Simulations: Nice to have or Need to have?

The theme of the itSMF conference in Barcelona was ‘Knowledge to win’. Paul Wilkinson, in his plenary session presented ‘The value of business simulations – for making change happen’ and attempted to convince the 300 delegates that a simulation is ‘NEED to have’ in order to create winning knowledge.  

At the start of the presentation I asked the question ‘How many people think a Simulation is NEED to have as opposed to NICE to have?’. About 20 hands went up. At the end of the session the same question resulted in more than 45% of the delegates agreeing. So what convinced them?

I decided to use a number of arguments to try to convince the delegates that a simulation should be a vital element of any education or training initiative.

We can no longer afford to fail….but we don’t know how to succeed. 70% of ITIL implementations are unable to demonstrate value. A Gartner report suggested only 20% are doing a good job. A Forrester report revealed that 52% fail because of resistance.

Argument 1: Current training and certification isn’t working we NEED a different type of training,  one that focuses on how to apply ITSM to realize the NEEDED business value, and how to create buy-in instead of resistance. This is what a simulation can do.

Creating buy-in and overcoming resistance. A Survey conducted with 60 ITIL practitioners ALL revealed 'Resistance'. A Top 10 of most common types of resistance was identified.

Argument 2.Resistance is a fact of ALL ITSM improvement initiatives!. Current training and certification doesn’t show you how, or help to overcome this resistance or create real buy-in.

The top 3 items in an ABC survey on resistance are ‘Saying yes….but doing no’, ‘No management commitment’, ‘Plan, do….STOP. No real continual improvement focus’. 

A simulation can and will create buy-in, overcome resistance and can be used to gain commitment.  

Learning to relate to business value and learning to apply. A service according to ITIL V3 is ‘a means of delivering VALUE to the business in terms of the OUTCOMES they want to achieve without the ownership of specific COSTS and RISKS’ . A survey reveals most purchase a foundation training for the following OUTCOMES:

• A Certificate
• A Common terminology

Is this the VALUE  I, as a Business manager, expect and want when agreeing to let you spend IT budget on sending IT people to this training? No…. was the unanimous response.

The VALUE I expect from the training is that they can place ITIL in the context of a business problem, understand how ITIL will help and they will know how to translate theory into practice.

Argument 3: Current training doesn’t show how to relate and apply ITIL to the business needs for Value, Costs and Risks.  However most people want the cheap foundation training without a simulation. They would rather spend the time, effort, energy , consulting fees, redesign work fixing what didn’t work the first time and the costs of replacing the staff that left because of resistance….but hey! We saved on the costs of a simulation. OK so the business has additional risks that expected value and outcomes won’t be achieved and the business faces additional threats to continuity of services but hey! We saved the costs of a simulation……and our staff all have an ITIL certificate :-) 

Winning Knowledge is related to experience and practice.

Knowledge - according to a dictionary definition is:

Expertise and skills acquired through  
                                                                     experience or education;  
                                                              the practical     or theoretical understanding of a subject.  

We focus too much on the education and theory and not enough on experience and practical application. Winning knowledge is based on experience and practice and I would prove it by guaranteeing that 100% would agree with my next argument…. 

Argument 4: A trainee Pilot may take all of the theoretical classroom training and pass all of the exams and certificates with 100% pass rate. If he has however not had practical experience in a simulator would you fly with him. NO hands went up. Yet we send all our IT staff on ITIL theory and gain certification then let them loose on our mission critical IT to test apply what they have learnt! A simulation provides a safe environment for testing and learning to apply in which mistakes pose no risk to mission critical real life operations. 

Knowing what you want to solve or learn and ensuring the training facilitates this.Two case studies were presented showing how a simulation created management commitment and overcame the hardest resistance to create buy-in. These case studies can be read in the detailed report of this presentation. 

The two case studies clearly showed how a simulation can change the attitude and behavior at all levels of staff from operational to management, helping create buy-in, commitment and overcoming damaging resistance. 

Conclusion: A simulation, when used correctly can solve a variety of problems and realize a range of learning objectives. It can be used to create buy-in, overcome resistance, break down organizational Silos, learn how to use ITIL to realize value, capture improvement initiatives for a CSI initiative. It is vital therefore to KNOW what it is you want and expect to learn when engaging any ITIL training, especially a simulation. Failing to do so will probably mean the needed value and outcomes are NOT achieved and additional COSTS and RISKS to your business. Remember. We can no longer afford to fail to successfully apply ITSM best practice frameworks to bring IT under control.

Download the complete article including cases.