If you’ve gotten here, I’m the right person for the job, I’m motivated, I have support from my managers, I know how high I’m supposed to jump, and I have all the information I need to wrangle those widgets. But I’m still struggling to wrangle well. It looks like practice will help.

So maybe training will improve my performance. In this case, “training” means “practice activities, appropriately scaffolded” and not “information dump with quiz.” Remember, I have a lot of information already — how to set up the wrangler, how to interpret the error codes…

But do I really need training? Have you tried giving me easier widgets or more time and letting me build my skills on the job? Could you assign me to a more experienced wrangler who could show me their tricks? Do I really need formal training?

If you’re convinced practice activities will help me, don’t get trapped in the “event” mindset and create a course or one-time workshop. Consider on-demand activities, done in the workflow, or spaced activities, delivered once every few days.

If the task requires judgment calls or is emotionally challenging, consider organizing discussion groups and other peer support.

A one-time course is rarely the solution.