Building capability is a necessity for many. Imagine for one moment that a doctor who is about to perform complex surgery on you graduated from medical school and completed an internship but since then hasn’t done any additional training to understand new surgical approaches or technologies. Not so confident about the surgery’s chances of success, are you?

We recognise that ongoing development is a pre-requisite in many professions so why isn’t this true for Marketing and Sales? Almost all organisations offer training but it is typically ineffective, often boring and lacking relevance to the reality of the people in the room. Enlightened organisations see building capability as an opportunity to drive a high return on investment, enthuse and equip people to do things differently. Unfortunately they are in the minority and many see it as a cost.

Reframing expectations to a culture of coaching and ongoing learning, rather than training, supported by clear learning pathways, blended media and access to learning assets at the moment of need are critical in helping people to change. People don’t resist change: they resist being changed so creating an environment and conditions that allows them to be architects of their own change leads to increased adoption.

As consumers and customers evolve so must the capabilities of those looking to influence them, predicated on doing the basic capabilities brilliantly. Defining the core capabilities that the organisation needs and which ones to step up, determining the right content and media are the foundations for behavioural change.

Most organisations have a growth ambition. After complexity, one of the most common reasons for under-achievement is using capability interventions to focus on the “what” rather than the “how”. Our approach to developing capability focusses on building understanding and confidence so that the “how” becomes part of their DNA.