There is no substitute for experience. 

Take the smartest person that you know and place them in a new environment and task them with a novel experience and they will invariably perform worse than the dumbest person that you know that experienced the assigned task a thousand times.  

The down side is that repetition is boring; with that boredom attention wanes and all those repetitions become worth much less because, even though the action has been repeated, attention has wandered.  

So, how do effective educators balance the two? 

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Repetition is the cornerstone of properly digested information, but boredom is the enemy of repetition.  

Think for a moment about a cashier at a supermarket.  

They must learn to process a sale like its second nature. But, if you simply repeat items sliding across a feeding belt, scanning the item, and placing them in a bag the employee will inevitably become bored with the process and report that they have mastered the skill, perhaps before they actually have.  

This is where narrative becomes valuable.  

Think instead of the first customer, a single father who is concerned about the amount of processed foods that his children consume. He asks how you would prepare the head of broccoli that slides across the scanner. As you load the produce into a bag you mention that baking the vegetable on a tray in the oven yields really delicious crispy edges. 

The next customer talks to you about his approach to budgeting while unfolding a book of coupons.  

The next processes their order using a check, while the one after uses cash.  

In each circumstance the core skill of processing a sale has been practiced, but the attendant is given enough variation to remain interested in the process.  

But, aside from the central skill of processing an order, we have also touched on the, often more valuable skills, of presenting a pleasant demeanor, addressing pricing concerns, and varying payment methods. The goal of effective repetition is variation. 

The goal of effective repetition is variation. 

Modern computer-based training methodologies allow for exactly this type of varying repetition; to create the world in which your new-hire will work and present them with the common scenarios that they will surely encounter.  

The information that they need will be presented and then planned scenarios will be given in which the new-hire will have to implement this new knowledge with the context of varying narrative.  

Think of the opportunities presented when you have a virtual reality, augmented reality, or online modules crafted to mimic the end environment that your new hire will eventually work in.  

What’s YOUR Vision? 

• What methods do you employ to keep training repetitive?  
• What methods do you employ in your training to keep repetition fresh?  

 It’s time to modernize.