Could it be that the major HRM and HRD publications are taking cues from this blog? One would hope so. Or maybe the editors at these publications are wondering if the cues are going the other way – like I have inside connections at their publications??

(I should, but I don’t.)

All joking aside, it’s affirming to know that the issues I’m looking into are the same issues others are writing about. For instance, just a few days ago I blogged on the use of simulations in hiring quality people.  So yesterday, when my June copy of T+D arrived and the cover story was on simulations, it was cool to see the practice is catching on. People learn a lot from simulations.

But would you like to know a nasty secret about simulations?

It’s just a replacement word for “role play.”

Although people will tell you they absolutely hate role play, the fact is these same people learn a lot from it – and they KNOW they do. So that being the case, I’m all for using the word simulation. In fact, I’ve been calling all my role plays ‘simulations’ for years.

Here’s the background on why I made the switch: Research by John Bobell and Robert Croker at Idaho State University* has shown that out of 32 methods of learning, adult learners ranked “role play” among their least favorite.  Yet when asked to choose from those same 32 methods which created the best learning, Role Play was consistently ranked among the top five.

So here’s the catch: Do role play. Just don’t call it role play.

Call it simulation, instead.

PS.  With this understanding, you might get a chuckle from the teaser in this month’s T+D Table of Contents:  Simulations: Slowly Proving Their Worth.

PPS. To get another snicker we should consider just how “slow” this proving process is: Especially since ‘simulation’ has been around since Trog was teaching his son how to thrust spears into the side of a mammoth. 

Sorry, ASTD … I appreciate you calling attention to the value of simulation, but when it all boils down, simulation is simply another word for ‘role play,’ even if the role play is with a vitural reality system.

*Robert Croker is a professor and chair of the Department of Human Resource Training and Development at ISU while John Bobell formerly held that position and is now professor emeritus.

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Filed in Work, Training, Motivation, Management, Workplace, Train the Trainer