Having just celebrated 40 years as a member of the workforce, I would like to use this month’s column to offer a personal reflection. What is the most important lesson that I have learned in all those years as a corporate training manager?

My answer will doubtless depress training purists. The main lesson has nothing to do with the psychology of individual learning, the techniques of instruction or, still less, the minutiae of evaluation. The main lesson is about the management of training and safeguarding relationships in the organisation.

The underlying point is simple: never get between the dog and the lamp-post. Let me illustrate through an example of a failure to observe that maxim. This occurred when I was head of human resource development at NatWest Markets between 1992 and 1995.

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