--- title: Pitfalls of Technology Training description: Learn why traditional tech training fails with Rich Adams of Dropbox, and discover role-based, data-driven strategies for improving software adoption. image: https://learning.iorad.com/hubfs/Adoption%20Curve/Episode%20KV/AC_Rich_Adams_iorad_web.webp --- [![iorad](https://learning.iorad.com/hubfs/Iored%20Theme%202021/Images/iorad%20logo%20DONT%20DELETE.png)](https://www.iorad.com/) - Product #### Individual [Tutorial Privacy Control who views your tutorials](https://www.iorad.com/pricing/feature/tutorial-privacy) [Mask Data Control who views your tutorials](https://www.iorad.com/pricing/feature/mask-data) [Basic Audio Text-to-speech & custom voiceovers](https://www.iorad.com/pricing/feature/basic-audio) #### Team [Branding Add custom branding](https://www.iorad.com/pricing/feature/custom-branding) [Premium Audio Neural voiceovers and CC](https://www.iorad.com/pricing/feature/premium-audio) [Collaboration Co-edit and publish tutorials](https://www.iorad.com/pricing/feature/team-collab) [Analytics See tutorial performance](https://www.iorad.com/pricing/feature/analytics) #### Enterprise [Translations Automatic language translation](https://www.iorad.com/pricing/feature/translations) [Team Accounts Allocate separate accounts](https://www.iorad.com/pricing/feature/team-collab) [Encrypt & Anti-Track Strict compliance & additional data protection](https://www.iorad.com/pricing/feature/encrypt-and-anti-track) [All plans & Features →](https://www.iorad.com/features) - Resources #### Support [Help Center](https://www.iorad.com/resources/help-center) [Learning Hub](https://learning.iorad.com) [Schedule Demo](https://www.iorad.com/demo) #### Customers [Testimonials](https://www.iorad.com/testimonials) [Case Studies](https://learning.iorad.com/customer-stories?_ga=2.48225895.1718347252.1788801042-1263284910.1780521832) #### Marketplace [Partnerships](https://www.iorad.com/partner-programs) [Integrations](https://www.iorad.com/connectIntegrations) [Services](https://www.iorad.com/services) #### Company [Privacy Policy](https://www.iorad.com/privacypolicy) [About Us](https://www.iorad.com/meet-the-team) - Use Cases [EDU](https://www.iorad.com/use-cases/education) [Customer Training](https://www.iorad.com/use-cases/customer-training) [Sales Enablement](https://www.iorad.com/use-cases/sales-enablement) [Learning & Development](https://www.iorad.com/use-cases/learning-and-development) [HR](https://www.iorad.com/use-cases/human-resources) [Product Management](https://www.iorad.com/use-cases/product-management) [I.T.](https://www.iorad.com/use-cases/information-technology) [Operations](https://www.iorad.com/use-cases/operations) [All Use Cases →](https://www.iorad.com/use-cases) - [Pricing](https://www.iorad.com/pricing) [Try it Free](https://www.iorad.com/signup) [Sign In](https://www.iorad.com/login) The Adoption Curve # pitfalls of technology training In this weeks episode, we dive into the pitfalls of traditional technology training to better understand where and why it fails. Scroll to the end and get your free adoption template!  [Read](https://learning.iorad.com/the-adoption-curve/pitfalls-of-technology-training#read) [Watch](https://learning.iorad.com/the-adoption-curve/pitfalls-of-technology-training#watch) [Listen](https://learning.iorad.com/the-adoption-curve/pitfalls-of-technology-training#listen) ![Rich Adams-1](https://learning.iorad.com/hubfs/Rich%20Adams-1.jpeg) Featuring ## Rich Adams Senior Enablement Partner @ Dropbox [Learning Hub](https://learning.iorad.com/) → [Adoption Curve](https://learning.iorad.com/the-adoption-curve) → pitfalls of technology training ## What you'll learn - The "Why" Matters Most: Why understanding personal value is the key to technology adoption. - Using Data to Drive Adoption: Tracking usage patters to create targeted tutorials. - From Training Events to Learning Journeys: How Rich flipped traditional training on its head. ## Meet our guest Rich is a technology adoption and sales enablement expert with a proven track record in scaling training programs for high-growth organizations. During the height of the pandemic, he led a critical Salesforce Lightning migration at Zoom, ensuring seamless adoption at a pivotal time for the rapidly scaling video communications platform. Now, as the Senior Enablement Partner at Dropbox, Rich continues to drive effective technology adoption and empower teams for success. ![Rich Adams-1](https://learning.iorad.com/hubfs/Rich%20Adams-1.jpeg) Featuring ### Rich Adams Senior Enablement Partner @ Dropbox [Connect](https://www.linkedin.com/in/richhadams) ## Why Traditional Tech Training Fails (And How to Fix it) **Background context:** When Rich was tasked with migrating Zoom's entire company from Salesforce Classic to Salesforce Lightning during the pandemic, he faced a monumental challenge. The migration would impact nearly 90% of the company, with thousands of employees spread across the globe—all using Salesforce differently based on their roles. Traditional approaches weren't cutting it. Long-form training videos and conventional sessions were proving ineffective as the company scaled rapidly during COVID. With the pressure of being a mission-critical platform during a global crisis, Rich needed a fundamentally different approach to technology adoption. 