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The 5 Most Common PD Mistakes With Adults (and How to Fix Them)
You poured in time, money, and hope, and Monday still behaved like last Monday. I have felt that sting—big energy in the room, same obstacles the next day. If folks left inspired and defaulted by Tuesday, the design failed them. Not the people. This is not about pushing harder. It is about designing smarter and braver, and having the humility to revise what does not work.
1) Talking at people instead of designing for purpose.
If your session is a lecture in disguise, adults will time-travel in their minds to the laundry they forgot to switch. Adults learn best when content is relevant, problem-centered, and tied to real work. Start with their challenges, not your slides. Give choice, real cases, and space to apply. Then shut up long enough for them to think.
How to fix it: Open with a job-anchored scenario, let learners pick paths, and have them produce something they can use tomorrow.
2) Treating PD like a one-day pep rally.
Great PD is not a field trip. It is a practice. Adults need time, cycles of try-reflect-refine, coaching, and job-embedded follow-up. Otherwise you get “inspirational Wednesday” followed by “nothing changed Monday.”
How to fix it: Build a simple learning arc: short workshop, classroom try, quick coaching touch, peer debrief, repeat. Protect calendar time like it is sacred.
3) One-size-fits-all everything.
Your audience is not a monolith. Adults bring different experiences, goals, constraints, and readiness. When PD ignores that, people disengage or feel talked down to. Design for relevance and flexibility, use multiple modalities, and let them steer.
How to fix it: Offer tracks or menus, mix formats (demo, practice, micro-read), and build in reflection that honors prior experience.
4) Skipping culture: low trust, low transfer.
If the room is not psychologically safe, people will perform agreement and change nothing. Adults learn better in collaborative spaces where they can wrestle with ideas, get feedback, and try again without fear of looking foolish.
How to fix it: Set clear norms, model vulnerability, use protocols that balance airtime, and normalize “draft” thinking and peer coaching.
5) Measuring smiles, not impact.
A stack of happy surveys is not the same as better practice. Adults deserve PD that actually moves outcomes. Tie learning goals to observable changes and follow the evidence past the session.
How to fix it: Define success up front, gather quick evidence of use (artifacts, brief observations, learner work), and adjust the support, not just the slide deck.
Quick build checklist
- Start with a real problem your audience cares about.
- Give choice and let experience lead.
- Plan a series, not an event.
- Coach and collaborate on the job.
- Measure what changes, then iterate.
Why this works
Adult learning thrives on relevance, autonomy, and practice in context. When you design for purpose, build in cycles, honor experience, and support transfer, you get growth that sticks. And yes, it can still be fun. Courage, curiosity, and a little humor go a long way.
