Is 'Good' Enough? Video

Rating ***** (4 out of 5)

Initial Thoughts
The Is 'Good' Enough? video is a motivational meeting opener that tackles the concept of mediocrity head on by looking at what could happen if we were ok with setting the standard of excellence at 99.9%. I wrote a lot of it (and did just about all the research), so I have a bit of a bias, but even still I think it turned out really well and I'm really proud of it.

The Pros
The images are stunning! I got to watch the director play with them and bring new ones in and he did a really great job matching the feeling of the show with the graphics and photos on screen.

The music is memorizing. It blends into the background pretty well and just give a very steady feel to the film. It's serious without taking itself TOO seriously.

The hypothetical statistics are balanced very well between comic and tragic.

And finally, I think it's great that this meeting opener is only 3 minutes long. We could have filmed a lot more and made this into a 15 minute training film, but I think the meat of the learning is proved better with these hypothetical statistics than they would be with a long drawn out show.

The Cons
I really like the hypothetical stats, but they can be confusing because none of them are the actual statistics on how often these things actually happen. I simply extrapolated out from the total number.

For instance, if there's x number of births in the Unites States each year.
0.001 times x number of births = the amount of babies that COULD be swapped at birth if 99.9% were good enough...

Another con is that we decided to go with a rather monotone version of the voice-over. It doesn't sound bad, but if you listen to it over and over again she begins to sound a lot like the HAL computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey...

Also, there's a very narrow focus for this video. There's a lot of industries where quality at this level isn't even really an issue. So, anyone writing marketing copy or training a class or some other soft skills job won't really find this very appealing.

Who Would Want It
Anyone who wants a well produced conversation starter on quality and excellence.

The Bottom Line
This video is a little narrow in its focus. There's a lot of industries where 99.9% really IS good enough and that audience probably won't relate to the issues in this video which tend to focus on some extreme scenarios where lives are on the line. But for industries where a small mistake can mean terrible consequences, this is a very good video to demonstrate why quality and excellence are so important.

Check it out here: Is 'Good' Enough? Video

The Sid Story Video

Rating ***** (4 out of 5 stars)

Initial Thoughts
The Sid Story Video is a motivational management training video that follows the story of a grumpy guy named Sid who does a turn around with his department- taking it from the worst in the business to the best.

The Pros
I've seen plenty of poor acting in training videos and it's often a distraction from the content. But this one has Dennis Franz of television's NYPD Blue in the leading role of Sid. So already this video has a leg up on the competition because it's a well acted and well written story. Franz knows how to play a no-nonsense tough guy role on TV and he pulls off a good performance in this video, too.

The Training Points are pretty basic, but still relevant. Letting your employees know where they stand (giving them measurable feedback), increasing positive observations, and giving them the opportunity to be winners instead of losers is a very powerful message that many managers still don't follow. Too often, managers still think that the stick is better managing than the carrot.

Another great point is that the story seems believable. Again, unlike other training videos, this feels like a real story- and a good one too. We want Sid to change and become a good boss and we want his team to succeed and become better at what they do. And when Sid, the uneducated tough guy boss, gets to tell the President of the company how to reward and motivate people, we're really rooting for him and on his side. Way to "stick it to the man."

The Cons
The video is a "classic" which is a nice way to say that it's really dated. The music, the camera work, the clothing... it all SCREAMS for an update. It's a real shame that a great story like this would get ignored because it feels like the 80's, but honestly it feels like the 80's. And just like it's painful to watch reruns of the Cosby Show (even though the jokes are still funny) it's painful to watch this video, too. It's not quite the "Jets and the Sharks" dated, but another couple years and it will feel as if Sid and his team are from the West Side Story Era.

The only downside to the script is that they had to condense Sid's Story into 10 minutes. There are a few moments where it's a little corny and it almost seems like his team turned around overnight and suddenly he's a changed man. But, that's too be expected in a training film, and honestly, they did a much better job than I would have done.

