What we don't know can hurt us.

Leadership and Self-Deception, 2002, 17 min., CRM Learning (800-421-0833, www.crmlearning.com), $895. Leader guide, handouts, participant guide, PowerPoint slides.

When considering all of the other training programs in this review, Leadership and Self-Deception stands alone. Unlike the traditional training programs with bulleted lists and didactic narratives, this video is a story metaphor.

It is the true story of Ignaz Semmelweis, a doctor at Vienna General Hospital in the mid-1800s. Semmelweis is a new doctor assigned to a maternity ward. Before long, he notices his ward's illness and death rate are markedly higher than the other maternity ward's. He becomes obsessed with determining the cause, yet none of his attempted solutions work.

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Two events lead him to the correct answer. First, while he is out of town, his ward's illness and death rate drops. Dr. Semmelweis compares himself to his temporary replacement doctor and discovers the new doctor did not perform autopsies. Likewise, the midwives who attend maternity ward two do not perform autopsies. He wonders if participation in routine autopsies might be connected to the higher illness and death rate. Second, a bloodstained medical instrument accidentally pierces another doctor's hand during an autopsy. He subsequently falls ill and dies from the same disease plaguing the pregnant women.

After this incident, Dr. Semmelweis finally realizes the connection between hand washing and germ transfer. He himself had spread the disease throughout maternity ward one! Unfortunately, the elder doctors scoff at his revelation, saying, "Blood stains are the sign of an experienced surgeon!" But Dr. Semmelweis persists, and as soon as he mandates hand washing by every person entering his ward, the illness and death rate drops. The moral of the story is that we often overlook the real cause of a problem ... ourselves.

The story is well told, yet it is a little slow moving at times. While watching the video, I did not see the connection between the story and leadership, and viewers may miss the association as well. However, at the very end of the video, the narrator mentions leadership and says that we must examine ourselves in the midst of our situation because we might be the cause of the problem. The facilitator then needs to draw out the learning principles in the rest of the training program, discussing the story metaphor and its leadership correlation.

Fortunately, the leaders guide provides everything a facilitator will need to effectively run this program. It includes a "leader script" to direct the course, a PowerPoint presentation, master participant handouts, and classroom activities including case studies and assessment surveys. All of these materials are of excellent quality.

The guide also includes specific directions for facilitating two separate training sessions. The first session is four hours and covers the basics of self-deception. The second session is just over two hours and explores the concept in more detail. Facilitators can present only session one, or they can offer a two-part course using both sessions. If both sessions are taught, participants will have to read the Leadership and Self-Deception book between sessions. Facilitators will need to know their audience well to determine which training program will work best for them.

The one-session plan might work well as a preface to another program in this review, Would I Follow Me?, which is based on the premise that leaders often cause their own problems.

RECOMMENDATION

The video story metaphor offers a refreshing change from ordinary training programs. The biggest challenge may be the material because self-deception is not often presented in leadership training programs.

Leadership and Self-Deception star rating

CATEGORY

Holds viewer interest  3
Acting/Presenting      4
Diversity              NA
Production quality     4
Value of content       3
Instructional value    3
Value for the money    3
Overall rating         3.5