Training teams often become the go-to solution when performance stalls or goals aren’t met. But in Talk to the Elephant, Julie Dirksen reminds us that focusing narrowly on individual learning can miss the forces shaping behavior. In Chapter 2, we shift our lens from isolated interventions to the broader system that produces current results. As managers, understanding the full ecosystem gives us more effective levers for lasting change. The first-level assessment of any performance gap is your responsibility. Diagnose the environment, incentives, and policies when assessing training needs.
The Big Picture
Dirksen begins by asserting that “every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.” When a behavior isn’t happening, something in the system is reinforcing the status quo. Blaming attitude or skill alone risks overlooking policy, culture, tools, or incentives that drive how people act day to day. As a manager, you’re the first-level assessor: your job is to identify those forces before assessing training needs.
She walks us through mapping a system: identify forces encouraging the desired change and those restraining it. By visualizing feedback loops, decision rights, communication channels, and resource flows, you can spot high-impact intervention points. Sometimes a small tweak, like redirecting approval pathways or opening new communication channels, unlocks much more movement than a full training program. If systemic factors are the root cause, your role shifts from commissioning training to orchestrating policy or incentive changes.
Finally, Dirksen highlights visibility of consequences. If individual performance feedback is immediate and clear, learners adjust quickly. But when results only surface at a team or organizational level, you must build measurement and communication channels so individuals see how their actions contribute. Putting those channels in place is part of your core responsibility to ensure feedback is visible to the people whose behavior you want to change.
Key Takeaways
- Every system is perfectly designed to produce its current behavior. When results disappoint, ask what in the environment is reinforcing that pattern.
- Dig deeper than attitude or capability. Policies, incentives, tools, and norms often shape how people act more than training alone.
- Map forces for and against change. A clear system map reveals where small adjustments can create outsized impact.
- Balance focused behavior design with periodic system reviews. Zoom out to ensure individual learning aligns with broader goals.
- Make feedback visible at the right level. Immediate, individual feedback works for personal skills; system-level changes need group metrics and communication loops.
- Managers are first-level assessors of performance issues. Diagnose systems and incentives when assessing training needs.
From Page to Practice
In a recent engagement with a large, matrixed organization, I led a training needs analysis for a technical skills program. The initial request called for an instructor-led workshop on a hardware component, but I recognized that the requesting department’s siloed perspective could potentially be a restraining force.
I began to map the system. To do so, I convened stakeholders from teams with similar training needs, the technology-approval group, and those tracking training outcomes. Documenting key workflows and decision paths revealed that another branch was already piloting custom simulators with early success. If we could leverage that emerging tech for our program, it promised major advantages, namely wider access and reduced off-site time for employees who would take the training.
By putting communication channels in place and facilitating a cross-functional discussion, we surfaced how participants could access simulators remotely and clarified authorization pathways and impacts for getting simulators built. That system perspective enabled decision-makers to weigh cost against learning impact and shift from the original plan of an on-site class to a virtual delivery leveraging simulators. This change provided wider access and reduced learner downtime.
In this engagement, my role shifted from building out training based on the original ask to orchestrating the channels and conversations needed to determine feasibility and drive the best solution. By applying a systems view during the needs analysis, we eliminated guesswork, protecting resources, boosting ROI, and ensuring participants receive the most effective training for their real-world context.
Applying This to People Management
Imagine your sales team consistently misses quarterly targets. You roll out negotiation workshops and call-review coaching, yet results barely budge. Before doubling down on training, map the system. Identify both the forces encouraging the desired change and those restraining it. As managers, that system map is your first intervention point.
You might discover the CRM flags leads inaccurately, routing hot prospects to junior reps. Or commission structures favor closing small deals quickly over pursuing larger, strategic accounts. Perhaps sales meetings emphasize activity metrics (number of calls) rather than outcome metrics (revenue per opportunity), discouraging deeper prep.
With that insight, you adjust the lead-routing logic, redesign incentives to reward high-value deals, and revamp meeting dashboards to highlight revenue impact. Training still plays a role—equipping reps to negotiate complex contracts—but it’s now embedded in a system that supports the desired behavior. As a manager, your job shifts from delivering content to orchestrating the system: changing policies, aligning incentives, and ensuring clear feedback so team members see how their skills drive results. Only after this assessment should you determine if further training resources are needed.
A Parting Thought
When you tackle a performance gap, ask yourself as a manager: Is this truly a training issue, or is something in the system steering behavior? You’re the first-level assessor. Before you call in a training team, diagnose the environment and incentives.
Next up
Chapter 3 – Designing for Change. We’ll look at Dirksen’s “change ladder” and how she approaches turning insights into interventions that stick.
