The 70-20-10 Rule
Whether your services include training and educational components or you offer public speaking as a marketing tool or you simply sit in an office from 9-5 providing traditional counseling, you need to know the 70-20-10 Rule. This is a learning development concept that came out of the Center for Creative Leadership.
The gist of the 70-20-10 Rule is that
- 10% of an individual’s learning takes place through formal training;
- 20% of that same individual’s learning comes from feedback and interacting with others about the material to be learned; and,
- 70% of that learning comes from the actual application of the information being learned.
And, What It Means To You (and Me)
So what does that mean for your own learning and that of your client?
It means that . . . 90% of what your client gets happens outside of your presence . . . unless you are having your client practice in the office with you.
It means that . . . having your client interact with others i.e. discussing, teaching, or otherwise sharing this material is twice as valuable as you simply passing the information along.
And, what does that mean for you and me here at Private Practice from the Inside Out?
It means that I can share and you can read all sorts of nuggets of truth about how to build an amazing private practice but . . . it doubles your chance of success if you simply
- talk about what you are reading here with your colleagues at home OR
- discuss it on online discussion lists with other mental health professionals OR
- interact with me here by commenting on what you read.
And, of course, if you choose to intentionally act on any of the information that you read, you are seven times as likely to actually learn and integrate that information into your practice !
So . . . Here’s Your Challenge!
Before you close this window on your computer and move on to something else . . . . Drop in for a moment to share your thoughts about what you’re learning. Tell me how it applies to you. Or, put time on your calendar tomorrow to tell a colleague about what you read here. Or, commit to shooting an email to one of the discussion lists that you are on to share what you are learning. Send a Tweet. Post it on LinkedIn or Facebook! Find ways to talk about what it is that you want to integrate into marketing your private practice because . . . it matters.
Your nugget of wisdom rings true again. Often I teach children muscle relaxation using animal examples. Then they teach their parent/caregiver at the end of session. Then they are told to go home and practice. At the next visit it is obvious which child and caregiver went home and practiced since last session. So, with 90% learned outside of our presence it is so important that we help clients to have some good choices to choose from after they leave. I started the Facebook page “Play Therapy of North Georgia” as a place to share techniques and ideas to help child counselors reinforce what we learn. My memory isn’t as sharp as it used to be and your tips offer another tool to ensure our trainings and readings stay in our working memory! Thanks Tamara!!
Robin! Welcome back! I love your idea of teaching children using animals as examples! What a fabulous idea!
I’m not on Facebook but have taken a peek at your Play Therapy of North Georgia page. You are curating an amazing set of resources there!
Thanks so much for continuing to read this blog and for continuing to share your ideas with us! Have a great day!
What I am learning about private practice is that it’s somewhat jungle like. there are so many ways you can go, either independent, group, or otherwise. I am learning that it is a growth process for me as I explore my true desires as a therapist and business person. I am learning about patience and trust, flexibility, and hope for the future of what I hope to one day be a thriving business. I am also learning hard lessons about balance, self care and priorities. Somehow I think this is a lifelong process, and I am excited to see what is in store for me as a private practitioner.
Jill, you are so right! It’s a very complex thing . . . being in business for yourself. There are many paths to the same end and there are many ends to the same path. Your willingness to be reflective and reflexive will strengthen your business. And your willingness to be patient and hopeful will strengthen you.
Entrepreneuering, in general, and building a private practice in mental health, in particular, are not for the faint of heart. For those who are not able to flex and bend, starting a business from scratch is incredibly difficult. It takes a strong foundation and it takes a fair amount of determination and creativity to continually reinvent your business.
It is a lifelong process . . . a lifelong adventure that never gets boring. In fact, if I meet a counselor who says that they are bored in their practice, I know that that business is in need of some serious first aid if it is to survive.
With vacation, I had less time to interact on Twitter & Facebook. But, it seemed like my interactions were better. Maybe I was more focused. So, I am trying to apply that now that vacation has ended.
Hi, JoAnn! Oh, I like that ! Sometimes less really is more! I’m taking your lead and trying to focus a bit better, too! Thanks for the reminder!
I know both Robin and Jill from Facebook.
Whether I’m training play therapists or parents or working directly with child clients the experiential component is critical. They can listen to me talk all day and they can read my handouts but they’re not going to find results until they start using those tools.
Hi, Pam! It’s good to have your voice in here! I’m so with you on this one! I just got approved to present a 6 hour Learning Institute at the American Counseling Association’s 2012 Annual Conference in March. It’s 6 hours of non-stop experiential using sculpting and drama games to look at how therapists’ personal histories contaminate the clinical hour. Can’t imagine anyone would want to hear me lecture for 6 hours . . . . But THIS! THIS is going to be great FUN!
