Training Reinforcement

The 7 Principles to Create Measurable Behavior Change and Make Learning Stick

Anthonie Wurth, Kees Wurth

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9781119425557
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781119425564
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

A proven framework to fill the gap between "knowing" and "doing"

Training Reinforcement offers expert guidance for more effective training outcomes. Last year, US companies spent over $165 Billion on training; while many training programs themselves provide valuable skills and concepts, even the best-designed programs are ineffective because the learned behaviors are not reinforced. Without reinforcement, learned information gets shuffled to the back of the mind in the "nice to know" file, never again to see the light of day. This book bridges the canyon between learning and doing by providing solid reinforcement strategies. Written by a former Olympic athlete and corporate training guru, this methodology works with human behavior rather than against it; you'll learn where traditional training methods fail, and how to fill those gaps with proven techniques that help training "stick."

There's a difference between "telling" and "teaching," and that difference is reinforcement. Learned skills and behaviors cannot be truly effective until they are engrained, and they can only become engrained through use, encouragement, and measureable progress. This book provides a robust reinforcement framework that adds long-term value to any training program.

• Close the 5 Reinforcement Gaps and master the 3 Phases for results
• Create friction and direction while providing the perfect Push-Pull
• Follow the Reinforcement Flow to maintain consistency and effectiveness
• Create measureable behavior change by placing the participant central to the process

Reinforcing training means more than simple repetition and reminders, and effective reinforcement requires a careful balance of independence and oversight. Training Reinforcement provides a ready-made blueprint with proven results, giving trainers and managers an invaluable resource for leading behavioral change.

PART 1
UNDERSTANDING REINFORCEMENT TO REACH BEHAVIOR CHANGE

You train your employees until you think you can’t teach them anything else, but you aren’t seeing the results you expect or want. What’s the problem? Where’s the disconnect?

You’re missing the reinforcement component: the application of what people have learned. Reinforcement is required to change behavior and to reach the outcomes you seek.

The chapters in this part of the book explain what reinforcement is, how behavior change happens, and how you can influence behavior change in your learners.

CHAPTER 1
Eyeing Gold

“Clean up your sports bags.” This is what my mum and dad said every day when my brother and I came home from our Judo training. For some reason, we were in the habit of dropping our sports bags right behind the door when we entered the house.

Kees, my younger brother, and I trained in the Dutch national selection for Judo. Our sports bags contained Judo suits, wet towels, our Judo belts, and materials to prevent injuries. Those bags were heavy—probably too heavy to carry them inside to the scullery where the washing machine was. As soon as we put one foot in the house, we dropped the bags. (Maybe this bad habit runs in the family, because I recognize the same behavior with my kids, and so does Kees.)

My dad had his own company and always came home late. As soon as he opened the door, he needed to “climb” inside. In a loud, irritated voice, he let us know that our behavior was not acceptable. But for some reason, we could not change this behavior. I must admit, perhaps we did not try hard enough and we were just lazy.

If I remember correctly, this laziness was the only behavior that didn’t suit our role as top athletes in martial arts. Judo is a Japanese martial art that requires a lot of discipline and respect. It also requires lots of practice to master all the skills.

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK

Kees and I began taking Judo lessons when we were five years old. We attended classes at a local sports club with lots of other kids. Mum and dad spent lots of hours driving us to the club and then waiting to drive us home, just as lots of other parents do.

When I was 12, we started riding our bikes to the club. Using bikes is a common means of transport in Holland. When we came home after a two-hour training session, we would park our bikes in the garage and drop our sports bags on the floor. We trained seven days a week, and every day my father saw our bags behind the door. “Clean up your bags!” he’d shout. For some reason, we could not change this behavior.

In our teenage years, Kees and I were part of Holland’s national team. We traveled a lot and won medals at international tournaments. Judo became our life. All of our teachers at school knew that we could not always be present in class or had to leave early for training.

Our friends knew we would not join them when there was a party or a birthday with cake. Judo athletes compete in different weight classes, so at every tournament, the athletes must weigh in to check their body weight for the class they will compete in. Kees and I fought in different weight classes. My mother was happy that we never had an official fight against each other.

When we weren’t training, we were thinking about food. Kees and I both had to lose a lot of weight before each competition. Our fat percentage was extremely low, and we could not eat a lot the week before the weigh-in. Our diets consisted of well-balanced meals. Sweets and candy were rare treats. The benefit of living on a strict diet was that our family and friends accepted our behavior and did not offer any drinks, candies, cake, or food that was not good for a top athlete. With so few temptations, it was quite easy to stick to a strict diet.

The same for our rest. We slept, rested, and prepared ourselves for the next training. We did this 365 days a year for many years. Our life was different from most young men’s. We did not drink, and we did not go to parties, birthday celebrations, or summer camps. We lived in locker rooms, sports halls, and airports—and on the Judo mat. Without being aware of what we were doing, we slowly changed our lives and our behavior. Except for the sports bags.

In 1987, I had finished my Judo training for the day; I was in the locker room. I was tired and sitting on a wooden bench. My coach Koos Henneveld entered the room, and I looked up.

“Anthonie, do you want to become an Olympic champion?” he asked.

“Yes.”

My coach stepped closer and looked into my eyes and asked a second question. “Anthonie, is it also your choice?”

“Yes,” I said again, not exactly knowing what this would mean for the rest of my sports career.

For the next five years, I followed a strict diet; my schooling was extended by two years, and I had a girlfriend but hardly saw her. I lived for a year in Japan. I trained more than 20 hours a week. My strength, my flexibility, my conditioning—everything—was measured.

We went to tournaments, completed evaluations to determine our improvement, did repetitions of specific moves more than 2,000 times a day. My whole life was a consequence of my choice.

In 1991, I won several international medals and became the European champion at a tournament in Prague. Based on these results, I was selected for the Dutch Olympic Team to represent the Netherlands in the Barcelona 1992 Olympics.

My coach also coached Kees, who is two years younger than I am and a talented athlete. Five years before the Olympic games in 1992, my coach asked him the same two questions: “Do you want to become an Olympic champion?” and “Is it your choice?” Kees also answered yes to both questions.

Kees also did all the hard work, trained 20 hours a day, followed a strict diet, and lived the life of a top athlete. When it was time for him to go to Japan, the Mecca of the Judo sports, for more training, he chose to go to the United States instead through an exchange program at his school.

He lived in the United States for almost seven months. During that time, the hard daily training, the diet, and the life of a top athlete became less of a priority. When he returned to Holland in 1990, he realized that he had only answered yes to the first question, “Do you want to become an Olympic champion?” Answering the second question yes and facing all the consequences of your choice is extremely difficult.

Kees was inspired by me and started to train again when he returned. He trained extremely hard, as if he were punishing himself for the seven months of not living like a top athlete. When I looked at his training effort, I felt I need to do more, too. That year, 1990, was our best training year ever.

In 1991 Kees became Dutch champion and won many medals at international tournaments, but it was not enough to qualify him for the Dutch Olympic Team. Competing at the top level of a sport is hard, very hard. Kees realized that the results he achieved were not enough and were a consequence of his choices. “That is how it works,” Kees said when we heard he was not selected for the Dutch Olympic Team.

Kees became my sparring partner for the last part of “our” Olympi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Introduction
• We Did It!
• Part 1 Understanding Reinforcement to Reach Behavior Change
• Part 2 Building the Foundation
• Part 3 Engagement
• Part 4 Analyzing Your Reinforcement Program
• Appendix Tools for Building a Reinforcement Program
• Resources
• About the Authors
• About Mindmarker
• Index
• End User License Agreement