I remember, as a young scout, getting my first compass.  I thought it was the coolest thing in the world, and, if Television and Movies were anything to go by, it would always point to where I needed to go.  Quickly, to my confusion, I learned differently.  The compass only points North.  How would I ever find where I needed to go?  

Then we started Orienteering, and I learned how the compass can be used as a tool as part of a wider plan.  A compass, by itself, only lets you know in which direction you are going.  You need other tools, like a map and GPS to understand where you are and how you can get to your destination.

Sailing changed things a bit more, because orientation on water means an understanding of wind, tides, and weather.  Now, instead of navigating around mountains, you are navigating shoals, reefs, storms, and large container ships.  Your navigation plan is essential to navigating to your destination.  

“Knowing where you’re going isn’t enough. You need to know how to get there and what might throw you off course”

Teams struggle similarly with their training plans.  They generally know what they want:  Growth, innovation, agility, product adoption, etc., yet they lack the actual plan to get there.  Often they start creating content for a product or service, covering features, shot-gunning capabilities in hopes that the learners will learn and apply what they need.  It’s distracting, confusing, and often falls flat.  

The problem is, the team isn’t directionless, just at a loss of what to do, and how that’s going to be done.  They know where to point their rudder, but need to navigate around islands they get frustrated.  Then, as leadership and/or messaging changes for the new Sales cycle, pressures mount to create content that talks to those new positions.  The storm hits, and the team is just bouncing, trying to do what they can with what they have.  There’s no vision, no plan, no structure to the process.  Some leaders will call this being “agile” but I call it blind panic.  

With a plan, even when the storms hit, you know where to go safely.  If you have a set process and procedures for your training, the Team can afford to be flexible and agile, knowing what to change, how much to change, and how much work it’s going to be.  No more panic, but structured refocus.  

Support continuous Learning, not Just one-time Training

I remember my first time out on any body of water.  I was camping with the family by a beaver pond in the mountains, and I gathered some logs together and lashed them into a raft.  My young mind thought of the adventures of Tom Sawyer, and I was going to float on the raft.  Did it work?  Sort of:  I had really wet feet, but I didn’t have to swim.  I wasn’t prepared, I didn’t know what I was really doing, I was just, well, doing.  

If you develop training without a plan, it’s like lashing some logs together and calling it a ship.  Sure, it works for now, but for how long?  What’s the impact?  Can it scale?  Ad hoc training doesn’t scale and means redoing everything from scratch, every time.  

A good navigation plan will weave learning into daily work, leadership coaching, onboarding, and product development.  Stakeholders will all have a voice in the development of training, with clear expectations in the process.  

Navigation Plans Help You Prioritize What Matters

Every time we take the boat out, we have a plan for where to go and how we are going to get there.  I know when we will tack, how long we will spend going in which direction, and when we will be heading back to the slip.  Checkpoints let us know where we are relative to our time:  Do we need to modify the plan to get back on time?  It’s all part of the navigation plan. 

Training is no different.  Clear waypoints, such as product launches, team scaling, onboarding new hires, set the pace of the plan, and we know how to choose the right tools and frameworks at the right time to hit those waypoints on time.  Instead of rushing to getting everything done at once, we hit the right sequence to provide a smooth launch.  

Leaders use Navigation Plans to Inspire Trust

When it’s just you, you can just climb aboard and go.  You know what you can do, you know where you are going, and you can build out the waypoints in your head, and you just do it.  Descriptions are not necessary, written or verbal plans are not needed, because it’s just you. 

The crew, on the other hand, need to know what’s going on.  They don’t just need a direction and will take orders barked at them while you go.  This isn’t Mutiny on the Bounty, and teams don’t work on blind faith.  They need to trust that you know what you are doing, how you will get there, and what their responsibilities will be. 

The thing is, this could be taken to extremes.  Some leaders jump in and set every step down in meticulous detail, which quickly gets overturned once headwinds change.  It’s not about knowing every wave, just where the shoals are.