Genevieve Taylor’s Blog

What a provocative concept – sharing training materials for the greater good.

Sharing Training Materials: A Good Idea, But Will Companies Participate? — EDF Innovation Exchange Blog.

I know green teams that are simply desperate for this training materials, particularly with regards to how they spur action and a mindset change on the part of their colleagues in the workplace.

As a trainer myself, I must admit to some reservation for sharing my training materials.  They are the product of hours of direct work, and years of indirect work thinking, talking, and contemplating on a given subject.  It takes an enormous amount of trust in… the universe? in good will? that something will come out of that effort when it is trusted to an open space.

On the other hand, I know that we are all figuring out how sustainability works; and the points that Jim Jubelirer, the author, makes are compelling reasons to join in the fun:

• Being recognized as a leader
• Creating “brownie points” for individuals within companies (e.g., tying to professional development credentials or company certification ratings)
• Quid pro quo – contribute in order to receive/use materials
• Supplier/partner network – potential to incent suppliers or customers in exchange for other value
• Leveraging existing partnerships and networks that have already created public materials

It truly stems from a new idea of what intellectual property is, and he suggests that authors become recognized via the Creative Commons licensing – a way to both be acknowledged and also to have your work build on something greater.  The benefit most attractive to me is that ultimately, my work may benefit from participating in an effort like this, and a vision of a world that “Thrives in Perpetuity” (Adam Werbach’s definition of sustainability) might be realized.

Some part of why this idea is compelling is because I know that my work is heavily influenced by the brave and thoughtful work of many others. I certainly see the hypocrisy in my sense of reservation.

Even more so, I am a strong believer in collaboration, and a great admirer of the way that Linux and Open Source were built (see my previous post reporting back from the Solutions Lab)  – perhaps this is a way to put my money where my mouth is.  Thanks, Jim, for leading the way!

What do you think?