinking?

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:01:29 GMT

I just saw an article on The Wall Street Journal online site titled “Latest Game Theory: Mixing Work and Play.” Here’s an excerpt: Companies are trying to bring more play to the workday. Striving to make everyday ...

Using a Project Management Simulation to Develop the Foundational Skills of Managers and Team Members

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:24:38 GMT

In my last blog, I discussed a recent report by PM Solutions about the success of Project Management (PM) training and pointed out some additional key points from the study that jumped out at me – aside from the 26% performance improvement due ...

The Bright Horizon of Project Management Training

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:07:45 GMT

As the end of the year draws closer, we’ve taken some time to reflect on the trends we’ve seen in 2011. One trend we’ve noted is a higher demand for our project management (PM) training solutions. A recent study by PM Solutions ...

The Advertising Connection to Corporate Learning (Part 3): Discovery Learning Techniques to Make Programs Exciting, Engaging and Relevant

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:47:51 GMT

Much like advertisers, learning professionals need to grab learners’ attention, hold their interest, get them actively engaged in thinking and learning, and make them want to use new knowledge or skills on the job. Here are some of the ...

The Advertising Connection to Corporate Learning (Part 2): AIDA and Discovery Learning

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:32:21 GMT

In my last blog, I talked about how advertisers work to get consumers to buy products or services by following a model known as AIDA. In a nutshell, AIDA means: A - Attention: attract the attention of the customer. I - Interest: raise ...

The Advertising Connection to Corporate Learning (Part 1): What do advertisers know?

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:48:49 GMT

I dare you. Watch this commercial and try NOT to take the action requested of you at the end of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-8PBx7isoM. What will you do the next time you get in your car? Thought so! I was looking for a commercial ...

What NOT To Do When Designing a Discovery Learning Experience

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:52:19 GMT

To have a successful discovery learning experience, don’t do the following during these design phases: Step 1: Attracting and Intriguing Don’t start your session with a “typical” opening. Don’t ...

What Are the Five Steps in the Design of a Discovery Learning Session?

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:47:48 GMT

Research has demonstrated that people learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process. Over the years, “discovery learning” has been proven to appeal to all types of learners as it accelerates knowledge and skill ...

Designing Discovery Learning Experiences for Employees

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:55:03 GMT

This is the first in a series of three blogs about designing discovery learning programs. This first blog will define discovery learning and review the five key characteristics of the methodology. The second will provide an overview of the five ...

Immersive Simulations: Adventures Across Industries, Space, and Time

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:58:11 GMT

While moving in a spacesuit underwater or trekking in a pitch-black cave for six days may sound like fun to die-hard adventurists, it’s fascinating to think that these are both examples of the importance and effectiveness of learning through ...

About Corporate Culture – Another Thought on the Subject

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:54:13 GMT

Robb Gomez, our company’s president, recently wrote two blogs about corporate culture: “Keeping a Company’s Culture Alive and Well…Including Our Own!” on September 8, 2011, and “Profit is Definitely Tied to ...

Classroom Is Still King: A Florida Educator’s Perspective and Implications for Corporate Training

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:16:58 GMT

Another recent St. Petersburg Times article (yes, I really like the St. Pete Times – it’s a great newspaper!) was entitled “Technology can’t replace classroom learning.” Co-written by David R. Colburn, director ...

Managers Need Big-Picture Thinking: Is the Internet Helping or Hurting?

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:13:00 GMT

I was recently asked to submit an article for publication in the Pfeiffer Annual Training Manual. (Note: The publication won’t be out until early 2012, but we’ll keep you posted.) The article is about the need to get leaders ...

We were cool before YouTube was cool!

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:38:00 GMT

Everyone knows how powerful YouTube has become as a medium for businesses to communicate what they do, how their products work, what it’s like to work there, what customers are saying about them and more. Short and sweet videos are ...

Steve Jobs, Apple and the Power of Stories

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:56:02 GMT

Those of you who know Paradigm Learning know that we use stories in our educational games and simulations to grab learners’ attention, keep them actively participating, and aid in long-term retention of the knowledge or skills being ...

Profit Is Definitely Tied to Corporate Culture

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:19:22 GMT

Last month I wrote about our culture and all the things we do to sustain it, even as new people enter the organization. Then just the other day I read an article on Harvard Business School’s website titled The Profit Power of ...

