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A dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow.

This is the basic underpinning to the concept of Net Present Value (NPV) in finance.  Given the option, businesses are going to want their money in their own hands until the last possible second.  The more time a company can hold on to their money, the more of a return the money can generate for the company. 

This is the reason for some magazines offering subcriptions that steadily reduce as the years go on if you pay for them today.  They want that money now!  Even if it’s less than the full subscription you would have paid in three years, they would rather have it today to improve cashflow, invest, etc.

We discussed NPV in the Level 6: Beyond ROI class while I was at the CLO Institute in January.  Ever since then I’ve been playing with the idea of NPV and how it relates to methods of learning that don’t fall under the category of ‘traditional.’ 

I decided to write after reading the July edition of Education Signals.  One section of the report was about the ’Top 20 Companies in the Training Outsourcing Industry’ that is compiled by TrainingOutsourcing.com.  In it, the authors share the following data points:

“The largest percentage of revenue from the leading players came from content development (35%) and training delivery (30%) services.”

Content design/development obviously comes at or near the beginning of a training outsourcing initiative.  That means that over 1/3 of the money of contracts is in the hands of the training supplier soon after the project begins.    

If I were in a position to be hiring a training outsourcing firm, I would look for a deal where the fees weren’t so front-loaded.  I would want to keep my money as long as I could and let it make more money for me. 

Enter informal learning (i.e. communities of practice, blogs, wikis, podcasts, etc.).  As illustrated in this post from Jay Cross, and as others have been preaching, much of learning doesn’t come from ‘content.’  It comes through the informal and unscheduled channels of an organization.

Informal learning may have an additional advantage.  Since there isn’t near the level of design/development required for informal methods as there is for more formal events such as workshops and e-learning modules, a company that was buying these services from an outsourcing company would pay less up front.  This allows them to keep their money longer and let it make more money for them.

Although I’ve only cited one report that I’m basing this post on, I came from the instructional design world.  We charged crazy fees (usually way more than 35% of the total contract) for design/development at my old firm and that was the first thing the client paid for.  I also realize that there is a need for some structured content in a company’s learning and development plans - I just think it should be provided in minimal chunks.

I’m suggesting services that would be a double win for companies purchasing training outsourcing.  With more informal elements in the mix to create a more diverse learning portfolio the client would not only receive more effective learning and development, they would pay less up front and get to make money from the money that they would have spent on instructional design and development fees.

Note:  I’m consciously not addressing the area where training outsourcing firms make the second most amount of money - the 30% from delivery of training services.  Informal learning, by nature, requires less delivery than its traditional counterpart.  For this post, though, I wanted to emphasize the benefits of not paying design/development fees up front.

One of my personal hobbies is photography and I subscribe to PC Photo Magazine.  I am a self-described pack rat and have kept all of the issues they’ve sent for fear that there may be a morsel of information in one that I’ll need to come back to.

As part of the process of moving into my new office, though, I thought about how likely it was that I would go back and look through old magazines as opposed to looking for the information on the Internet or via some other source.  It didn’t take long to decide that they belong in the circular file.

It was very liberating to toss them out - knowing that I could find my answers in other ways.  Then my eyes drifted to the top shelf where there sat many of the binders I’ve collected over the years through various projects and seminars.  I haven’t gotten up the nerve to toss them just yet but the experience with the magazines got me thinking about it.  I haven’t touched many of those binders in years.  Before digging through old binders to answer a question, I am more inclined to talk with a colleague or look on-line.  The shelves in my office are prime real estate and I don’t want them being occupied by information that I won’t use.

For the time being, though, instead of tossing them I’ve decided to not allow binders to take up any more room on the shelf.  Of the binders I get in the future, then, I will have to decide if they get a spot and another one gets tossed or if they never get a turn in the rotation.

Perhaps some day I’ll have the nerve to purge my shelf more radically - but I doubt it. 

Many training companies like to load their participants up with take-aways that usually collect dust once participants return to their office, just as mine are.  Since people are more inclined to go ask a colleague or consult the internet when they have a challenge, why not spend those training dollars on things that make it easier for them to do so?

This post is part of a series.  For previous posts please select from the list below:

• Foreword
• Social Brickworking

The next installment in this series involves drywall.  On a recent Sunday, my cousin and I had encountered several setbacks that put us behind our timeline.  He travels for his job and was leaving early the next morning and would be gone for two weeks straight.  I couldn’t let the project lie dormant for two weeks and needed to get to a point where I could do OK on my own.

Throughout the day my cousin was rebuilding a stud wall that we had demolished to create more space in the office.  We also spent some time hanging sheets of drywall. 

After my cousin left that night, it was up to me to finish hanging the drywall and then to begin the process of ‘taping and mudding.’  I had never done any of this before but had been told that taping and mudding was the most difficult part of the process.

The next day I finished hanging the drywall at lunch time.  Before moving into the taping and mudding, I broke for a sandwich.  While eating I searched Google for anything on ‘taping and mudding drywall.’  I found a video of Myron Ferguson modeling the steps for invisible drywall seams.  I watched the video twice while I ate and at the end of my meal I felt pretty well prepared to tackle my next obstacle.

