Colin J. Hahn, Ph.D., CPTD

Colin J. Hahn, Ph.D., CPTD

Performance · Talent · Data

  • Call Your Shots

    One of the most powerful techniques for improving your performance is deliberate practice. When you go through the motions, your skill level is unlikely to improve in a given situation. Structuring practice to deliberately focus on a particular element of a skill is the way to break through the plateau of your existing skills. There…

  • Quick Thought: Training for the Middle

    Too often, we judge the success of our training by the exceptional students. We highlight the most impressive successes from our most driven participants. The problem is that these participants would succeed no matter what. In any population, some people have an inner drive to flourish and will do what it takes. If they have…

  • Making Review into a Game

    As learning professionals, we face a challenge: people forget what they learned from us, and they don’t feel the need to review what they used to know. We are constantly fighting a war against the forgetting curve. There are several strategies that can defeat the forgetting curve. One is to make the material so sticky…

  • Make Practice Cues Visible

    Learning on the job is difficult. With high workloads and intense time pressure, the natural incentives of the workplace push people to do rather than to practice. If managers and L&D leaders want to create a learning culture, they need to explicitly shape the environment in order to value practice as well as execution. Managers…

  • From Training Culture to Learning Culture: Notes and Case Studies

    Last Friday, the SEWI ATD chapter shared a great discussion about building learning cultures. The starting point for the session was an article from organizational development consultant Stephen Gill on the differences between a training culture and a learning culture. In short, a training culture places the responsibility for development on training programs; the focus…

  • Practical Micro-Learning

    For all the buzz about micro-learning, there’s surprisingly little practical advice for leaders and managers. These practical, real-world examples of micro-learning will help you improve your employees’ skills on the job. Micro-learning is just development activities that are broken into small pieces that can be woven into the day. The traditional model of training is…

  • Developing Talent with the Six Sources of Influence

    Talent development—including training, career conversations, coaching, and workforce planning—is usually treated as an intellectual problem. The key question is: what will people need to know in order to be successful…in their job, in their career, in the future of this industry? That question is important, but it’s far too narrow. The reality is that talent…

  • Quick Thought: Learning Logs

    Keeping a logbook is a simple way to make progress in a regular practice. Weightlifters log their workouts so they can plan their next efforts in the gym. People use fitness trackers log their steps and activity levels in order to reinforce healthy habits. I’ve found success in applying the same principle to my learning.…

  • Making 70-20-10 Work For You

    What Is 70-20-10? In talent development, the 70-20-10 ratio articulates the relative importance of different sources of learning. The ratio stems from Morgan McCall’s work at the Center for Creative Leadership, published in The Lessons of Experience, and followup research by Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger that led to The Leadership Machine. These researchers identified…

  • Quick Thoughts: Intentional Learning

    Today’s quick thought is inspired by the preface to Dale Carnegie’s classic How to Win Friends & Influence People. Carnegie wanted his readers to do more than just absorb his ideas—he wanted them to change their behaviors. So, he wrote a preface with nine specific steps to take in order to act on the principles…