Product Description

The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning presents an innovative approach that accelerates the transfer and application of corporate learning. The Six Disciplines provides the definitive road map and tools for optimizing the business impact of leadership and management training, sales, quality, performance improvement, and individual development programs. This important book presents the theories and techniques behind the approach and includes expert advice for bridging the “learning-doing” gap. The authors’ recommendations are illustrated with dozens of real-life examples from successful companies on the cutting edge of results-driven educational performance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #223536 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
"A succinct, extremely valuable, and proven set of disciplines to drive learning in organizations. This breakthrough book is a must for anyone involved in corporate training and development."
—Rod Magee, Ph.D., vice president and chief learning officer, Honeywell International

"­­­­­­­­­­The Six Disciplines describes and illustrates six principles practiced by companies that earn the highest returns by efficiently converting learning into business results. A truly valuable book!"
—Ken Blanchard, coauthor, The One Minute Manager® and The Secret

"The Holy Grail for every corporate learning department today—and for the CEOs who critically depend on them—is sustained learning that drives performance.  In this thorough and timely book, the authors show step-by-step how genuine learning can, at last, be found."
—John Alexander, president, Center for Creative Leadership

"This book is a must-read for anyone who is serious about delivering learning experiences that lead to performance and business results. Filled with case studies, tools, and job aids, this book could not be more practical!"
—Dana Gaines Robinson, founder and president, Partners in Change, Inc., and coauthor, Performance Consulting and Strategic Business Partner

"Billions have been spent on classroom programs and next to nothing on supporting participants in applying what they learn on the job. Apply The Six Disciplines and you’ll achieve the intended business results of your learning and development investments."
—James F. Bolt, chairman, Executive Development Associates, Inc.

"Here’s a business book that should be read at every organizational level.  Senior leaders, line managers, instructional designers, HR professionals, and learners themselves will all find guidance on maximizing their investment of time and resources in any learning initiative."
—Beverly Kaye, CEO and founder, Career System International, coauthor, Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em, and author, Up is Not the Only Way

"The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning is the clearest roadmap I have ever seen for getting from well-conceived and executed learning activities to measurable business results. This book is a breakthrough!  It will be required reading for my entire staff of learning professionals."
—Edwin H. Boswell, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, The Forum Corporation

"Integrating work and development is critical in today’s competitive environment. This book is a breakthrough by pathfinders in ensuring application and results from any learning experience."
—Teresa Roche, vice president Global Learning and Leadership Development, Agilent Technologies

"Finally, a definitive resource on the disciplines required to build learning and development that increases business capability and capacity. This is an essential guide for anyone who believes workforce development is about producing workplace results."
—Susan Burnett, senior vice President and chief talent officer, Gap Inc.

"Finally a book that effectively links training and development to business results and shows us how to make strategy happen. A classic in the making."
—Al Vicere, executive education professor of strategic leadership, Smeal College of Business, Penn State University; President, Vicere Associates, Inc.

"Six Disciplines is a timely book written by experienced authors to help learning and development professionals deliver results. With proven methods, presented in a logical style, this book is a must read for anyone interested in improving the impact of training and development."
—Jack J. Phillips, chairman, ROI Institute, author of thirty books

"All the training in the world does not mean a thing, unless there is true transfer! The Six Disciplines is a jewel, loaded with practical perspectives on creating true ROI from learning investments."
—Elliott Masie, CEO, The MASIE Center's Learning CONSORTIUM

"The pundits all talk about breakthrough learning. But until now, no one has provided clear, concise coaching about how to attain it. This vital and must-read book should affect the way every thinking person looks at learning."
—Richard J. Leider, founder, The Inventure Group, author, The Power of Purpose and Claiming Your Place At The Fire

"Nothing matters without results. The Six Disciplines offers a straightforward but profound methodology for achieving extraordinary results, time after time."
—Leo Burke, associate dean and director of executive education, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame

"The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning shows the complete process needed to achieve the holy grail of business education, documentable results. In it you will learn why excellent education is not enough, in fact you will fail to produce the results you need unless you address the critical steps both before land after the ‘education’ itself."
—Gifford Pinchot III, president, Bainbridge Graduate Institute, author,   Intrapreneuring

From the Inside Flap
Why are some corporate education programs truly transformational while other programs have minimal effect? What elements of training and development help propel companies to a higher level of performance that delivers results of significant value?

