Streamline Training & Documentation: Ron Zemke, Trusted Guide

Monday, May 01, 2006

Ron Zemke, Trusted Guide

When I learned in 2004 that Ron Zemke, Senior Editor at Training magazine was sick, the news was very worrying to me, even though I had no personal acquaintance with him. I had come to admire Zemke from a distance through the "Unconventional Wisdom" columns and the feature articles he contributed to Training. His work invariably struck me as spirited, wise, and amusing. I made a point of taking his advice whenever it fit something I was working on myself.

Ron also wrote books. His best-known are probably those in the "Knock Your Socks Off Service" series, of which the "flagship" is Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service. The third edition, co-authored with Chip Bell, was published in 2002.

Another valuable book is Figuring Things Out: A Trainer's Guide to Task, Needs, and Organizational Analysis, co-authored with Thomas Kramlinger. You can get the flavor of the Zemke approach to sharing his expertise from this small excerpt:

Start Your Study as High in the Organization as Possible and Work Your Way Down. This is another of those concepts we've talked into the ground, but rarely seem to apply. When you start and end your problem analysis at the performer level, you never know exactly how the problem is perceived organizationally. Nor do you find out who is and who isn't concerned. And you never know what the problem is costing the organization, or why someone really cares enough to solve it, or if, in fact, you are playing the goat for someone in the organization who doesn't want the real problem solved.

As you can see, the writing is substantive and vigorous. With informed expertise and wit, the authors are taking you along a path that will get you to the point where you can confidently perform an accurate, persuasive needs analysis. This practical and engaging style always inspired me, and continues to inspire me.

Ron Zemke died of cancer in August 2004 — a very big loss to the training profession. Thankfully, his substantial legacy remains with us, supplying a wealth of broadly useful lessons. As one last example, you can't do better than taking a look at an article, "Thirty Things We Know for Sure About Adult Learning," that Zemke wrote with his wife Susan and published in Training in June 1995. You can read through the list of thirty items by clicking here, here, and here.

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