Obtaining the right training is essential to keeping our Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (AL&T) Workforce prepared to handle complex problems. I have made it a priority to make our workforce Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) trained and certified, and I count on you to ensure this occurs. This month’s Professional Reading List contains three books that explore why training is effective and how it enables us to improve our job performance. These books will help you to understand the importance of training and how to employ it to achieve improved business results.

The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning: How to Turn Training and Development Into Business Results by Calhoun W. Wick, Roy V. H. Pollock, Andrew McK. Jefferson, and Richard D. Flanagan.
Training is designed to enhance and improve our job skills and contribute to increased effectiveness and efficiency. However, too often we do not implement the training we’ve received into our daily working situations, and we do not fully capitalize on the knowledge we’ve gained. The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning teaches readers how to successfully use their training to better themselves professionally and increase their job performance.

According to the authors, training without implementation and results is useless: “the ‘finish line’ for learning and development has been redefined. It is no longer enough to deliver highly rated and well-attended programs; learning and development’s job is not complete until learning has been converted into results that matter to the business. The new finish line is results.” To achieve these results, the authors provide specific tools and a road map to accomplish successful training implementation. The six disciplines identified are:

• Define outcomes in business terms
• Design the complete experience
• Deliver for application
• Drive follow-through
• Deploy active support
• Document results

The disciplines focus on how an organization as a whole, rather than an individual, can achieve results. By practicing these disciplines, organizations perform better and employees contribute more to business success. I encourage the acquisition leadership to reflect on these disciplines and consider how implementing them would improve your organizations.

The four authors work for Fort Hill Co., which specializes in transferring strategic, business, and learning objectives into business results, thereby improving training, development, and effectiveness. Calhoun W. Wick, the founder and CEO of Fort Hill, is an acclaimed consultant, educator, and researcher on improving managers’ and organizations’ performance. The Association of Learning Providers named him 2006 Thought Leader of the Year. Roy V. H. Pollock, whose specialty is line management and strategy development, serves as chief learning officer for Fort Hill. As Fort Hill president and chief operating officer, Andrew McK. Jefferson brings extensive expertise in the operational and legal fields. Finally, Richard D. Flanagan, senior vice president for Fort Hill and licensed psychologist, focuses on the development of techniques that assist people in changing and improving behaviors. The authors consolidate their knowledge from serving clients at Fort Hill in The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning to help readers improve their own training, development, and effectiveness.

Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways That Inspire Innovation and Performance by Jay Cross.
Cross’ book takes a detailed look into the world of informal learning — learning we do on the job, day to day, without an official training module. It is a process influenced by our environment, co-workers, superiors, and daily experiences. Today’s hectic, technology-savvy workplace enables most of the training we receive to be obtained through informal learning. As Cross explains, “learning used to focus on what was in an individual’s head. The individual took the test, got the degree, or earned the certificate. The new learning focuses on what it takes to do the job right … The new learning means having great connections: sources that know, advice that helps, alerts to what’s important, and ready answers to questions.”

The first to create the term “eLearning,” Cross has always been an unconventional thinker regarding training and learning. He designed the first business degree program offered by the online university, The University of Phoenix, and was the Chief Executive Officer of eLearning Forum. Cross does not discredit formal learning, although he does believe informal learning is more effective and achieves better results. He shares these ideas and offers methods and techniques to get the maximum benefit from informal learning. Cross’s helpful guidance on digital learning tools is welcome information in our world of ever-changing technology. The book also gives suggestions for formal trainers on how to better connect with trainees and make training forums more effective. By applying some informal learning techniques to formal learning, Cross believes performance and training benefits improve.

A surprising revelation in the book is that, “most corporations invest their training budget where it will have the least impact.” The information in Informal Learning will ensure that those who adopt Cross’ policies and line of thinking do not suffer that same fate.

Leading a Learning Revolution: The Story Behind Defense Acquisition University’s Reinvention of Training by Frank J. Anderson, Christopher R. Hardy, and Jeffrey Leeson.
As the lead corporate university for the DOD AL&T community, the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) provides our workforce with training, career management, and services to help us better support the warfighter. Offering classes, certifications, performance support, and continuous learning opportunities, DAU truly is the backbone of educating and training our community. Leading a Learning Revolution details how DAU was developed, and how it has helped begin a learning revolution for DOD. The book also provides lessons learned and best practices for other training organizations to ensure their own learning success.

The authors offer a firsthand account of DAU’s creation and transformation. DAU was selected as the top learning and development organization in the U.S. in 2004 when it received the American Society for Training and Development Best Award. This award honors organizations that demonstrate enterprisewide success. Frank J. Anderson was selected by his peers as the 2004 Chief Learning Officer of the Year, and again in 2006 as Leader of the Year during the Corporate University Best-in-Class Awards. Christopher R. Hardy is DAU’s Strategic Planner and Jeffrey Leeson is a professional writer and editor.

The authors describe DAU’s transformation from an obsolete training provider to a successful, first-rate university. A significant part of DAU’s successful transformation was recognizing and identifying its existing problems. The authors found that DAU was poorly structured and difficult to manage, slow to respond to policy changes and technology, had disgruntled users and students, and did not use feedback to establish improvement. These issues were resolved by shifting learning from a tactical and regional focus to a global and strategic focus. Developing a mission, vision, and strategic plan, implementing these, and effectively evaluating the results were critical. DAU leadership used result measurements and feedback to improve the organization and continue to do so today. A unique subject the book discusses is how to successfully implement Web-enabled learning. As well as explaining how to start the transformation, the authors also offer tips and strategies for continuing improvement as the organization continues to exist.

DAU is a highly complex organization. Leading a Learning Revolution explains how such a complex organization can make the learning environment successful. This book stresses the value and importance of training and also gives you insight into DAU and how it can aid in your professional career development and management.

I hope that the books reviewed this month will offer you a new perspective about why training is essential to fulfilling our mission as AL&T Workforce members. Being the most competent specialists in our fields is what enables us to provide our Soldiers with the support they require. Thank you for supporting my initiative to train our entire workforce and I encourage you to continue to employ any and all beneficial career training opportunities.