Training Expectations

You've got twelve people and one hour booked at next week's offsite. Can someone teach your team to do continuous discovery in that hour? Teresa Torres's answer is a flat no — and this episode is about why.

Petra Wille and Teresa Torres unpack one of the most common requests they get during offsite-and-strategy season: "Can you teach my team continuous discovery in a single session?" Petra often gets requests like this: "We want our product people to take more ownership. Could you do a keynote at our all-hands that gets that going?" The problem, they argue, is a mismatch — people ask for a service (a talk, a workshop) expecting a benefit (a capable, habit-driven team) that the service simply can't deliver. They separate know-how from skill, explain why real capability is built in a "gym" of repeated practice rather than a one-hour download, and get honest about what a talk, a four-hour workshop, and a full coaching program can each realistically achieve.

If you're the one buying — or delivering — team training, this is a practical guide to calibrating expectations before anyone books the room.