Lawyers do it. Pilots do it too. Men & Women both do it. Face it - we have all done it at some point. In fact, you probably did it at a conference or some sort of training seminar away from home.
"The Temptress - Vettriano"
Before you get all self righteous and defensive on me, ...chill out because I am talking about mock trials, case study team simulations, situation scenario role play.
We have all been to conferences and training seminars for work. What is the best part of these events (other than the break from the office routine & the free booze)? Sure there are usually 1 - 2 really captivating speakers on the roster, but the part of the agenda that always seems to be the most educational and inspiring are the breakout work-sessions.
Since I have participated in my fair share of lame breakouts, I will be more specific. I am referring to the breakout sessions where people are broken into small teams, and they participate in a "How Would You Handle ...What Would You Do Different ...What Would You Recommend?" type of team simulation based on case studies that are realistic. The teams are given a challenge/ objective, and the teams work separately to develop their solutions & ultimately return to the room where each team presents their final recommendations.
Typically these sessions begin with the session moderator handing out a thick case study document and briefing all teams on the setting of the scenario (Fictitious Company A is doing this ...), and explains how the simulation will run & what the challenge specifics are. Then the teams break off on their own and assign individual roles from within the fictitious company, and begin to dig into the challenge. And then the game is on.
"First order of business, Bob needs kleenex"
Maybe I am just a learn-by-trial type of guy, but I learn and retain more from 1 of these mock scenario challenges than I do out of listening to 100 speakers who might be covering the same topic as the scenario. It is engaging, you learn more about the topic(s), and about how reality and group dynamics can affect the topic and your decisions - plus the competition makes it fun.
So, why do we only see these sessions at conferences? Why isn't this a standard part of an advertising agency's ongoing training program?
The current version of this training is actually seen within most agencies every single day - but it is not really training, it is the actual client work using billable hours while people learn as they go. Of course in real client work situations there is hopefully several people within the group that have vast experience with the challenge at hand to lead the rest. That type of experience is even better training IMHO, and I would not suggest altering that. I am, however, proposing that case study simulation & role playing training should be something that is used regularly to compliment what is learned in real client work experience.
This type of training is effective for everyone within the agency from the clueless junior Rookie, to the wise old crotchety Partner that does not "get The Whole Facebook thing". They can all read the books, and may pretend to pay attention in the Lunch-N-Learns ...but at the end of the day they will learn a lot more from getting hands on and applying the topic in a simulation combined with a little healthy competition.