Change: Miracles Take a Little Longer

Unrealistic expectations of a change initative can sometimes sabotage the desired change.

I remember a training session we ran where a decision maker wanted a three hour workshop related to one of our longer programs. During our initial conversation we said we could do a presentation on this topic – but to train his staff effectively would take two days. He agreed with us about the distinction and hired us for a three hour presentation as a ‘taste of’ the topic.

We delivered the presentation but we got the impression he was a bit disappointed afterwards because we hadn’t transformed his staff into experienced practictioners. That was his reality. Our reality was that cramming 2 days of experential learning into three hours simply does not work.

The irony was that this was clearly explained to him beforehand. I think it was his enthusiam for the topic and his unrealistic expectations that actually interfered with the change he wanted in his staff.

In our experience as facilitators and trainers, ‘instant solutions’ are often just band-aids that will eventually come unstuck.

Learning new skills – or new attitudes – takes time.  Miracles take a little longer. :) And you need to invest enough time and effort for the learning to stick.