🎤 *"we were at a point where we had tried long videos and relied heavily on long-form training, and it just wasn't working. With a massively growing organization with a ton of tools and a ton of complexity, we needed to really shift how we thought about enabling our team on the tech stack across the entire company."* *- Rich Adams* Focus on the "Why" for Each Role Rich discovered that the number one reason technology adoption fails is that users don't understand how new tools help them personally. Organizations often push new technology from leadership without explaining the specific benefits to individual users. Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, Rich implemented role-specific training that directly addressed how the technology would improve each person's workflow and objectives. 🎤 *"when I say, 'Hey, tell me about the experience of learning how to use these tools.' The number one piece of feedback I get is they just don't understand why it helps them. They've seen the training, they've probably resisted it at times, but they just don't understand how it actually helps them in their role. This is a really simple switch—focus deliberately around how it helps each person in the organization by their role."* *- Rich Adams* ![Question Mark](https://learning.iorad.com/hubfs/Question%20Mark.png) Flip Traditional Training Upside Down Rather than conducting endless training sessions attempting to cover every feature, Rich made a bold decision to completely invert the training approach. Instead of using live sessions to deliver comprehensive product training, he used them to teach people how to self-serve and access just-in-time learning resources. This approach acknowledged the reality of the forgetting curve and the impracticality of training thousands of global employees on every possible scenario. 🎤 *"What if we flipped this on its head and said, what if we use the live training sessions to actually teach people how to use the tutorials and how to self-serve to learn as they're in the tool? Because nobody wants to go to a training and then go back to Salesforce or whatever tool they're in and try to remember what they had. They want to have it at their fingertips. They want it contextual. They want it just in time." \- Rich Adams* ![Lighbulb](https://learning.iorad.com/hubfs/Lighbulb.png) Use Data to Identify and Address Adoption Barriers Rather than guessing where users would struggle, Rich implemented a data-driven approach to identify specific pain points. His team tracked metrics like how often users switched back to the old system, what page they were on when they did so, and collected feedback through short surveys. This real-time data allowed them to quickly build targeted tutorials for common issues and deliver them proactively to users who needed them most. *🎤 "One of the metrics that we were looking at was how often a user was switching back from Salesforce Lightning to Classic, actually capturing what page they were on, what their user profile was, and they were required to fill out a short survey to say, 'Hey, what happened? Why did you need to switch back?' We leveraged that data to pick up on trends and themes to then continue to bolster our training documentation. The next time they log in, we can actually serve up that tutorial to them through their browser." \- Rich Adams* ![magnifyingglass 1](https://learning.iorad.com/hubfs/magnifyingglass%201.png) ## Downloadable Resources Workbook ### WIIFM Workbook A practical guide to aligning technology, roles, and KPIs, for maximum ROI. [Download](https://learning.iorad.com/hubfs/WIIFM%20Workbook.pdf) [![Listen on Spotify](https://learning.iorad.com/hubfs/Spotify-1.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/4ssYB86WZaCLInE0WKVH9l) [![Listen on Apple Podcasts](https://learning.iorad.com/hubfs/Apple%20Podcast.png)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-adoption-curve/id1799752791) ## Explore the Adoption Curve Library Access all episodes in our on-demand library. Download customized training content, connect with industry experts, and more! 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