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The problem with the typical real estate agent training program...

...is that they focus too much on information; not enough on application and synthesis of skills.

Those of you who know me know that my day job is as an instructional designer and course creator for real estate agent training courses. I've been a licensed agent myself and a card-carrying member of NAR. And what I can say is that, for all the bluster I've seen in training for some listing presentation courses I've attended, buyer consultations I've been coached on, and such, that advocate comparing compensation models of real estate professionals to counterparts in the law profession, I flinch.

I flinch because the fact is, we have different levels of skills. They're different.

Business Comp Models Should Be Commensurate With Demonstrated Skills.

The demands our industry places on real estate professionals doesn't even come close to the rigor of training and preparation the law profession requires for practicing lawyers. Now, that doesn't mean you shouldn't command a similar degree of respect. But, what I am saying is that the respect you earn, and the compensation models you aspire to, should be commensurate with your skills.

I don't mean skills and training just in terms of hours of education, rather I mean also in terms of having practiced--actually having demonstrated, in a "safe environment" the mechanics of, and decisions associated with, representing a client.

These might include: demonstrating the ability to properly write a contract, demonstrating the actions and communications in negotiating a contract, showing how you devise and act-out decisions about transaction variables and allowing their consequences to play out, and so on.

In short, we don't have the equivalent of lab practice, as we used to call it in school; or "mock trials," as they have in the law profession.

My Wish List For Training Design.

Changing Hearts and Minds About Groups at Our Local ASTD Chapter.

First Things First: Local ASTD Groups On LinkedIn - Do It!

If you're a manager or marketing/sales professional in the learning industry, it's worth doing a quick search in the groups directory on LinkedIn to see if there's an online group for your local ASTD chapter. Of course, if you're a trainer or instructional designer, this goes without saying. If you're a learning professional and aren't connected to your local ASTD chapter, it begs the question, "why not?" 

But all this preamble isn't the main thing.

Another ASTD Forum Is Formed.

In my area (Orange County, California), our local ASTD Chapter didn't have a presence on LinkedIn for the longest time. A few months ago, after some cajoling from me, a few ear-bug placements and a hunger-strike and sit-in (okay, that last one is an embellishment) I'm happy to say our chapter board agreed to establish the ASTD-OC group on LinkedIn. (Shameless plug...join now!)

Truth be told, I don't think the board was ever opposed to the idea. I think it was just really a question of who would be willing to moderate such an unruly group? (To ASTD-OC group members: Just kidding.)

Yesterday I uploaded a post about the cool factor associated with being a group moderator. I made reference to the 1% rule. That's an anecdotal rule of thumb stating that about 1% of most groups could be expected at any time to be active contributor/creators of content. All the rest would either comment or be content to observe.

I had that anecdote in mind a few days back when, for grins and giggles, I uploaded a poll on the ASTD-OC home page to see if I can get a read on how many of our local chapter members contribute to any online discussion forum.

Today, I checked on the progress of that poll. It's totally unscientific, of course, and certainly not a robust sample size, what with all of 16 respondents to date. As of tonight's snapshot we've got about 31% saying they never contribute to any online discussion forum. (Pretty strong word, "never.") They either don't know how (12%), or don't like to (19%).

On the flip-side, there's an equal number of respondents on the upper end of the normal-ish looking curve that say they contribute to discussions at least once a month or better (31%). Included within is a group saying they do so at least once weekly (19%).

Initially I didn't think too much of it, seeing how it looks pretty normal, statistically speaking. Then I got a wild hair up my, uh, in my mind.

Ask the Community to Help Change Hearts and Minds.

Stodgy 'ol LinkedIn Gets Cooler With New Widgets for More Collaboration.

I didn't think it would happen.  LinkedIn rolled out application widgets to spice up our LinkedIn profiles while increasing our ability to collaborate with network contacts and showcase our talent and company offerings.

