In the independent trainer community, there are at LOT of conversations about intellectual property and copywrite of materials. Most trainers are very precious about their material and don’t want anyone else (not even their clients) to have it.

Am I hopelessly naive, extremely generous or just plain stupid by not being precious about the ownership of the training I create? How can you copyright learning? I create training for one purpose and one purpose only.... to give people ideas, skills, methods and information to enable them to do their jobs better. People aren’t just going to learn from me or the training I write – they will learn from a whole host of sources, many of them completely out of my, their manager’s or even their company’s control.

The training I write is just one piece of the learning puzzle. For it to REALLY make a difference, many things come into play:

• The accuracy of the TNA
• The design of the solution
• The ‘fit’ with individual learning styles
• The timing of the training
• The readiness of the learner to learn
• The context in which the training is delivered
• The skills of the trainer
• The quality of the materials
• The reinforcement by the manager
• The motivation of the individual
• The opportunities they have to put the learning into practice
• Feedback from learning

...I could go on!

My point is, that one thing alone is going to have limited impact. If a trainer hands over their materials, many pieces of the learning ‘puzzle’ are still missing – their own delivery for a start, but also the preparation, the context, the reinforcement and the motivation. Training providers need to focus on the whole solution, and stop thinking that the magic key to success lies in their PowerPoint presentation or workbooks. More importantly, they need to start considering who they are actually trying to help? Their client? Their learners or themselves?

The training I create doesn't carry my brand, and it is always handed over the client in 'soft' format that is fully editable by them. Maybe that's why I'm an 'invisible' trainer?

Sheridan Webb

Keystone Development - Bespoke training that's owned by YOU