Tamara that sounds so much fun! I just know the workshops I remember most are always the experiential ones, like the other month when I went to do sandtray training, and we maid 6-7 sandtrays in two days. I will always remember how I learned and also felt pretty relaxed afterwards.
Ooooh, Jill! I’m so jealous that you are getting all of that good sandtray training! I’m sure you’ve got some skills that I could use!
Thanks for sharing this information, Tamara
I find this very interesting…it suggests that as clinicians we should strive to have our clients practice or role play some of the things that they are learning in the office with us and/or that we should ask them to try to apply what they have figured out or learned in the real world as soon as possible so that it truly becomes a part of who they are.
It is probably because of this 70-20-10 rule that social workers work in the field in placement – 3 days a week while they are studying – aside from what we were learning from our supervisors, we were given the opportunity to apply immediately what we were learning in class…
DorleeM! It’s so good to have your voice back here! I’ve missed you! You are exactly right about that field place experience! It’s the glue that makes all those facts and theories come to life! (And, makes all those old profs make sense!)
I have to agree that for me 70% sounds about right. I am more of an experiential learner, so sitting in conferences or reading does not really cut it for me, but if I’m able to take my 10% of conference learning and put it directly into my practice with my clients, things seems to solidify and it becomes yet another tool in the “toolbox” for me.
Hi, John! Welcome to Private Practice from the Inside Out! I’m happy to have your voice here! Is there anything that you need to talk about that will help you keep moving ahead on growing your business? If so, this is a good place to “say it out loud!”
Great post as always! Thank you for all your words of wisdom!
Welcome back, Jessica! And, thanks for your kind words!
thanks for the welcome, been following for months and finding many thing helpful. no specifics at the moment, just trying to cover all the bases, and get things rolling over here
Excellent! I hope you’ll let me know when you think of a topic that would be useful to you that I’m missing! And, thanks for following me!
Great post. Lately I have been learning how to incorporate client feedback into my work with clients using the Outcome Rating Scale. I have learned more about it (how to administer, score, and relate back to client experience) from actually doing it. It seems that the 70% rule applies here! Often after reading about a technique I turn around and it try it on the next client.
I feel sorry for those people 😛
Have a great Tuesday!
Hi, Sean! It’s good to have you back here! I love that you are using the ORS! How cool! Care to share any tips with us about using it?
Tamara,
You have some excellent points about not just reading but responding. With just starting a new business, the therapy part is going great, however the business aspect of it is totally new to me, as is the internet part. I tend to repeat the more generalized information face to face which helps me learn and gives me a confidence boost. However my internet response are much slower and much fewer.. I need to remember to not just read a little everyday but to also do a little more responding each time I am at the internet. This article gives me the little momentum nudge, Thank you! Antoinette
Antoinette! I’m so tickled to see you here! By taking the time to respond in writing to the information you are learning – whether it’s writing in long-hand or it’s “writing” in an email or on a blog – all of those ways should reinforce, (and, as Pennebaker says . . . ) speed up, and solidify your learning.
And, I can also say that as a blogger, I so appreciate folks willing to interact with me and with each other here as we continue to build our online community and our online resources, too!
I am saving your “challenge” to post it above my desk as I get settled into my new home and new home office space next week.
Sally! It’s so good to hear from you! Thanks for taking time to drop in and share your plan! I’m excited for your “settling in” and hope to get an update on that challenge, too!
I try to share and discuss my work through social media as much as I can. I found that it helps build confidence by getting peer feedback. I enjoy the dialogs on LinkedIn and other sites…
Being in my own business however, I am hoping to reach more potential clients and that is a big challenge….especially since I am an art therapist (and NJ does not have licensure, so I can not accept insurance)…but between consulting and and other endevours I think I am doing ok.
I sometimes get spam on my website blog….very annoying…does that happen to anyone else? Most of the time however, I do get nice comments and feedback.
Pamela! It’s good to hear from you! Thanks for dropping in to chat! I see that you are involved in lots of different tools of social media. That’s really a great way to build your practice and reach a lot of potential clients and referral sources!
Your website is lovely! I love the brilliant colors and all the information that you are providing on your blog. You are posting really useful information that not many other art therapists are sharing yet so I would say keep up the good work!
I am confused though about your statement about licensure. Your comment above says that art therapists cannot be licensed in NJ but then your website says that you are licensed as an art therapist and child specialist. Did I misunderstand something?
I, too, get lots of spam. I cannot tell what platform your blog is on. However, WordPress has a terrific plugin that I use that catches virtually every piece of spam. I just click a button and “poof” it’s in the “trash.” It literally saves me hours and I don’t miss the comments that I value like yours. You might want to check that out if you are on WordPress and are tech-savvy.