Based on years of research, this book identifies the six disciplines that characterize breakthrough learning and development initiatives:

• Define Outcomes in Business Terms
• Design the Complete Experience
• Deliver for Application
• Drive Follow-Through
• Deploy Active Support
• Document Results

The authors present an innovative approach that accelerates the transfer and application of corporate learning. The Six Disciplines provides the definitive road map and tools for optimizing the business impact of leadership and management training, sales, quality, performance improvement, and individual development programs. This important book presents the theories and techniques behind the approach and includes expert advice for bridging the "learning-doing" gap. The authors' recommendations are illustrated with dozens of real-life examples from successful companies on the cutting edge of results-driven educational performance.

When the six disciplines are practiced diligently by learning and development organizations, their programs make a greater contribution to business success and gain the recognition they deserve.

From the Back Cover
Praise for The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning

"A succinct, extremely valuable, and proven set of disciplines to drive learning in organizations. This breakthrough book is a must for anyone involved in corporate training and development."
—Rod Magee, vice president and chief learning officer, Honeywell International

"The Six Disciplines describes and illustrates six principles practiced by companies that earn the highest returns by efficiently converting learning into business results. A truly valuable book!"
—Ken Blanchard, coauthor, The One Minute Manager® and The Secret

"The Holy Grail for every corporate learning department today—and for the CEOs who critically depend on them—is sustained learning that drives performance. In this thorough and timely book, the authors show step-by-step how genuine learning can, at last, be found."
—John Alexander, president, Center for Creative Leadership

"This book is a must-read for anyone who is serious about delivering learning experiences that lead to performance and business results. Filled with case studies, tools, and job aids, this book could not be more practical!"
—Dana Gaines Robinson, founder and president, Partners in Change, Inc., and coauthor, Performance Consulting and Strategic Business Partner

"Billions have been spent on classroom programs and next to nothing on supporting participants in applying what they learn on the job. Apply The Six Disciplines and you'll achieve the intended business results of your learning and development investments."
—James F. Bolt, chairman, Executive Development Associates, Inc.

"Here's a business book that should be read at every organizational level. Senior leaders, line managers, instructional designers, HR professionals, and learners themselves will all find guidance on maximizing their investment of time and resources in any learning initiative."
—Beverly Kaye, CEO and founder, Career Systems International, coauthor, Love 'Em or Lose 'Em, and author, Up Is Not the Only Way

"The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning is the clearest road map I have ever seen for getting from well-conceived and well-executed learning activities to measurable business results. This book is a breakthrough! It will be required reading for my entire staff of learning professionals."
—Edwin H. Boswell, president and chief executive officer, The Forum Corporation

"Finally, a definitive resource on the disciplines required to build learning and development that increases business capability and capacity. This is an essential guide for anyone who believes workforce development is about producing workplace results."
—Susan Burnett, senior vice president and chief talent officer, Gap Inc.

Customer Reviews

How to establish and then sustain results-driven learning

An organization's chief learning officer or equivalent must be prepared to answer questions such as these:

What is the ROI of our learning and development programs?
How do you determine that?
If the ROI is unacceptable, what is being done to increase it?

My guess (only a guess) is that similar questions are also asked of those who lead innovation initiatives. The fact remains that in most organizations, board members and CEOs not only expect but indeed demand that every hour and every dollar be committed to helping achieve and then sustain profitable growth and that is especially true of training programs and innovation initiatives. There seems to be little (if any patience) with any costs that cannot be justified in business terms. In this context, I am reminded of a brainstorming session at Southwest Airlines years ago during which someone suggested that a chicken salad treat be given (not sold) to passengers as an expression of appreciation. Then CEO Herb Kelleher is reported to have responded, "Does it help us to continue to be the low-cost airline? If not, then chicken salad is chicken shit." End of discussion.