With this just-in-time information, I headed back downstairs and proceeded to tape and mud the seams of the drywall sheets.  My results were pretty impressive although the process to get there wasn’t as clean as Myron’s.  Below is a picture of the shirt I wore over the few days it took for the multiple coats of mud needed:

Consider the similarities of the position I was in and what happens in organizations daily:

• Unexpected snags caused a delay in our project timeline 
• My supervisor was pulled away from the project at a critical time
• I was left alone to figure out how to deliver on our objectives

Having access to the Google database allowed me to find the just-in-time (JIT) information I needed to proceed.  This is the philosophy of JIT training - give people access to information so that they can get it just when they need it.  The level of retention of this information is astonishing.  If I were put through a course on drywalling months ago I would not have retained much.  Because of my experience, though, I could help another amateur drywaller through the process.

What would be the value of having the Google-equivalent of relevant JIT information in your organization?

Welcome to the next part in the series of home repair and organizational learning - for the foreword, please visit here.

The initial plan was to put up drywall on all four walls.  Once the plaster came down, though, and we saw the exposed brick beneath we changed our minds and decided to keep the look of the brick. 

Unfortunately the brick was badly deteriorated, brittle and would flake off with the slightest touch.  I remembered that my neighbor was a contractor and that they had exposed brick in their foyer.  I went over and asked about what he had used.

Not only did he show me the product, he also offered the use of a special sprayer.  He then came over, showed me how to apply the first coat and left me enough product for four more coats.  Just by knowing who to ask I was able to solve my problem - and I didn’t spend a dime.

This situation is similar to what happens in many organizations daily:

• The plan changed mid-stream (from drywall to exposed brick)
• I relied on my social network to solve my problem - I went to someone I knew that I thought would be able to help me

Organizations can enhance these exchanges that naturally occur.  By providing corporate yellow pages (a list people’s areas of expertise) and by providing venues and resources for employees to share information, organizations can optimize the informal exchanges that most people turn to for their job-related information.

I was recently informed of an organization whose purpose is bringing technology to non-profits - TechSoup.  They offer a wide array of services and hardware as well as membership to a community for those that want to stay connected.

I was particularly impressed that they are educating non-profits on the newly emerging world of Web 2.0 tools.  With wikis at $10/year and advice on utilizing more of the Web 2.0 offerings, TechSoup is a great resource for non-profits looking to advance to the newest technologies without spending much.

Kudos to the TechSoup team for their contribution to the advancement of non-profits.

Jefferson County, Colorado has over 1,000 miles of recreational trails within it.  This is largely due to Jefferson County Open Space which exists through a minimal tax slotted to “fund planning, acquisition and maintenance of lands and waters for the enjoyment of current and future generations.”  

Today I spent the afternoon with a crew going through training to learn how to lead youth groups on one of the many trail maintenance trips that are required to keep Jefferson County  beautiful and accessible.  I was just there as an observer and I witnessed an approach that was simple and very effective.  These future crew leaders received a blend of the following:

• Face-to-face classroom instruction
• Pneumonic devices (i.e. CUSS for tools: Carrying, Using, Storing, Safety)
• A field trip
• Hands on experience
• Informal learning 

A ‘Master Instructor’ was our guide - both in the classroom as well as the trails.  The group was very diverse in terms of age and experience.  Members of the group were encouraged to speak up on their areas of expertise and many did so, pointing out features and techniques for the rest of us.  We watched a golf ball being rolled to predict the path that water will take - a very memorable tip that will certainly be adopted by some of my classmates.  It was suggested by a group member and demonstrated immediately by our guide. 

It was refreshing to see the impact that adherance to the basics can have when combined with an intrinsic motivation to learn.  Many organizations try to make training too complicated.  Give people the incentive to do something and then let them acquire the skills to do it.  Kudos to the trails teams at Jefferson County Open Space for their approach - they take those that want to help preserve CO and then show them a way to do it.

If you’re local and would like to help out, please contact Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado.

A couple of months ago I began work on a home project and as I have progressed I keep noticing the similarities between my behaviors on this job and how people behave in organizations.  Successive posts will be centered around specific examples.  But first, some background…

I live in an old home in Denver.  When searching for the ideal home-office location, I had my eye on a utility room in the basement that was being used for nothing more than storage of random things that were poorly organized.  I am far from an expert in home remodeling but I figured that with some paint, putty and sweat I could have my home-office in a long weekend.

Enter my cousin.  A Home Depot employee and formerly with a renovation firm, he enticed me to look a little beyond my constrained vision of what this room could become.  By disassembling one stud wall, removing some plaster and putting up some drywall, I could add more square feet and a finished touch…all for about two long weekends of work, he estimated. 

It’s taking more than two long weekends.  The journey, as well as many learnings along the way, will be chronicled here.  Not knowing the number of knowledge nuggets that would be contained in such an innocent undertaking, I didn’t shoot nearly enough photos in the beginning.  I’ve got some.  They’re not the best but they should provide a little glimpse into the start of this great adventure.

The first one is a wall covered in plaster.  It’s tough to tell but the plaster is in really bad shape - the brick behind it was badly deteriorated so much of the plaster had a hollow sound when tapped:

Here you can see the footer that surrounds 3/4 of the room at a height of about 18″ and the lovely red paint someone had chosen to highlight it:

  Here is the only window in the room.  You can see the plaster coming up to the frame: