New staff orientation. A favorite activity for me. Helping people get started with what they most need to know in their first few days on the job. Typically this is technology oriented, but not always!

Sometimes there’s a comment/question along the lines of “OK, that’s great for the new people, but what about the people who have been around for a while. What do we need to teach them?” Sort of a funny / surprising answer: mostly the same things! Most of the time, what people need to learn, or re-learn, is the same old thing. As with sports, the pro is there to remind you of what you already know, not to teach you some brand new idea.

A favorite quote of mine, from John G. Miller, author of QBQ, is “… repetition is the motor of learning!”

How much ‘new’ training do we need? Maybe reviewing what we’ve already learned is at least as valuable.