Learning: The Magic of Making Training FUN

This is the one question I get asked very often. FUN is a facilitative factor to deliver content, a required condition. The answer to the question depnds on how much we can redesign the content to make it interactive and engaging.

After a long time, I return to blogging today. The last blog I wrote seems so long ago, on April 11th, 2010. Coincidentally, the two liner I had extracted from a Chinese proverb was: “A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.“ The reasons for not being able to write I guess can be explained by the mad routines we force upon ourselves. We claim to be busy, I guess I was too. And, it is such a useless word when we are unable to do what we want to do. Over the last few months, I have increasingly enjoyed the company of my four year old daughter, particularly after the very successful and hectic Asia HRDCongress 2010 Kuching, Sarawak. This evening after a long walk with my four year old daughter, I realised that I have been taking life too seriously. I recalled the words of three friends this late evening. Jeremy Spoor, a former colleague and a wonderful trainer from the United Kingdom used to talk about stopping to reflect once in a while. My frien

A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study. ~Chinese Proverb

I was there at the Sime Darby Lecture series with my colleague Subra to listen to Prof Ram Charan, renowned author and former Harvard Professor. Simple message: Leaders work on their basics just like athletes do. And, they are not shy of hiring people who are more clever than them.

The ASTD report: Bridging the Skills Gap: new Factors compounding the growing skills shortage covers the growing importance of talent to organisational performance and the growing skills gaps that threaten many organisations today. A Skills gap is identified as a significant gap between an organisation’s capabilities and the skills it needs to achieve its goals. Communities, regions and nations pay a heavy price when they cannot find or equip workers with the right skills for the right jobs. Jobs are changing and educational attainment is lagging; current global economic challenges may result in a jobless recovery where organisations may put off new hires and achieve productivity gains with existing employees. Such situations may provoke the social fabric prevailing in many developing and emerging economies. Each individual is responsible for his or her own learning if they want to gain high pay or keep their jobs.

I watched this lovely film today with my family. Enjoyed it immensely. The message do what you are passionate about and follow your heart resonated with me. Become an engineer if you desire so, become a photographer if you desire so not because of parental or peer pressure. All is Well were three most powerful words I took away from the film.

If you want to unlearn, relearn and change for the better, here is a movie you must watch. I watched Sharukh Khan's movie, I was so touched by the story line. My family enjoyed it too. The film is about an autistic person who shows leadership in adversity. He shows you to be yourself, taught me so much about what prejudices mean. I only wish every American Caucasian gets to see this film. The country that elected a non Caucasian to the country's highest office must be proud of this movie. It helps erase so much of the prejudices prevailing about Muslims and clearly communicates you cannot stop someone from showering their love and goodwill for you. A wonderful movie. Just made me sit up and recognise what I should be doing for the needy every day of my life.

What does the year 2010 hold for the learning and development community? We need innovations in Human Capital development to ensure learning stays on the agenda during these competitive times. ASTD and others list three key areas: 1. New ways to work with the Gen Y 2. 21st century Mentoring 3. Working with the Social evolution and breakthrough technologies