Yesterday LinkedIn announced "Applications."  Little widgets that enhance your ability to share documents, presentations, blog posts--even collaborate on documents--can now be added to your LinkedIn profile.

Some of the ones I'm especially interested in are:

• BlogLink. Lets you see blog updates from your network connections and vice versa. 

• Box.net.  Lets you share files on your profile.  Even sports the ability to collaborate, edit and update those files directly on LinkedIn.

• Google Presentation.  This is especially interesting because it now allows you to upload presentations.  Think:  A PowerPoint presentation showcasing your talent or your company's service offerings.

• Slideshare Presentations.  Similar to Google Presentations, only this sports the ability to view and share presentations uploaded via the popular Slideshare.net web site.

These are the ones I'm immediately interested in configuring.  If you have a PowerPoint that showcases your business, link up with me.  I'd love to take a look-see.

Change agents, group forums and the one percent rule.

Silence is Bliss?

I'm a moderator of a small but growing online community of learning professionals. (Some from the group will, no doubt, read this post. Welcome! Let me know what you think, from a professional perspective, about what I say below. Feel free to post a comment below or in our group forum.) The online ASTD-OC is a new group that's still finding its legs.

Someone shared with me their own frustrations about starting new discussion groups. We talked about motivating members to contribute and share their experiences with others in the forum. How collectively, there are a lot of experiences to be gained and shared, if only folks would be willing to share them. We talked along those lines for a while over lunch. We shared our experiences and facilitative techniques.

We didn't disagree with each other, especially on this key point: this is normal for all small groups.

The One Percent Rule and Beyond.

Early this month I was asked if I would consider becoming a moderator for our local ASTD chapter's new online group forum. Given all the startup challenges of moderating a group, I had to give it some lengthy thought--all of about 10 seconds' worth!

Absitively I'd want to moderate the group. Twist my arm. Are you kidding? Not only is it a great opportunity to extend my professional network, gain visibility and meet new friends, it's also a great opportunity to grow a community with a strong collective mindshare in the learning industry while helping connect folks to each other along the way. I'm happy to say that since the beginning of this month, the group has passed the century mark and grew another 30%. But that's still a ways off from the critical mass we need to have what I'd consider thriving, regular discourse. And that's okay.

As with any group, the "one percent rule" applies. That is, out of 100 people in a community, you can expect that, generally, one (maybe two) will create content, 10 will interact with that content in some way (e.g., through commenting, bookmarking, sharing, etc.) and the rest will observe.

From an organizational change management perspective, I think that's right on. And what's more, if I see a dynamic that's different than that--even if it was due to more interactivity--then, as a change agent, I need to be aware of doing more digging to find out why. The answer may be something that needs to be managed further.

Even if the interactions were greater than expected, it could be they're the result of interactions that may be unfavorable to the overall group. For example, as in the case of an undesired amount of self-promotion, marketing or spam by some of its members. (It's okay, guys. That's not happening in our group, yet.)

Remember The Change Curve.

I'm paying it forward... here's a link to the free audio book.

Seth Godin's recent book, "Tribes."

Because I got something out of this book, and because the author asked that I pass it along to you if I got something out of it... 

When in fiscal hell, keep on marketing (right?)

"Advertising...Advertising...Vista..."

I love the "Mac vs. PC" TV ads. You know, the one with John Hodgman playing "PC" and Justin Long, as "Mac."

The unpresumptuous and unassuming demeanor of Long's character just pulls it off in a loudly subtle way that makes viewers (this one, anyway) shout in agreement with all that ticks us off (me, anyway) with PCs and Microsoft. (Especially: Vista and Microsoft Office 2007--sans PowerPoint. I think the changes in PowerPoint 2007 were actually right on. But, I digress...)

I hadn't seen the new Mac vs. PC video ad below until last week.

I laughed out loud when I saw it. As it turns out, it's also an on-the-nose parody of a small company in my sphere of influence. Let me explain...

Seven training resource sites - even if you're not an instructional designer.

For IDs and non-IDs Alike.

(Hint: "ID" = "Instructional Designer".)

Below is a list. I asked for help recently from the community for recommendations of online training resources. I was helping out a colleague who was preparing a presentation about learning environments. I was surprised not to have been able to find much on the ASTD web site. That is, without having to pay for every effen item or having the site freeze up when I clicked-through a link. (Personal note: Give feedback to ASTD national.)

What I really wanted were some online references that were more convenient to get to and more universally accessible. (Ahem, relatively free access.)

So I went to the community.

The list below is a good start, regardless of whether or not you're a learning professional.

If you're a manager or a department head going it alone on a training project (i.e., without budget for an instructional designer), well, god help you. (Just kidding.)

You'll find some useful information in some of the guides, templates and training activities offered through the sites below. Special kudos goes to Lisa Waslis for help in compiling some of the information below.

Learning Theory 101 For Sales and Marketing Professionals (Part 3-Last)

Recap.

In Part 1 I set the stage by letting you in on the spark for this series. Basically, it started with a discussion to help a colleague in the Sales & Marketing discipline understand the difference between "training" and "information."

I laid the groundwork by describing a model compiled by a guy named Benjamin Bloom. The overall model talks about 3 main categories:

• Cognitive. (Thinking-type learning.)
• Affective. (Emotional-type learning.)
• Psychomotor. (Physical skills-type learning.)

In Part 2 I drilled-down on the Cognitive category; this is usually the category that most of you who write marketing copy for training programs will find your products and/or services categorized under.

For example, a math tutorial, a presentation skills training program, or a real estate agent training course are examples of training that generally deal with helping someone understand, apply and/or perform certain skills. That's the stuff of the Cognitive category.

Also in Part 2, I listed the six levels of Cognitive learning.

I took us on a 10,000 foot tour of the first three levels: Knowledge, Comprehension and Application.  That's also when I gave my view that, in response to my friend's question, "information" can generally be thought of as the stuff spanning the first two levels--Knowledge and Comprehension.

And, while "training" can be a more general term spanning the whole gamut, I tend to differentiate it from "information" by placing it among the stuff of skills development and behavioral change. That means the higher levels of Cognition, specifically, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation.

In this last part, I'll cap off this series by doing a similar fly-by of the top three levels: Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.  I'll also give examples of each.

A blanket solution for your audio recording problems.

In a previous post, I shared with ya'll a cool little setup Chris was using for his desktop soundbooth.

Here, I found what another little trick Betsy Weber found helpful while recording audio on the road.  I never actually considered it, but It seems quite reasonable.  'Matter of fact, if not for how silly it might make you look in the office, I actually see no reason why it couldn't work for your eLearning audio recording issues, as well.

I laughed out loud at its simplicity. 

Reminds me of what good 'ol uncle Occam used to say:

"One should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything."

~ Occam's Razor

Interpretation:  Sometimes, the simplest solution is the most elegant. ;-)

Check it out, it's quick. Then tell me if it didn't make you smile for its ingenuity.

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Informed Pessimism ALWAYS follows Uninformed Optimism.

I stumbled upon the graphic below from David Armano's blog. From an organizational change management perspective, it's a great graphic.

Social media business and funny captions aside for a moment, it visually describes "a day in the life" of what could just as well be your company, or mine, when we ramp up with a project that's just jazzed with all kinds of optmism about how "it's gonna fundamentally change how we do things around here." That qualifies as a positively perceived change. If Darryl Conner is to be believed, it's a scenario that's bound for some kind of a let down.

Those of you from the change management or OD (Organizational Development) discipline will recognize the scenario above as validation of the change curve Darryl Conner describes in his 1992 book, Managing at the Speed of Change.

When the change is initially perceived as a good thing, it shows what can happen when the initial (uninformed) optimism of a positively perceived change plays out to reveal the whithering head of informed pessimism. Kind of a poetic way of saying, "Hey, let's do something 'social!'"... "This could change everything!" (Uninformed optimism.)