As a training and development consultant, I am regularly contacted to help clients develop and deliver training programs and over the years I’ve had to work hard to gain permission to back-track to the underlying needs and confirm that training really is the right solution.
As an educator I also love a good metaphor, so I was doubly pleased to read the article Needs + Solutions = Innovation and designer /strategist Dev Patnaik’s explanation that the difference between needs and solutions is the difference between a chasm and a bridge. I will enjoy asking my clients what terrain their employees need to cross and checking whether and what kind of bridge is the most efficient and effective solution.