Remember when you learned to drive? Is that a happy memory? If not, your training process might have looked something like this:

Trainer: Let’s turn left at the light when it turns green.

You: OK. (You begin to turn left)

Trainer: Watch out for that blue car!

You: What blue car? (A panicky scan of the intersection, looking for a blue car, as you start veering out of your lane)

Trainer: The one approaching the light! And don’t drift into the other lane! You need to pay better attention!

You: Oh, sorry! I thought he was too far away to worry about. Maybe I should pull over and let you drive us home.

Fun, huh? This is how it feels when a trainer focuses on the learner’s failures and deficiencies rather than building on their strengths. Focusing on the negative is a universal pitfall across many disciplines—and is the basis for a common training strategy called the deficit model. This strategy assumes a lack of information on the learner’s part and tries to fill in their knowledge gaps to meet the academic or business need.

The deficit model seems like a straightforward way to fix performance issues: if an employee doesn’t know how to work with spreadsheets, train them on Excel. But at a deeper level, it can create unhelpful expectations: if a new hire comes from a resource-poor background, trainers might assume they lack basic capabilities and place them in a category where their training is too basic and their job outlook too limited.

The deficit model has several drawbacks:
• Makes learners focus on their lack of knowledge
• Doesn’t encourage learners to reach their full potential or go beyond their training
• Gives learners a generally negative attitude, inhibiting motivation
• Excludes people, who are assumed to have deficits, from certain opportunities

To move beyond the deficit model, trainers need to shift their focus from the negative to the positive and adopt an asset model, which is designed to build on a learner’s strengths rather than fix their problems. Where the deficit model asks, “what don’t you know?”, the asset model asks, “what’s your potential?” Where the deficit model asks, “how do we fix what’s broken?”, the asset model asks, “how do we create something great?”

Training based on an asset model doesn’t ignore gaps in knowledge—it just shifts the focus from the learner’s weaknesses to their strengths. This shift has far-reaching effects: it tends to result in greater confidence, reduced fear of failure, better likelihood of future success, and more available talent for the company. Asset model theory has a parallel in the abundance mindset, a term coined by leadership guru Stephen Covey. According to Covey, abundance is a concept in which a person believes there are enough resources and successes to share with others. When employees have this mindset, they feel empowered, engaged, and excited about challenges—ideal qualities to help a company thrive.

Follow these best practices to motivate your employees through training based on the asset model:

Assume each learner is equally capable, regardless of background. When designing a training module or teaching a class, think about what your learners bring to the table and build upon that. Look at the diversity of background as fuel for inspiration rather than as a challenge to overcome. Taking an asset-based approach can unlock the potential of learners in marginalized groups who might have been overlooked or underestimated in a deficit-based system.

Give learners a clear path to achieve ambitious goals.
The goal of training is to change behavior and give the learner skills they didn’t have before. So, why not aim high? When training includes a gamification element, learners are motivated to rise to the challenge of performing tasks and exceeding expectations. Even if the task is as simple as making a pizza, it’s exciting to draw on personal talents to solve problems in the best and most efficient way possible.

Provide resources that empower learners to solve problems on their own.
When you give employees more personal autonomy, it sends a powerful signal that you trust them and expect them to contribute innovative solutions without being asked. Rather than map out the steps of every process for your employees, let your employees make the map. If you do this, you’ll be building a community of leaders rather than a gaggle of followers.