Critical Thinking in the Age of Internet Overload

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:12:38 GMT

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the leadership skill of critical thinking. In fact, I have recently written a new Paradigm Learning leadership white paper called Developing Critical Thinking Skills: No Room for Old-School Leadership ...

Keeping a Company’s Culture Alive and Well ... Including Our Own!

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:35:34 GMT

When Paradigm Learning started in 1994, we knew that the culture we wanted to nurture was one that would align with how we wanted to be perceived in the marketplace. In a nutshell: Work hard, play hard, think like business owners, take ...

Four Ways That Change Communication Can Go Awry

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:12:19 GMT

Four Ways That Change Communication Can Go Awry In my last blog post, “The three most critical things to do when communicating change,” I talked about providing credible and honest information and answers while also ...

A trend toward learner accountability

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 21:05:03 GMT

Last week, a colleague sent me a very interesting article from Talent Management magazine's March 2011 edition. In "Learning Before the Flood," Kevin D. Wilde, vice president and chief learning officer at General Mills, says that "the value of any ...

Employee Communication Events: How to Accelerate Design and Deployment

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:14:41 GMT

We recently worked with a client to engineer a series of two-day company “events” designed to deliver critical business and marketplace information to employees. Our contract with them involved all logistics – venues, décor, ...

Business Acumen Training: Four Important Considerations

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:14:31 GMT

An article I wrote titled Developing Business-Savvy Leaders was recently published on Training magazine’s online site. It deals with the importance of building the business acumen of leaders, defined as a comprehensive understanding of what it ...

Once again, with feeling: Leaders need to take personal accountability for their own development

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:14:43 GMT

I just read a blog post on the Human Capital Institute site (Me and My Voices) that quoted a Towers Watson study. The study showed that 43% of employees in private-sector organizations in the US feel they “don’t get enough guidance ...

The three most critical things to do when communicating change

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 14:26:58 GMT

I’ve been thinking about change a lot lately. Most of our corporate clients are going through a ton of it as the market volatility continues, and they need to quickly flex to meet new challenges. We get a lot of insight into what they’re ...

Classroom Delivery – What can be learned from the move to technology-based delivery?

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:21:23 GMT

We all know there is training content that should stay in the classroom. (See “Online or Live?” on page 8 of the white paper Improving Corporate Training Results with Discovery Learning Methodology.) But companies are being driven ...

If you talk to employees about financial issues … speak English! (Or at least give them an education in your company’s language.)

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:44:38 GMT

I confess. I stole (and paraphrased) the title of my blog from an article in The Wall Street Journal (May 2, 2011) entitled A Tip for Financial Advisors: Use English! Here’s what caught my eye: Too often, when a (financial) ...

Agility … what is it and how do you develop it?

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:42:42 GMT

At this year’s ASTD conference, the word that I heard most often from clients coming by our booth was “AGILITY.” In fact, it seemed like at least half of the people I spoke with used the word in some context like ...

“Paradigm Shift”: More than just an important change initiative?

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:44:27 GMT

I subscribe to blogs by Daryl Conner, a well-known and respected organizational change consultant and a friend from our mutual membership in ISA: The Association of Learning Providers. A recent blog post is called How Shift Happens. In it, ...

Evaluating training results: Why don’t more companies do it?

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:58:45 GMT

On May 27, CNNMoney posted an article on their online site titled, "Company training programs: What are they really worth?" For those of us on the supplier side of employee education and communication, the lack of results evaluation by ...

Leadership Training Without the Intimidation Factor

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:05:09 GMT

I was talking to one of our account managers the other day about our business acumen program, Zodiak®: The Game of Business Finance & Strategy. Zodiak is used around the world with many types of learners in both large and small companies. ...

Waiting for ‘super’ new learning methods?

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:36:09 GMT

I watched Waiting for “Superman” last night. Yes, I know. This documentary about our elementary and secondary education system has been available on DVD for over a year, but I just got around to seeing it. My bad, as they say. ...

Employee Training Sessions Without Action Plans and Follow-Up? Don’t Do It!

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:26:20 GMT

Recently, I was having a phone conversation with a client prior to delivering a session of Zodiak®: The Game of Business Finance and Strategy. As part of standard preparation for the delivery, I asked what kind of action planning was expected of ...

Discovery Learning Even Works to Teach Physics!

