Mayo develops in this useful book two different aspects of strategy. He means, first, the link between business needs and the provision of training and development in relation to that and, second, the choices to be made about people development in the sense of both content and methods of delivery. In his introduction in relation to both these points, he comments that professional developers by their nature tend to over‐emphasize soft skill development ‐‐ so a good testing question is for us to ask ourselves whether we really are driven by business needs or our own values.
In my view rightly, he emphasizes in his detailed chapter on ì“Thinking about Ñstrategy”î the necessity for hard work in establishing precisely that link between activity and business strategy which he believes is often lacking. My only marginally challenging comment here would be that, whereas Mayo believes that the guiding principle should be that training and development departments should help to achieve the goals of senior management, my own view and experience would be that it is sometimes necessary to challenge those goals. In this chapter, as throughout the book, Mayo provides very useful exercises and checklists through which readers can check both their understanding and their use of the ideas and disciplines mentioned. There are additionally six pages of examples ‐‐ an excellent illustration of particular value in supporting his arguments ‐‐ or allowing people to develop their own.
Not surprisingly from one of the authors of the Learning Declaration published in 1998, Mayo emphasizes learning rather than training (which does, however, rather put into question the title of his book!). This again emphasizes his focus on learning because, in relation to off‐the‐job training, he suggests that in every case the developer should review alternative ways of achieving the learning goal. This general point is extended into some useful observation from his own experience about the problems of open learning centres, and with suppliers of training or consultancy. I also found particularly useful his comments on the unlikelihood of coaching ‐‐ so much a matter of attention over the last ten years ‐ working in many environments. He feels that it is too often in conflict with the style and pressure applied in the actual situation for many managers. He suggests rather enabling people to manage their learning process and to call on help to do this. In some ways, his book exemplifies this in that it provides readers with a very good way of auditing their own position and their own activities ‐‐ which may mean that you do not need to call in the consultants!
