Instructional Design and Numbers

Instructional Design and Numbers

Making the Case for Data in the World of Training

Introduction

• As a learning and development professional, one should never fear hard numbers. Even before today's technological world, numbers dominated most businesses - even if folks didn't understand them. Insurance, Financial, Military, Political, and Healthcare all revolve around numbers. Any company that puts together a budget, sells a product to consumers or other businesses, or nets/losses profits cares about numbers. 
• Numbers can serve as the starting point for conversations. Whether in your current position or as you look for a new opportunity, numbers give you somewhere to begin talking with another - your current boss, a prospective boss, a colleague. They can help you understand the direction a company is taking. They can help reveal insights and begin analyses. And, if handled correctly, they can help grow your career.
• Numbers abound in places we don't often see them or think about them. But trust me, somewhere in any organization at any given time - someone is trying to gather, disseminate, verify, justify, or understand numbers. And in terms of your career, numbers represent the easiest way both you and your employer, and again trust me that your employer will, measure your performance.
• So why do so many interviews for learning and development positions, why do so many encounters with SMEs or course/program outlines (or objectives!) not contain numbers? Well, that's a loaded and complex question. In my experience two key factors stick out - in the past, in the training world a lot of training wasn't training - it was telling - so there wasn't a lot of things to measure outside of test scores. And many L&D folks start off and succeed in a particular role/industry and then get promoted or transfer over to training - so they're experts and just know how to do things. Secondly, numbers seem impersonal. To a certain extent, that's true. We all see those commercials with people ranting that they're not a number. In today's technological environment, we can be easily reduced to numbers or feel like our humanity is not recognized or cared for in a business transaction. Many training folks would feel uncomfortable if their discussion led to either them or the other person focusing just on numbers. Training is supposed to about the learner, right? Well, yes. But there's a good reason to include numbers on your resume, in your career conversations, and in your training plans.

I had to include this image because the first hundred or so images that showed up in the search results for "training chart" were potty training charts. 

Why?

• Conceptualization.
• Yes, numbers can be easily manipulated. Anyone old enough to remember Enron? Or how about Bernie Madoff? In both those cases numbers were manipulated to the extreme. Or think about when you buy a house, a car, or another large ticket item. Low ball a saleperson or real estate agent and they'll probably come back with - you guessed it - numbers. Oh, the house isn't worth xxx dollars? Well - if you found one in a comparable town or neighborhood with the same number of bedrooms built in the last xxx years, it would cost you _____(fill in with a number)
• Yes, numbers can also be used to paint a false picture or can get misinterpreted (purposefully or accidentally). Going back to Enron for the moment, the classic view of their collapse was that they lied about their profits and that they were guilty of deceiving investors and the public. Well, and on this you can check out Malcolm Gladwell's review - there's two articles he's done and both can be found in his book What the Dog Saw, they didn't lie about it. They disclosed all the information and followed, almost to a fault, the rules set out in law. 
• Despite those two points numbers can help in a number of ways. They allow you to highlight, summarize, and focus on specific points. They allow the listener to conceptualize the information you're sharing. They can help establish a base line from which progress or regress can be measured. And, from a training capacity, they you as a learning professional and your target learners a way to more easily remember, and apply information.
• Wow Factor
• Numbers can also provide a "wow factor" when it comes to training or career development. I worked for a large off-price retailer and people who knew the company from 20-30 years ago were surprised at the number of stores the company now had and were even more surprised with the quality of the new stores that were openend or remodeled versus the old. Numbers make your stories better, and your training stickier. They can serve as benchmarks for a program and if you build up enough experience with them, they can serve as places where your training plan makes transitions or serve as a strong argument for why a certain strategy should get implemented.
• Career
• During the course of an interview or career discussion, hard numbers allow you to talk about your accomplishments and experience in a manner that makes your work tangible to whoever is listening. In the interview process, numbers can be included when you talk about your previous work experience - it helps emphasize project size and scope. They can help prove the success of a program and validate both your insights before the program was developed and designed, as well as what you learned from evaluating it. 
• On a resume, the correct use of numbers help you summarize your work and keep your thoughts on point. Don't just sprinkle them in and don't fudge them - a little can go a long way.
• And, as you look back on your career and look forward to your future, numbers can help you translate that experience as well as help you learn about who you are as a professional, what your strengths are, and what you may need to do in order to continue to improve.

Difficult

• Yes, numbers need to be captured, and that's often hard. Even harder, capturing meaningful numbers and/or interpreting numbers correctly takes a lot of work and insight. Why did it take a few years for folks to finally see the faulty accounting behind Enron - there were a lot of numbers. But, if you are serious about training and serious about your career - and if you understand and can help others see how training and performance impacts the business' bottom line, you should focus on numbers.
• Numbers provide context. What's the difference between developing and delivering training for 500 people for 50,000 people? Not just size - but scope and scalability. Talk about a job for logistics! Seriously though, numbers matter in a world were expectations are set and performance is measured against them. In terms of training, numbers add strength and memorability to stories and make scenarios more inviting and your training more effective.
• And, in your work and in your career, numbers can help either make or break your argument (or presentation, interview, etc). That's the truth. So,  as much as you need to focus on technology, as much as you need to learn your company/industry, as much as you need your time and resources well spent, you should learn to use and understand numbers even more.