Who Would Want It
This is a great resource for managers who are new or jaded. It's probably a great tool for any development course because it will surely spark some good conversations with the leadership teams in an organization.

The Bottom Line
Even though The Sid Story Video is a little dated, the story is good and principles are relevant. It's a great resource for managers- especially managers who have been around a while (and are jaded) or new managers who might not understand the power of positive reinforcement.

Check it out here: The Sid Story Video

Everyday Creativity with Dewitt Jones

Rating ***** (5 out of 5)

Initial Thoughts
It's official. I'm an Everyday Creativity with Dewitt Jones fanboy. This film is the kind of motivational and inspirational video that I wish I could make. It's well shot, well scripted, and well edited. It's got good learning points that are backed up with great analogies from Dewitt Jones' career as a photographer with National Geographic.

And it's not only well made, it's beautiful. Even without the narration, the images are inspiring enough to make me want to tackle creativity and think outside the box. But add the narration and I have some really good ideas on how I can actually do it!

The Pros
Dewitt Jones is a photographer by trade, so this video is STUNNING. Each shot is well framed and beautiful to look at. Even his "so called" mistake photos are better than what most photographers could come up with.

The learning points are really solid. Jones suggests that finding the extraordinary in everyday life is all about perspective- it means finding more than one right answer, not being afraid of mistakes, breaking the pattern, reframing problems as opportunities, and training your technique. I especially liked how he makes it clear that creativity means making A LOT of mistakes and that it takes a lot of work, too. So often, people think that creativity and extraordinary is only for people who are "Naturally Creative." They forget that it takes years of practice, practice, practice. Mastering the world we live in- whether it's taking photos, or writing screenplays, or making the best burgers we can- is hard. But it's also worth it.

The production is solid and that's a big pro.

The Cons
The video moves a little slow so anyone with a short attention span might find it a bit boring. But, it's such a beautiful show that even those with a short attention span will probably be mesmerized by the imagery.

It might have been nice to highlight the learning points with some text. I have the advantage that I'm watching the show online with the learning points printed out right below the video box. But not all viewers have that luxury. Those who really like to see the words printed out would be at a loss (although a good trainer would provide a handout with the points pre-printed on it).

Who Would Want It
Anyone, really. This is a very inspirational show and it's not only for creative folks. It could be used with a general audience, too. Find the extraordinary in the ordinary is a really good idea no matter who you are and the concepts could be applied to janitors, salesman, tax agents, and sculptors alike.

The Bottom Line
This is a must have for your library. It's a really amazing program that can be used in a LOT of different types of training programs. Get it. Watch it. Love it!

Check it out here: Everyday Creativity with Dewitt Jones

Ethics 4 Everyone Video

Rating ***** (3 out of 5 stars)

Initial Thoughts
I probably shouldn't even be evaluating CRM's Ethics 4 Everyone video because I recently finished writing my own Ethics Video called Moment of Truth. But with that bias in mind, it's probably valuable to understand why I wrote a new video about ethics when this one has been selling in the industry for a couple years already.

Ethics 4 Everyone is a pretty straight-forward ethics film. It's very professional with a legal/corporate sounding message that gives it a sense of authority and a trusted voice for dispensing truth about ethics to businesses. It's also fairly practical, too. It tries to reflect some typical ethical situations that could present themselves in the business world.

The Pros
As opposed to my video which clocks in at 26 minutes- Ethics 4 Everyone manages to fit it all into a 15 minute format. That can be a good thing for managers that are on a time crunch (or those who want to use it with a short training session).

Eric Harvey, co-author of the best-selling Walk the Talk book series hosts the show and he really looks like an ethical person. That goes a long way toward immediate credibility and gives it a voice of authority.

The video tries to make a distinction between people who have no regard for ethics and those who really want to do the right thing but mess up sometimes (like we all do). They do this pretty well by presenting some scenarios of truly uncaring people in contrast to the rest of us- people who are tempted to make a bad choice based on a gray area.

The Cons
This video attempts to make an emotional connection through the scenarios, but falls short because it's obviously compliance driven- not story driven. This means that viewers will probably consider the scenarios corny instead of actually relating to the characters and drawing parallels into their own work-life. For example, the picture above is from a scene where a guy gets caught throwing tons of office supplies into his briefcase and replies- "everyone else is doing it..." WHAT?

Another bad part is that this film tries to highlight EVERYTHING. In training films, it's a common practice to highlight a main point by showing a text version of what the person is saying. This works as a good accent when it's done right- but when you highlight every other word- the impact is lost. A learner has no idea what's important enough to remember or write down for notes if they see every word accented (like subtitles).

This leads to another problem- which was originally in the pro section... they try to shove TOO much into 15 minutes. It needs another 10 minutes to really cover every point or it needs to take out some of the material.

Also, on a production note, the editing is a little choppy. It begins with the opening sequence where (for diversity's sake) a bunch of different people say the same sentence, picking up where the last one left off. But it's not in natural beats or breaks so it seems a bit choppy and contrived. Also, the host (Harvey) does blue screen work AND audience work and when they cut back and forth between the two there are some hiccups (meaning that it'll pick up in the middle of a word or in the middle of a sentence).

Who Would Want It
The Ethics 4 Everyone Video is "check-off" training. This means that it's great for a company who doesn't really want to take the time or effort to help their employees make good, ethical choices but also needs to check a box saying that their people have viewed an ethics video.

The Bottom Line
Ethics films are generally for compliance use- but they're also supposed to make the view act differently or at least think about how their action effect others (hopefully). This video makes a fair attempt at both, but falls short.

Check it out here: Ethics 4 Everyone Video

The Abilene Paradox Video

Rating ***** (4 out of 5 stars)

Initial Thoughts
The Abilene Paradox Video is a communication skills video that provides good tools for anyone who gets to help make community decisions (whether it's a work community or a social community). And the film does a pretty good job of including work activities (Project X) and general life activities (whether it's choosing what to do for dinner, or who you'll spend the rest of your life married to).

At some point, we've gone along with a project or an idea or an event that no one actually wanted to do. We've all gone to Abilene only to figured out afterward. What makes this a great communication video, is that it taps into something we've all experienced and then names it. Giving this miscommunication trap a name empowers us to avoid it. We don't HAVE to go to Abilene after all. We don't HAVE to get stuck with a terrible project that no one (I mean NO ONE) really wants or needs.

After watching the video, we learn that when we're really not on board with a project, we have some meaningful words to throw out to the group to test the waters: "We're not just going to Abilene, are we? Because even though I'm willing to go along with this if everyone else is sold on it- I'd rather not if we're all just agreeing to do this, just to be agreeable..."

The Pros
First of all, the Abilene Paradox Video looks good. That's a huge pro. There's a lot of corporate training videos that look like corporate training videos- this one feels more like a film.

Then there's the great story lines. The first one is the story of the narrator's family literally taking a four hour, 100 mile, sweltering hot road trip that no one wanted. Then there's a great story about Money Pit Project X in a business setting. The project no one in the company (from the top down) wants to do but they keep doing it because they think that everyone else in the company wants to do it. And of course, interwoven in between this is a really great story about two college kids that are getting married because they don't want to disappoint everyone- not because either one of them is really in love with the other.

All this to say- the video feels like a film. And that's important, because keeping the attention of the people you're training is paramount. And when the stories are relevant and engaging- it's so much easier to transfer that video into applicable training and performance.

Also, I personally LOVE the way the video brings in Shakespeare's Hamlet and then has the R&D guy do a similar but hilarious monologue about whether "tis nobler" to go along with the project even if it's doomed, or to speak his mind and get canned (or something along those lines). I'm an intellect and I love that stuff. Someone else might find it a little heady...

The Cons
As much as I enjoyed the story- the training gets a little lost in it. This might be because the film is 26 minutes long (which is a little lengthy) and the meat and potatoes of the learning doesn't come along until we've explored a number of stories and situations. I think training works a little better when you "tell them what your going to tell them, tell them about it, and then remind them of what you told them." Sometimes, you have to sacrifice story in order to do that- but if you're only interested in story- go make a feature film and get out of the corporate training video business... I'm just sayin'.

Who Would Want It
Don't bother showing this to a team who takes orders and doesn't actually get to decide anything. This is a video for decision makers or people who get to be a part of the decision making process. It's especially helpful if you work with "yes-men" who go along with whatever anyone else is saying- even when you need them to take a stand and speak their mind.

The Bottom Line
Get it. Watch it. This is a good film that will really help you avoid the Abilene Paradox if you're committed to respectful communication.

Check it out here: The Abilene Paradox Video

More Than A Gut Feeling Video

Rating: ***** (3 out of 5)

Initial Thoughts
My first experience with the More Than a Gut Feeling Video was in a management development class during the early part of 2003. I had never interviewed a person in my life. I had never heard the words "Behavioral Interviewing" before. I simply wanted to soak in all the new ideas and information that I was encountering in my new role as a Human Resources Trainer. The end result was that I became a "Past Behavior Indicates Future Performance" missionary. And it's not a terrible thing either because our staffing department lived and breathed off of the principles in this film. They had to. When you're hiring a thousand new employees each season- you need to figure out some way to weed through the masses and find reliable workers.

It's also notable that after five years- I still remembered the story line. I didn't watch it again until 2008, but even with that gap, I could still remember these two people on a plane discussing a dilemma- the one is hiring a new person for his company because the last person in the job was a total flake. The conversation uses flashbacks of the guy's initial interview and his behaviors at work after he was hired. The other person on the plane basically proves to him that if he had used "behavioral interviewing" instead, he could have avoided hiring the dud and gotten a great employee instead. The story turns out a little cheesy in the end- the woman giving the advise is the candidate for the position that he's hiring for... but even so, it's memorable. And that's an important part of training videos- you want to leave a lasting impression, even at the cost of a little cheese here and there.

The Pros
This hiring / staffing training video is built on the premise that it's important to figure out the past behaviors of applicants through open ended questions in order to figure out how well they'll fit in their role. Open Ended Questions are important because it allows the applicant to use their own words instead of simply agreeing with a "yes/no" answer that they'd be a good candidate for the job.

In other words, if you ask something like this: "Have you had experience managing people?" you'll probably get something like this in response: "Yes, I managed 4 employees." A closed answer to a closed question. BUT, if you ask a question like this: "Tell me about a time when you had to adapt your management style to meet the needs of an employee..." You'll probably get a story about their past job that will reveal to you whether or not the applicant actually has management experience. You'll also be able see how flexible the person is and whether or not they think through an answer before giving it- or just jump in with a canned response.

Another great thought is about allowing silence. Too often, we think that silence is terrible. We want to jump in and save our applicants from silence. But, it's important to give applicants time to think about the questions we ask. Even if it means 30 seconds of silence (which can seem like an ETERNITY in an interview).

The Cons
My main problem with this show is three-fold:

First, it doesn't take into consideration that some people weave a good story. A good story teller that hits all the right points could still be a total dud employee. But because they know how to spin their past to make them sound like a superstar means that you'll be hiring them. It's hard to avoid this because you're asking THEM the question- not someone they know who might be more objective. If you were to call their old boss and a few of their personal references and ask them the same questions you might get a better idea of their actual past behavior... but in an interview, no one is going to tell you that they're a totally lazy, selfish, screwup that only cares about the paycheck.

Second, past behavior doesn't take into account that people change. If we were completely stock characters that had absolutely no variance in our behavior- then looking at past performance might be a really great idea. But ultimately, people change. They enter different life experiences that mold them into different people. They get married, get divorced, have kids, have family members die, fall in love, suffer humiliations, have money troubles, win the lottery... Sure, the habits that people are in may be a good indicator of how they'll do in the future- but we have to leave a little room for performance to change based on life experience. It's just that those things aren't legal to ask about in an interview...

Third, there really is something to be said for instincts. If my instincts tell me that I'd like to work with a person even if their history says otherwise, there could be something to it. Sometimes hiring the right person IS about what your gut feeling tells you about them. Maybe it's simply because I'm such a high iNtuitive (MBTI; ENFJ). But I defy any logic that tells me to completely ignore the little voice inside that screams yea or nay louder than the "facts."


Who Would Want It
More Than A Gut Feeling is a perfect hiring video for huge corporate businesses who treat their employees like a worker instead of like a person. If you're a huge conglomerate that needs to hire mass amounts of drones to run your company this is a perfect video for you.


The Bottom Line
More Than A Gut Feeling would a great hiring video for new managers who don't know how to interview. If used in conjunction with a good debrief and some role-playing, new interviewers will probably avoid some fatal mistakes that can plague a green hiring manager or staffing representative. However, I'm hoping that after a little experience, anyone using these techniques will balance them with a well tuned "gut" and keen instincts. Intuition can be just as valuable as objectivity and should not be discarded as this film seems to suggest.

Check it out here: More Than a Gut Feeling Video

A Little History

Before I began writing training videos, I was an organizational trainer at Universal Orlando Resort. I was technically identified as a "Service Coach," but really that was a fancy title for trainer. Theme Parks tend to do that with every possible title. Instead of employees, we had Team Members (note the capitalization). Instead of customers, we had Guests. There was "backstage" and "onstage" and "please pardon our dust while we create more movie magic" signs. You get the point.

I worked at Universal Orlando for quite some time. I began working there as a trainer and Team Leader at the Jaws Attraction in 2000 and moved on to the Human Resources department in 2003. There, I conducted orientations and safety training, helped coach on-the-job trainers, did some performance consulting for Food & Beverage and Merchandise managers, wrote a few training programs on upselling, conflict resolution, and a bunch of other things that are blurring together right now.

Basically, I touched every part of the organization. And that's saying a lot, because Theme Parks are like mini cities. They have just about every possible position there is: Construction, Engineering, Government Relations, Human Resources, Operations, Sales, Marketing, Advertising, Health Services, Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Retail, Accounting, Finance, Maintenance, Creative, Information Technology, Safety, Valet & Parking, Security, Guest Services, Call Centers- it's a big world, with a lot of different needs. I got to work alongside some incredible trainers who taught me a lot about facilitation, needs assessment, and basically making a positive impact in the workplace through learning and development.

So, now that I'm writing business training films- I feel like I have a pretty solid foundation to work from. I got to see managers and employees in all sorts of situations making mistakes AND doing the right thing. I learned how to make Caesar Salads, put out fires (literal and figurative), increase sales, improve customer service, and more than anything- I learned how to have fun at work without hurting anyone or losing productivity.

I got to see a lot of training films during that time. And I honestly have to say that a lot of them weren't really worth my time- or the time of the people watching them. They were basically filler. They were something we put on when we were tired of talking about a topic and needed a ten minute break to run to the restroom or just grasp a moment alone in the back of the classroom without having to full-on facilitate. Those are the kind of videos that make everyone sleepy. Those are the kind of videos that are worthless in my opinion. It's time better spend on break or back in the workplace doing "real work."

This blog is going to be a record of my personal response to some of the videos that are out there.

Quick Disclaimer: I don't like a lot of training videos. I'm also a pretty harsh critic when I don't like something. So, if you're reading this and you disagree with me- perhaps you really like a video that I HATE- feel free to drop a comment on my blog about why I'm wrong. Same thing goes for if I LOVE a video and you can't stand it. This is MY blog, but I'm not so self absorbed that I can't take a little debate about what's good/bad in the training world.

With that in mind- enjoy! You might actually learn something about these videos from me, OR you might just get a laugh. Either way, welcome to my blog.