I wish you enough training to do your job well!!

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Paulo Coelho's books are awesome and he dishes out some lovely stories and thoughts on his blog.

Today's post (Amplify'd below) speaks of the words "I wish you enough" as meaning "I want you to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them".

These words seemed so relevant to me as a Learning and Development professional. They pulled my thoughts back to nearly nine years ago, when I started my Learning and Development journey.

I planned too many good things for my first batch of trainees. I had a 200 page binder with so much of information that would have absolutely made them feel impossible to do their job! I was speaking most of the time! I told them what to do!

I thought I was right. I thought I was being a great trainer.

Today, I realize my folly. I could have let them explore and discover. I could have made them "fill the gaps". I could have made them more well rounded!

This realization has helped me ask myself the following questions before I train:
- Do people really need to learn this? (this is the greatest sin!!)
- What intervention is just necessary to do their jobs?
- What activities would help trainees perform well on their job?
- Can information be supplied as job aids?
- Do people really need to remember so much? (we are so used to learning-by-rote!)
- What support systems are available for trainees to apply their learning on-the-job?
So, now, I wish trainees just enough training to do their job well!

Amplify’d from paulocoelhoblog.com
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/aqbeb

Recently I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the father said, ‘I love you, and I wish you enough.’

They kissed and the daughter left. The father walked over to the window where I was seated. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but I could not refrain from asking:  ‘When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’ May I ask what that means?’

He began to smile. ‘That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone.’  He paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, and he smiled even more. ‘When we said, ‘I wish you enough,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them.’  Then turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more..

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting… I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good- bye.

Read more at paulocoelhoblog.com