What Calhoun Wick, Roy Pollock, Andrew Jefferson, and Richard Flanagan (hereinafter referred to as "the authors") offer in this volume is a rigorous and eloquent analysis of what they characterize as "the six disciplines of breakthrough learning." They devote a separate chapter to each discipline, concluding each chapter with one checklist of reminders and action points for learning leaders and another for line leaders. In this context, it may be of interest to at least some of those who read this review that two other authors also recommend comparable disciplines. In Think BIG Act Small, Jason Jenningssuggests that all high-performing companies are led by people who are down to earth, keep their hands dirty, make short-term goals with long-term horizons, let go ("when it's DOA, bury it"), have everyone think and act like an owner, invent new businesses, create win-win situations for everyone involved, choose their competitors, build communities, and grow future leaders. In Six Disciplines for Excellence, Gary Harpst recommends these: Decide What's Important, Set Goals That Lead, Align Systems, Work the Plan, Innovate Purposefully, and Align Systems.

Because learning and development programs are investments by a company in its workforce, the authors acknowledge that management "has a fiduciary and ethical responsibility to ensure that those investments produce a return: results that increase enterprise value." None of what the co-authors call "the 6Ds(tm)" is a head-snapping revelation, nor do they make any such claim. However, in my opinion, they should guide and inform all performance at all levels and in all areas of the given enterprise and rigorous measurement and review of performance should be based on them. Exhibit 1.1, the "6Ds(tm) Learning Transfer and Applications Scorecard," provides a diagnostic that enables the reader to evaluate the readiness of a learning program to deliver results. There are other diagnostic exercises inserted throughout the book's narrative. I appreciate the fact that the authors also include a number of mini-case studies based on real-world initiatives by prominent organizations that include Sony Electronics, British Broadcasting Company, Home Depot, and Pfizer. And I also appreciate the series of brief but insightful statements by a CLO or equivalent, called "From the Top," that provide an eyewitness account of specific learning initiatives. The organizations represented include the Center for Creative Leadership, General Mills, University of Notre Dame, Honeywell, and AstraZaneca.

As the title of this book correctly indicates, the emphasis in all of the authors' observations and recommendations is on using various disciplines to achieve breakthroughs in learning that achieve exceptional results. Knowing what not to do is often at least as important as knowing what to do. Kevin Wilde offers a case in point in the Foreword: "A talented and hard-working team designed an air-tight course: activities planned to the minute, world-class external faculty and cutting-edge simulations...all grounded in specific learning objectives. But the team fell short by failing to first clearly identify how the company would benefit from having leaders attend the program. I've been there - so caught up in crafting the excellence of the learning event that we failed to ground everything in the real business case. When that happens, the results leave you heartbroken, far short of the learning breakthrough intended."

The authors are exemplars of pragmatism, of "nailing the fundamentals" when formulating and then launching learning initiatives. They also have bold and compelling visions of breakthroughs in training and development while agreeing with Thomas Edison's observation, "Vision without execution is hallucination." The advice with which Marshall Goldsmith concludes the book will also conclude this review of it. "The designs for learning and development programs should be considered incomplete if they do not include plans to encourage participants to follow through, practice what they have learned, and reach out to colleagues for feed forward ideas and coaching. When those elements are in place to support well-designed and well-delivered learning, then we have all the ingredients for a true transformation. Life is good."

Those who share my regard for this book are urged to check out James Kilts's Doing What Matters, Judgment co-authored by Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis, and Return on Learning co-authored by Donald Vanthournout and his associates on Accenture's Capability Development team as well as Josh Bersin's The Training Measurement Book, Jay Cross's Informal Learning, Gary Hamel's The Future of Management (with Bill Breen), and Ram Charan's Leaders At All Levels as well as Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff's Groundswell, Dean Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement, and Enterprise Architecture as Strategy co-authored by Jeanne Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson.