Back to School for the Kids… AND Professionals! Why On-Going Career Training is Valuable

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It’s that wonderful time of year when parents get ready to ship the kids off to another school year. Some move out of the house for 8 months or more, while others get back into the 10-month, 5-day-a-week routine of walking to school nearby.  Whatever the case may be, it’s time to hit the books! Focus! Learn! Their future successes depend on it.

But, what about us adults?

A friend called me a few weeks ago to ask if I could help him with some training. Of course, I said yes, what can I do to help deliver the content? His reply took me aback. He wanted to teach me. He recently completed a course on teaching SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework for Enterprises) 4.0 methodology and wanted me to join his class of twelve students to achieve the SAFe 4.0 certificate. Although I have delivered Agile projects in the past, I had never considered other Agile projects within the same portfolio. I considered his offer for a few days. Then I realized that I hadn’t done any training in quite a while so I signed up for the education.

I had forgotten how much fun it is to learn new tools and meet new people. The information gathered from the other students was incredible and they were able to help me work through some challenges I had with the project I was working on. More importantly, the course opened my eyes to new delivery techniques for projects. I remember when I attended my first PMP preparation course back in 1995. The information and process changed the way I delivered my projects. Not surprisingly, the new information gathered about SAFe 4.0 also will enable me to deliver application development projects in a much more efficient way with less rework.

The set of new letters on my business card wasn’t the purpose behind this education. As a matter of fact, I accepted my friend’s offer because we have worked together in the past and I look at this person as a mentor and I wanted to help him deliver the course and hopefully give him tips on his delivery style. What I learned was that my friend is completely capable of teaching this course and helping his students succeed with their training. What I am surprised about is how energized and refreshed the learning made me and how much I am looking forward to applying my new skills.

The courseware is but one of the many benefits of training. New relationships, alternate viewpoints and team participation are also significant benefits of training. I realized it had been too long between education programs. I highly advise everyone to research new courses and new technologies. As professionals, we are only as good as our knowledgebase along with our experience. The more tools we can bring, the better the value proposition we can provide which benefits our employers, clients and ourselves.

If you are interested in learning about SAFe 4.0 please reach out to Scott Savage. ssavage@logixsource.com

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