No ordinary boot camp. 2001

N M Tichy
University of Michigan Business School, Ann Arbor, USA. tichy@umich.edu

Many companies now run boot camps--comprehensive orientation programs designed to help new hires hit the ground running. They're intense and intimidating, and new employees emerge from them with strong bonds to other recruits and to the organization. But at Trilogy, organizational consultant Noel Tichy discovered one program that's a breed apart. In this article, Tichy gives us a detailed tour of Trilogy's boot camp, Trilogy University, to demonstrate why it's so different--and so effective. Like the best boot camps, it serves as an immersion in both the technical skills new recruits will need for their jobs and Trilogy's corporate culture, which emphasizes risk-taking, teamwork, humility, and a strong customer focus. But this is a new-employee orientation session that's so fundamental to the company as a whole that it's presided over by the CEO and top corporate executives for fully six months of the year. Why? In two three-month sessions, these top executives hone their own strategic thinking about the company as they decide what to teach the new recruits each session. They also find the company's next generation of new products as they judge the innovative ideas the recruits are tasked with developing--making the program Trilogy's main R&D engine. And they pull the company's rising technical stars into mentoring roles for the new recruits, helping to build the next generation of top leadership. After spending months on-site studying Trilogy University, Tichy came away highly impressed by the power of the virtuous teaching cycle the program has set in motion. Leaders of the organization are learning from recruits at the same time that the recruits are learning from the leaders. It's a model, he argues, that other companies would do well to emulate.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007318 Inservice Training On the job training programs for personnel carried out within an institution or agency. It includes orientation programs. Employee Orientation Programs,Orientation Programs, Employee,On-the-Job Training,Training, Inservice,Employee Orientation Program,On the Job Training,Orientation Program, Employee,Program, Employee Orientation,Programs, Employee Orientation,Training, On-the-Job
D007857 Leadership The function of directing or controlling the actions or attitudes of an individual or group with more or less willing acquiescence of the followers. Influentials
D008611 Mentors Senior professionals who provide guidance, direction and support to those persons desirous of improvement in academic positions, administrative positions or other career development situations. Mentorships,Mentor,Mentorship
D009936 Organizational Innovation Introduction of changes which are new to the organization and are created by management. Organizational Change,Change, Organizational,Innovation, Organizational,Changes, Organizational,Innovations, Organizational,Organizational Changes,Organizational Innovations
D009937 Organizational Objectives The purposes, missions, and goals of an individual organization or its units, established through administrative processes. It includes an organization's long-range plans and administrative philosophy. Goal Setting, Organizational,Goals, Organizational,Objectives, Organizational,Organizational Goals,Goal Settings, Organizational,Goal, Organizational,Objective, Organizational,Organizational Goal,Organizational Goal Setting,Organizational Goal Settings,Organizational Objective,Setting, Organizational Goal,Settings, Organizational Goal
D003299 Cooperative Behavior The interaction of two or more persons or organizations directed toward a common goal which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action. (From Random House Dictionary Unabridged, 2d ed) Compliant Behavior,Behavior, Compliant,Behavior, Cooperative,Compliant Behaviors,Cooperative Behaviors
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D013663 Teaching A formal and organized process of transmitting knowledge to a person or group. Teaching Method,Training Activity,Training Technique,Academic Training,Educational Technics,Educational Techniques,Pedagogy,Teaching Methods,Technics, Educational,Techniques, Educational,Training Activities,Training Technics,Training Techniques,Activities, Training,Activity, Training,Educational Technic,Educational Technique,Method, Teaching,Methods, Teaching,Pedagogies,Technic, Educational,Technic, Training,Technics, Training,Technique, Educational,Technique, Training,Techniques, Training,Training Technic,Training, Academic
D014481 United States A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D015279 Organizational Culture Beliefs and values shared by all members of the organization. These shared values, which are subject to change, are reflected in the day to day management of the organization. Corporate Culture,Corporate Cultures,Culture, Corporate,Culture, Organizational,Cultures, Corporate,Cultures, Organizational,Organizational Cultures

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