MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL, INC.
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Why Choose Us
    • Our Partners
  • Business Learning
    • Ready-Now Learning
    • Content Partner Programs
  • Contact Us
Picture

Don't Just Use the Scoreboard to Teach Business

2/7/2013

2 Comments

 
"Individual commitment to a group effort, that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."  Vince Lombardi

It's Difficult to Learn Business by Reading Financial Statements

Picture
There are three universal score sheets in business -- The Balance Sheet, the Income Statement, and the Statement of Cash Flows. All companies have them.  They are used to determine how well the company is performing.  That's a good thing.

Too often, professionals who mean well begin teaching business and finance by showing people these statements.  They'll direct people to the annual reports online, or to a company's 10-K in order to teach them about the business. From there, they'll explain each line item in depth, with figures in the millions taken to the penny.  Sigh.   That's not a good thing.  

Using this approach is not much different than teaching soccer starting with lessons in reading a scoreboard.  Imagine: A dad coach brings his U8 team to their first practice, and brings the kids together around the scoreboard to train them how to play soccer.  Right.  That makes no sense.  So, when we try to teach business by starting with those financial statements, we're doing the same thing.

We should engage people in playing a position on the pitch (to continue with the soccer analogy).  We need simulations, case studies, engaging discussions, and scenarios to show how businesses work. Our learners should work harder than the instructor.  Companies are a complex mix of people, circumstances, operations, and so forth.  In order to see how it all works, and how to play the game, we need to play the game.  Then, and only then, do the scoreboards make sense.  We can more easily fill in the white space between the scores we earned and what we did to get them.

Let's focus on engaging in business learning to build business acumen.  Let's save the scoreboard watching for some other time.  When it's time to learn the business, the best thing is to learn by doing.  



2 Comments
Louisiana link
7/8/2021 04:17:59 am

Very much appreciated. Thank you for this excellent article. Keep posting!

Reply
Louisiana link
7/8/2021 04:18:51 am

Very much appreciated. Thank you for this excellent article. Keep posting!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    "The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the unanimous views of all parts of my mind."
    - Malcolm McMahon

    Author

    Dan Topf, CPT is Sr. Vice President at MDI, Inc.

    Picture
    Follow @Dan_Topf

    Business Learning by Dan: Primers for Trainers

    PDF versions of short articles on how to integrate business acumen into all training and development:

    The Income Statement
    Cash Flow
    Price and Volume
    The Circulation of Capital
    The Cost of Capital
    Market Differentiation

    Industry-specific:
    Financial Services -- Life Insurance/Annuities
    Retailing

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    July 2020
    February 2020
    May 2019
    December 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    August 2015
    June 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    RSS Feed

Management Development International, Inc. | 860-478-3180 | 515-292-2602 | Windsor Locks, CT | Ames IA 
Photos used under Creative Commons from xamogelo, tim geers, kenteegardin, KellBailey, One Planet Living in Sutton, rodaniel, stavros karabinas, One Way Stock, dan taylor, Binder.donedat, KLGreenNYC, mynameisharsha, fontplaydotcom, fortes
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Why Choose Us
    • Our Partners
  • Business Learning
    • Ready-Now Learning
    • Content Partner Programs
  • Contact Us