Oh why won't they ever learn?

Back in early December I commented on an eWeek.com article by Deborah Rothberg entitled "Why It's Time to Lose the Snide IT Attitude".  One of the things that grabbed my attention were the number of comments on Deborah's article "…whining about how our customers ask "dumb" questions (and even worse, do it repeatedly), do things that are clueless, and show no interest in learning as much about IT things as we know…".  I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.  After all I've seen this same attitude in person far too many times and it has gotten me to thinking.

First let's talk about why users may not show as much interest in learning about technology as we would like.  After all, it is an important tool in doing their job.  But the point we in IT need to remember is that although technology may be our job, it isn't our user's job.  Their job is processing checks, making product, buying supplies etc.  To them technology is a tool, it's not their job.

I'm sure there is someone at Stanley Tools that knows all there is to know about screwdrivers.  They know all the types and sizes and which one to use in each type of situation.  And I'm sure they grimace in disgust every time I use a screwdriver as a pry tool.  But I continue to use the wrong size screwdriver and I continue to use it pry things apart.  All I care about is getting the job done.  I don't care about the tool.  Our customers probably feel the same way about our technology.

Oh I know, learning more about my tools would probably make me more efficient and make my job easier but I've got more important things to worry about.  You know all about computers but are you completely up to speed on your screwdrivers?

A rather simplistic analogy but I believe the point is still valid.  People will spend time learning about technology only in proportion to what they perceive the value they will get from it compared to the "return" they get from "investing" their time on other things.  It all comes down to WIIFM - What's In It For Me.  To get our users to want to learn about the best way to use technology we have to find out their WIIFM issue.  It's what's in it for me (the user) not what's in it for IT.

We often hear the IT folks saying: I keep telling them and telling them and they just don't get it.  As we discussed part of the reason is we haven't given them a reason to get it, i.e. no WIIFM.  Another reason may be the way we are telling them.  Once we've identified the WIIFM issue we need to either figure out the proper teaching method to use or provide convenient options.  People learn by a variety of means.  This is usually described as VARK - Visual / Aural / Reading / Kinesthetic (e.g. doing).   We in IT need to be prepard and willing to use multiple methods of teaching our users how to best use technology.  When you think about it, it really is in our best interest to do all we can to help our users learn what they need to know about technology.

I'm not an expert on teaching methods or how to identify WIIFM and that really isn't the intent of this posting or of the blog.  Perhaps by identifying the issue we can then figure out how we need to go about implementing it.  Hopefully some the HR types out in the blogosphere can help us out.

No doubt there is someone out there saying it is their (the users) job to learn and not our job to teach.  The reality is the responsibility lies with both groups.  So let's drop all the whining and figure out how to do it. 

There is an old saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting the outcome to change. The telling them and telling them approach falls under the definition of insanity.  We need to identify the WIIFM issue to get them to want to learn and then be flexible in our means of providing training.  I know it's a change from the way we've operated in the past but one I think will work.   I've been telling them and telling them and telling them but IT guys just don't  seem to get it.   Well I've said my piece and the the nice men from the asylum are here to take me back to the institution now.