Dog Vs Camouflage Stick & New Sofas. (...and how all this relates to Training and Development!!)

We recently bought new sofas. Brand spanking new bouncy sofas.... two of them to be exact. We took ownership of these beauties on Saturday and by Tuesday...

 I was desperately trying to remove several mammoth stains on them.

The stains came from an army camouflage face paint stick! The type Sylvester Stallone would be very pleased with. This stick had been used over the weekend by my young son. But now, my thieving dog had stolen it off the table and was happily chewing it on not one, but both new sofas! (Not the crappy sofa, which was awaiting disposal, oh no, just the new ones!)

Having physically banished the dog and mentally berated my son and husband for leaving it loafing around, I suddenly realised I was spending my energy in the wrong place. After all it really wasn't anyone's fault. I could have...

1. Trained our dog not to be a little tea-leaf
2. Cleaned up the pile of weekend debris from the table
3. Read the 'fabric cleaning kit' well before emergency application was required!!

Ultimately no-one was to blame, not even me!

New Trainers often make the mistake of trying to blame something or someone when things don't go quite to plan.

They might ask a question and get no response, so they blame the audience for being quiet, rather than admit that they didn't use the best question or give the learners time to think!

Or, they might be running an activity that no one really gets, and they blame the environment for not being conducive to the activities, rather than admit, they didn't think it through in advance.

One of the best things you can do if you are new to training is reflect on the bigger picture in REAL TIME, not after the event! If it's not working, stop what you're doing, take a break and work out what you should be doing instead of trying to find someone to blame. I've stopped several sessions to 'reset' an activity or pose different questions.

So, whether it's dog related destruction or asking the wrong questions, spend less time looking for someone/thing to blame and take more time assessing what you need to do to set it right at that moment.

If you are looking to launch your career in Training, L&D and want more information, advice or a place to ask questions, these links could be of use to you: 

Getting into Training and Development - Open Facebook group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/curious.trainers.academy/

​Curious Trainers' Academy: www.curious-trainers-academy.com