Resistance Learning

There are those dreadful days in the life of a trainer when she enters a room full of unknown faces beaming out the message “You’re not welcome”. The silent scream is enough to make her turn right back.

In the early days it bothered me a lot. But it doesn’t any more today. That’s because I have figured out –with experience and plain logic- that it’s not personal. They aren’t really saying that to me because they don’t know me till that point in time. Actually what they are resisting is the process they are being put through. Often, they don’t like being told that they need to develop their skills.  People believe that many years of experience are sufficient proof that they know all they’ll ever need to know.

Sometimes it is the choice of days of the week or month. Calling people to work on their off days definitely leads to a sepulchral air in the training room. Another bad choice is the month- end, especially with sales people. In such cases they equate training to punishment rather than a perquisite.

At times, the company has taken a decision to include people in an activity that they don’t want to participate in. They then resist the process because they feel they will be additionally burdened with responsibilities once they are officially trained. These are often activities perceived extraneous to their progress- like say writing for company publications or doing social work.

My learning: 1) People resist learning when they feel it is being shoved down their throats. Adequate pre-counselling most often helps. 2) The human ego grows- ironically- with the feeling of lack of success and achievement. People with the most average performance take the maximum slight to the suggestion that they may need help. 3) Contrary to popular belief, age is not such a big factor. It is not always the older employees who resist training. There are people close to retirement who merrily participate and sit obediently through your class- be it on basics of English grammar or team work. 4) Your approach of mutual learning is appreciated and acts as a balm on sensitive egos. 5) But, at the same time, your confidence in putting forth what you have to say creates a security for them. Every person is happy- secretly or overtly -to have a guide in the area he perceives as his weakness.

And what’s my take-home? I get many more, first-hand examples for my various modules besides another lesson in human nature. I get ideas of what new areas of work we should develop programs in. So this post is a special thanks to all those who provided me with difficult days and accelerated my learning.