The 90-100-95 Rule

In the field of performance improvement and knowledge management: 90% delivered is 100% effective 95% of the time.

OK, I just made that up: I’m not out to posit another theorem, we have enough of those (90/90; 80/20). My goal is to underscore the importance of time-to-market in a resource-constrained environment.

So what is 90% delivered? Let’s take a look at two hypothetical training interventions:

Course #1
Gorgeous look/feel, great navigation, rock-solid objectives, perfectly aligned activities and comprehensive supporting material. 12 months in the making, 99.9%.

Course #2
Nice look/feel, great navigation, rock-solid objectives, most material aligned with activities (some is info-only), supporting material is 75% captured and included. 4 months in the making, 90%.

Which is better?

Ok , now what if I told you that that #1 is still sitting on the shelf, under the nth review, while #2 has already delivered measurable business results with high client satisfaction?

False dichotomy? Nice try, but no.

We live in a world of constraints: time, money, quality are the three we most often hear. All true, and let’s add another: opportunity constraints.

The longer an intervention stays on the shelf, the more sales are missed, the more service requests are unanswered, the more the bottom line is impacted. No training piece is ever perfect.

So the question becomes: where to draw the line?

The answer lies in another question: at the end of this unit of instruction, what should the learner be able to do? Learning objectives are our guide.

First, look to your content gathering process: can it be tightened, understanding you are never going to capture everything anyway? Second, look to the design: do you really have to support the learner with elaborate activities throughout the course? Third, look to development: how long should you really spend on something that will probably be updated in 3-6 months anyway?

So, what to do with the other 10%?

Two options: 1) use real user feedback and business results to make the course better in the next version; or 2) apply it to the next most pressing issue in your organization.