!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> Streamline Training & Documentation: Bridging the Knowing-Doing Gap

Friday, April 21, 2006

Bridging the Knowing-Doing Gap

Top performers differ from average performers not just in skill, but in how consistently they apply their skills to their work.

In their book, The Knowing-Doing Gap, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton of Stanford University report on why people so frequently fail to actually apply what they know. They also offer suggestions for bridging the knowing-doing gap. Here is a summary of what their research shows can help you get greater impact from your training efforts:

  • Promote an action orientation in which people address issues as soon as they emerge.


  • Make sure employees know what most fundamentally impresses your customers — namely, the ability to generate ideas and translate them into forms that deliver performance.


  • Give attention to context: Help people understand the business, your organization's strategy, and the competitive environment. Discuss business examples and models.


  • Focus attention on factors critical to organizational success and on issues that are impeding success.


  • Present ideas that are focused and tangible. Ideas that people can grasp concretely are much more likely to be accepted than vague and general recommendations.


  • Build a network of people who can bolster each other's efforts. Make sure it's easy for knowledgeable people to talk to each other.


  • Use the Pygmalion effect — people tend to live up to your expectations for them.


  • Drive out fear. Fear contributes to knowing-doing gaps because people will act on their knowledge only if they believe that they will not be punished for doing so – that taking risks based on new information and insight will be rewarded, not punished.
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