Gathering Knowledge

In 1989 I was injured. I had back problems and could not train or compete. My coach came to me in January and told me that he had canceled all of my tournaments until September. Before I could react, he told me that the next nine months were the most important months toward my Olympic gold medal.

He gave me an enormous stack of papers with a square on each one. The squares were exactly the size of a Judo mat. He told me that I would go to every tournament and watch all competitors from the stands. He gave me instructions to note every attack and the timing. When a judoka attacked, I needed to indicate where and at what moment.

I started doing this during the first tournament in Paris; I did not understand why I was doing it—I just did it. Over the next months, I started to see my competitors’ patterns. My coach and I saw at what moment of the fight they attacked. An American guy was very active at the beginning and less active toward the end. The Russian judoka was only active and very dangerous in the last minute of each fight. We also realized that some judoka were trying new techniques or getting into better condition as 1992 approached.

I collected patterns from more than 80 competitors, and we built a database with this valuable knowledge. It was fantastic! We used all of this knowledge to plan our training strategy for the Olympics in 1992. My trainer closed the knowledge gap.

When you design your reinforcement program, you must consider the gaps in each learner’s knowledge. Ask: “What knowledge is needed to successfully change this learner’s behavior?”

My coach gave me the assignment to observe my opponents to gather new knowledge because this knowledge was needed for my success. When you design your program and select the reinforcement objective, determine exactly what knowledge is needed. What does each learner need to know?

Gaining Skills

The skills gap was closed during all my training hours, evaluations, reflections, tournaments, video analyses, and visits to Japan to attend a training camp.

In a reinforcement program, the skills needed for behavior change must be addressed. What skills are needed to change the learners’ behavior? Focus only on the reinforcement objective and use the verb. What does each learner need to do or demonstrate once the change is implemented?

You know your learners best. Check gaps you see between their current skills level and the needed skills level. While you are designing your reinforcement program, add enough activities, demonstrations, and assignments to help the learners bridge the skills gap.

Finding Motivation

To close the motivation gap, or to avoid demotivation, remember the irritation level. Don’t send too many reinforcement messages every week. Even when all of the messages are perfect, the messages you send must be valuable for your learners. My coach told me years after my career, “It was not hard to motivate you. It was harder to avoid demotivation.”

Why do learners do the things they do? Why did Kees and I train so hard as athletes? What drives that behavior? Psychologists have proposed some different ways of thinking about motivation and demotivation, including looking at whether motivation arises from outside (extrinsic) or inside (intrinsic) the individual.

Considering the Environment

At an Olympic level, the environment gap is closed. Athletes have lots of opportunities to practice. More important is the support and time it takes to be successful. In your reinforcement program, you must give your learners enough time to work on an assignment or to evaluate it with their managers or their teams.

If you want to transfer learning into application, it is crucial to fill this gap and add to your foundation. Check your foundation. Did you answer the following questions:

• Does the learner feel encouraged by managers or peers?
• Is the environment conducive to learning?
• Is feedback addressed and communicated regularly?
• Is the DO-DID-GO approach being used?

Refining Communication

The first time I entered a big tournament, I was completely blocked. I was so impressed by the process to register as a participant, with the weigh-in procedures, with checking to make sure my Judo suit was not too short so my opponents could not get a good grip. I liked the transportation from the hotel to the arena. I loved the way the fighters were introduced to the public and hearing the official announcement that I represented The Netherlands. It was all new and unknown, and I liked everything about it.

However, none of that changed the way I competed. It was all the communication and the unknown procedures that blocked me. After competing at many world championships, the Olympic Games had the same effect. All of the procedures and communication during the biggest sporting event in the world were unique and more detailed and restricted than I was used to. It was overwhelming.

Are you communicating too much or not enough information? The last gap to look at is the Communication Gap: Do your learners receive enough directions, procedures, process, and so on?

It is important to transfer new behavior into an impact on your organization. For example, if a manager uses new behavior when evaluating his direct reports but doesn’t know the correct procedures, his behavior doesn’t have the impact it should have. Same for salespeople who are getting more or bigger deals; if they don’t know how to proceed in their CSM system, it’s worthless.

Some key questions to ask yourself while finishing your reinforcement foundation are

• Do learners fully understand all the information needed to be successful?
• Have you communicated instructions or procedures clearly?

This is the same as in top-level sports. All Olympic athletes are trained about procedures for talking to the press, attending the medal ceremony, warming up, and so on. It must be crystal clear how you are expected to perform.