>To help get things started well, I have agreed to propose working
>definitions of "development", "training" and "education" and how
>their meanings differ.
In my 25 years at this quality management stuff of as a manager, trainer and
internal consultant I've written many definitions of these terms, but never
seem to have much success with definitions by themselves. A professional
from another company introduced me to a dual approach about 8-10 years ago
and I have found it to be effective. Remember, these are not strict
definitions I am about to offer. They are whatever they are.
So, Jack, here's approximately what I've been using for the last 10 years
IMHO.
---------------
Training - to enhance the capability, through practice, of the body and
mind together to learn a new skill or behavior OR improve an existing
skill or behavior.
Education - to deliver fundamental theory and facts to a person so that
they may better understand generally agreed upon workings of the universe.
Development (in this context) - To increase the capacity or capabiltiy of
a person to accomplish a task; developement is the intended outcome of
training and education.
EXAMPLES OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT:
If you had a 16 year-old teanager in your family, what would come to mind
if they came home and announced:
"Well, we started our sex EDUCATION today!"
What differences would come to mind if this same laddie or lady came home
from high school and announced:
"Well, we started our sex TRAINING today!"
I've used this mental imagery along with the definitions and get little
argument. However, I have never, ever been able to build consensus around
definitions of the terms with my peers so I've flown solo with the funny
lines above. Perhaps it is just the natural immune system in my company
kicking in since they do not like to create operational definitions which
interfere with their behavior.
The "learn-in", not "buy-in" guy
Dave Buffenbarger
dwbuff@aol.com