“In any profession we must grapple with systems, resources, circumstances, people – and our own shortcomings as well. Yet somehow we must advance, we must refine, we must improve.”
Atul Gawande, MD
As trainers you are constantly grappling with mandates, directives and training priorities from POST boards, governmental bodies and your agency’s executives. What is a priority for training can change quickly and too often be driven by the current political climate and whatever is the topic of the day. Yet somehow you must advance, you must refine, you must improve.
You grapple with systems based on shiftwork, overtime restrictions, mandated training and scheduling. Those systems often mandate large blocks of siloed training, sometimes once a year, working against the recommendations for spaced practice instead of blocked training, and interleaved training instead of siloed traing. Yet somehow you must advance, you must refine, you must improve.
You grapple with resources such as limited budgets for training equipment and professional development for instructors. You grapple with time alloted to conduct training, availability of instructors, availability of personnel to attend training due to shortages on the street, and a lack of facilities. Yet somehow you must advance, you must refine, you must improve.
You grapple with a myriad of people issues including attitudes towards training from people in senior leadership positions, some of who see training as an expense not an investment. You also grapple with a wide range of attitudes towards training from the people attending training, and occasionally the attitude of trainers towards certain mandated training. Yet somehow you must advance, you must refine, you must improve.
Grappling with numerous challenges is part of life as a trainer. Yet somehow you must advance, you must refine, you must improve. What you do and whom you do it for are too important for you not to strive to advance, refine and improve.
Take care.
Brian Willis
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