When a Stakeholder Asks for Training, My First Question Isn't What Should We Build?

A stakeholder comes to you and says, "We need training on X." It's tempting to start there, scoping modules, picking a tool, drafting an outline. I've learned to resist that instinct, because "we need training" is usually a symptom being reported, not a diagnosis.

My first questions are usually about the performance gap, not the content gap: What are people currently doing that we want them to do differently? What's actually stopping them today: is it that they don't know how, or is it that they know how but something else is in the way (unclear expectations, a broken process, a tool that doesn't support the behavior, no time to practice)? If the barrier isn't a knowledge or skill gap, training won't close it, no matter how well-designed the course is.

This is performance consulting, and it's uncomfortable in the moment because it can feel like pushback on a stakeholder's request. It isn't; it's due diligence on their behalf. Building a course for a problem training can't solve wastes their budget and my time, and it usually surfaces a few weeks after launch when the metric the training was supposed to move doesn't move.

When training genuinely is the right lever, this diagnostic step also makes the training better: I know precisely what behavior change I'm designing for, which makes objectives sharper, examples more relevant, and practice more targeted.

So when someone asks for training, my honest first answer is often another question. It's the fastest way to make sure we're solving the actual problem.