Why Businesses Fail at Training: A Deep Dive with Dr. Carrie Graham

Dr. Carrie Graham brings over 25 years of expertise in adult workplace learning to this eye-opening conversation about why most corporate training fails to deliver meaningful results. With refreshing candor and profound insights, she challenges conventional approaches that prioritize content over people."If you're not thinking about the people, what the hell are you doing?" This powerful question cuts to the heart of where training programs go wrong. Graham explains that organizations repeatedly miss the mark by creating content-heavy, performative training that doesn't acknowledge who their workforce actually is as learners. She shares a personal awakening when her own training wasn't achieving results, and instead of blaming participants, she asked why – discovering they lacked time, resources, and sometimes even basic skills needed to implement what she was teaching.The discussion ventures into how organizations can meaningfully measure training ROI by starting with alignment between training approaches and company vision. Dr Graham emphasizes the critical importance of actually using collected feedback rather than letting it gather dust – a common failure that signals to employees that everything is merely performative. Through compelling stories, including Jesse's brilliant demonstration teaching executives bachata dance steps as a metaphor for unrealistic training expectations, the conversation illuminates how we must rethink support systems after initial training.Most powerfully, Carrie reveals how her own professional journey evolved through recognizing approximately 4-5 year growth cycles, where boredom signals evolution rather than failure. Her advice on "sitting in the hard thing to understand the hard thing" offers wisdom for both individual growth and organizational transformation. The conversation culminates in a deeply moving reflection on her purpose: being a light for others in both personal and professional contexts.Ready to transform how your organization approaches learning? Connect with Dr. Graham at http://www.drcarriegraham.com/ and download her free training assessment tool to start identifying where your current approaches might be missing the mark.https://www.linkedin.com/in/drcarriegraham Lets leave the Construction Industry Better than We Found It https://www.depthbuilder.com/construction-leadership-lab Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be