The title for this week's commentary may seem a bit out of the ordinary. Perhaps you may be wondering what great thought is lies in the midst of such an odd title. What thought racing around in my mind brought me to select this topic?
How is it possible, you may be wondering, to tie the topics of toilet paper and training together in any meaningful way? It is quite easily done actually. To begin with, both are critically important to you and to me. Is there anyone among you who has reached this stage in life and not used the services of both of these products?
Do you remember the first time that you personally used toilet paper? Unless you have a photographic memory, dating to age one, I would suppose that this bit of knowledge is lost to antiquity. Pause and ponder the ways in which you might have come to know how to use this critical implement in the course of your daily life.
Have your skills improved with age? Is this a case of practice makes perfect? Have you ever had recertification training in this use of this delicate forest product? Are you allowed to exercise personal preferences in this acquisition of this important element of daily life?
As a government employee I was often treated to the joy of low-bid toilet tissue. Sometimes there was no joy in Mudville, because the Mighty Casey of Purchasing had struck out. The worst event of this type came during a trip to the United Kingdom many years ago.
Some brilliant soul had acquired a shipment of this critical product through the appropriate government sources which had the consistency of wax paper. I suggested quite vocally that more research was needed in this arena.
What then does this little side trip into the world of paper have to do with training? Let me offer the thought that they are more closely aligned than you might ever have imagined.
Let me now ask you to reflect upon the subject of training. Do you remember the first time someone trained you to do something? Probably not my friends, for you see as a child you were almost certainly subjected to a wide variety of training experiences during the first 18-20 years of your life. Many of them have probably blended together into a forgotten m