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:33:55 GMT

Here’s an excerpt from a recent article in the St. Petersburg Times titled:Method, not teacher, gets top marks (May 13, 2011) “A study by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Carl Wieman, now a science adviser to President Barack ...

Employee Training and Development Is on the Rise

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:42:26 GMT

What a difference a year makes! At last year’s ASTD (American Society of Training and Development) show in Chicago, HR professionals who came by our booth seemed to have a bunker mentality, hunkering down with tight budgets ...

Sales Training: Personal empathy or business empathy?

Wed, 25 May 2011 15:57:50 GMT

I was speaking with a sales training leader at a client organization the other day and she brought up empathy as a critical selling trait. She talked about the difference between sympathy and empathy and said “… being too sympathetic ...

Taking Our Own Medicine: Paradigm Designs Its Own Discovery Map®

Tue, 17 May 2011 20:41:32 GMT

Like many companies in today’s economy, we’ve been reevaluating our strategies in light of changing customer needs, tougher competition, new technologies and global opportunities. To grow, we know that we have to be fast, flexible and ...

What leaders and managers MUST do during times of change

Fri, 06 May 2011 13:44:59 GMT

A recent article in the St. Petersburg Times titled “Changes at Work Are Tricky to Process” caught my eye for a couple of reasons. First, we work every day with Fortune 1000 organizations that are dealing with major changes. ...

A Culture of Self-Development: A follow-up about Personal Accountability

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:59:43 GMT

In my March 29 blog post about taking personal accountability for developing business acumen, I made the following statement: I asked one of our senior consultants whether our clients who offer our business acumen simulation as an ...

An April Fools’ Day Prank on our Employees! Score another one for keeping the fun in business!

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:50:21 GMT

Today is April 1, but this is NOT an April Fools blog post. We did, however, have a lot of fun with our employees, our bankers and our investors today. My partner and I sent out an email this morning, announcing the formation of a new ...

Taking personal accountability to develop your business acumen

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:51:19 GMT

Paradigm Learning consultants and account managers spend a lot of time talking with our clients about the importance of developing the business acumen of leaders, managers and key employees. I’ve written other blogs about this issue, ...

Classroom is Still King

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:21:50 GMT

Recently, an article in the February 2011 issue of CLO magazine piqued my interest. It was titled “Learning Delivery 2011: Classroom Is Still King.” The essence of the article was that traditional classroom-based instructor-led training ...

Engagement Hits the Skids

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:36:00 GMT

I recently read an article in Workforce Management entitled “Engagement Hits the Skids.” We’ve all seen the Gallup survey results about the alarming number of disengaged employees in corporate America, but this article cites a ...

Survey says productivity declines when change isn’t understood. Where are your managers?

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:00:33 GMT

A recent article in the online Bloomberg Business Week newsletter reviews a study on employee productivity by the Corporate Executive Board (a network-based knowledge resource). The study concluded that employees who are going through ...

Using music during training sessions … what do you think?

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:39:15 GMT

We have always encouraged our consultants and trainers to use upbeat, energetic music to set the mood for participation in our business acumen, project management and other leadership business games and simulations … especially as ...

Business Acumen … Competing Definitions?

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:02:41 GMT

I just checked out the Wikipedia definition of business acumen, especially since I’m one of the “leaders and academics” noted under the “Competing Definitions of Business Acumen” section who have created our own ...

Investing in our clients' stock....here's why we did it and what happened!

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:41:16 GMT

Over the years, many of us at Paradigm Learning have noticed that the Fortune 500 organizations we work with‑ who have made the decision to implement major employee alignment initiatives– have high performing stocks. This ...

Name Your Company Wisely ... Or Just Get Lucky?

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 12:31:00 GMT

We didn't choose the name of our company. That’s not a good idea according to Drew’s Marketing Minute blog that I read recently. Here’s an excerpt : The company’s name isn’t about you or for you. It is a ...

Evaluating Training Results: Some Thoughts from the Supplier Side

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:44:53 GMT

Two things happened to me on the same day last week. First, I interviewed one of our clients about her company’s implementation of a Paradigm Learning program for an article I am writing. And second, I read an article in July’s ...

Blended Learning: Effective If Done Correctly

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 18:26:57 GMT

We talk frequently about the advantages a classroom-based learning experience has over one that is online-based -- and we remain insistent about that -- but we’ve always acknowledged that online learning can work when used properly. By that, ...