Read & understand training is corporate astrology.

I don’t even need to launch into my arguments. You get it, you agree. But isn’t there just a hint of sadness that we still feel compelled to perform this ritual in 2025? I wanted to compare this practice to witchcraft, but honestly, I think witchcraft would be much more effective.

Here’s a 47-page SOP for cell culture media preparation. You read it? Great! You’re now trained on a complex aseptic process with contamination risks that could destroy a $2M batch.

Wait, you also read the three supporting SOPs? Even better.

The psychology of this approach is so painfully backwards. Memory is developed primarily through practice. Passive consumption of text results in less than 5% retention unless actively and immediately reinforced. It’s almost like the goal isn’t to teach you skills to effectively perform your work. Feels more like CYA when we can’t (or don’t want to) invest in more effective methods.

We’ve institutionalized a very expensive and pervasive waste. We’ll spend months shaving seconds off a packaging line but then accept training that throws away hours teaching nothing.

If you care about developing and supporting skilled practitioners who can not only execute a process effectively, but can also identify problems and react well under pressure or in unknown waters, then these are the best-practices:

• Focus on demonstration over completion: Map the actual work (decisions, techniques, skills) to observable behaviors. Measure performance, not paperwork.
• Replace reading with guided mentorship: New practitioners shadow experienced personnel, narrating the decision-making process while performing routine and non-routine work.
• Deliver knowledge just-in-time: Don’t front-load massive SOPs. Embed critical information at point-of-use. Information makes infinitely more sense when practically applicable and immediately relevant.
• Validate competency continuously: Training status is not binary (trained/untrained). Skills evolve and degrade through practice and neglect. Regular skill checks ensure standards are maintained.
• Prioritize failure-based learning scenarios: Create safe opportunities to experience what could go wrong. Simulate contamination events, equipment malfunctions, teamwork failures. Build excellence through resilience.

We know, deep in our beings, that reading doesn’t create competency, but here we are, dutifully chanting “read and understand” like an incantation, casting absurd protection spells from regulatory scrutiny.

Guys, we’re running out of candles, better submit a purchase order.