Stop Treating Talent Like Common Sense

In a lot of entry-level manufacturing jobs, orientation involves “hands-in-pockets” training.  After some initial classroom time, new hires are paired with experienced operators to shadow on the job. The new hires aren’t allowed to do any work themselves; they’re instructed to “just watch” (hence the name “hands-in-pockets”).

On the surface, the logic for this approach seems sound: “hands-in-pockets” time should reduce the risk of new hires hurting themselves, damaging equipment, or disappointing customers while they’re still learning.

Unfortunately, though, the logic is flawed. Because watching ≠ learning.

What looks obvious to one person can be invisible to another — not because they’re not paying attention, but because they naturally focus on different things. So, after hours, days, or even weeks of “hands-in-pockets” training, most new hires still don’t know what to do, how to do it, or why any of it matters.

Most organizations diagnose this training failure as an individual problem — laziness, incompetence, poor leadership. But the real issue is more systemic. It’s about how we fundamentally misunderstand talent.

What is “Talent”?

If my husband and I drove past a car accident, and you asked each of us to share what we had seen, you would get two totally different responses.

I would tell you about the people: their condition, expressions, and my best guess about their social dynamics. My husband on the other hand would describe the vehicles, their damage, and could probably give you an estimate for repairs.

Now, it’s not like I wouldn’t have seen the vehicles, or that my husband wouldn’t have seen the people. But that’s not what we would have noticed.

And here’s why that’s important: everyone has things that they naturally look for – filters that determine what they notice (or miss). That natural focus is called “talent”.

When something comes naturally, you pick up details and patterns that no one has to tell you to look for. That’s because — you have a talent for it. A built-in focus that helps you dial-in to what’s important.

When “Common Sense” isn’t Common

Once you understand what talent really is, you can see why so many training programs fail. What feels obvious to you may be completely invisible to someone else — not because they’re careless, but because they naturally focus on different things.

Take music, for example. If you come from a musical family, you might assume that learning new songs “by ear” is common sense. After all, you taught yourself — and everyone in your family did too. 

So when someone asks you to teach them to play a song, you just say "watch".  Then, you listen to the song and play it. Next, you tell them to play it. But they can’t. They just stare back at you confused.

You play it again, telling them to pay close attention. (“Listen harder”.) But it doesn’t help. They’re just as lost as before.

Now you’re stuck — because to you, it’s just “common sense." 

This same scenario plays out in manufacturing training every day.

Why Talent Can Get in the Way of Training

When top performers excel because of talent, they’re usually completely unaware of how they got so good. Instead of recognizing their own talent, top performers often believe their approach is just common sense. So they chalk up their success to universal factors like “self-motivation” and “hard work”.

This creates a training blind spot.

When top performers become trainers, they often assume that all they need to do is demonstrate a procedure and learners will just “pick it up”. But that rarely works.

What usually happens instead, is they hit a wall. The subtle cues that they naturally notice—the feel of “not too tight”, the sound of “worn out”, how much time is “long enough” — are completely lost on learners.

And when the learners struggle, these well-meaning trainers fall back on the only guidance they know: watch me, try again, try harder.

Learner impact

This approach sets up learners for failure. Continually struggling to learn something that’s considered “common sense” is embarrassing and demoralizing. They begin to question their own competence, wondering why they can’t grasp what their trainer seems to find so obvious.

Over time, that discouragement can lead to disengagement — or worse, they quit entirely, taking the organization’s investment with them. The tragedy is that many of these employees might have succeeded with a different training approach.

Trainer impact

The frustration isn’t one-sided. When top performers are promoted into trainer positions, they find themselves in a role that requires completely different talents—talents that they may not have.

Yesterday they may have felt like stars; today they feel ineffective and stuck. Instead of excelling at the job they’re naturally good at and getting recognized for their strengths, they’re now struggling to explain what feels like common sense and getting blamed when learners don’t “get it”.

Over time, they feel increasingly desperate and isolated, afraid to admit they're failing at what everyone assumes should be simple. It’s a fast track to burnout and resentment.

Organizational impact

The problems don't end there. While learners quit and trainers burn out, organizations find themselves trapped in a cycle of dysfunction.

When issues arise — whether it's turnover, safety incidents, production problems, or quality issues — leaders point fingers. HR treats training like common sense and blames trainers for not trying hard enough. Trainers treat the job like common sense and blame HR for hiring poorly.

The result is unrealistic expectations, broken trust, and problems that never actually get solved.

The good news is this cycle isn’t inevitable. If organizations stop treating talent like common sense, they can design training and career paths that set up both learners and trainers for success.

A Few Places To Start

1.   Hire for talent.

Find out what makes your top performers different and hire people who think the same way. (Gallup has great insights for this in their book, First, Break All the Rules.)

2.   Select trainers for training talent.

Great performers don’t always make great trainers. Look for talents like: patience, empathy, curiosity, tenacity, etc.

3.   Improve observation-based training.

“Just watch” isn’t enough. Guide learners’ attention by setting clear objectives for what they must remember and apply. Consider alternative training approaches, such as TWI Job Instruction for procedures and eLearning for foundational concepts.

4.   Make space for practice.

Talent may make learning easier, but it doesn’t guarantee success. Don't write off employees who struggle initially. With hard work, deliberate practice, and timely constructive feedback, even learners without natural talent can grow into dependable, skilled employees.

5.   Match people to the right work.

Every job requires talent, but not the same talent. An employee who struggles in one job may excel at another. Identify the talents each job demands and help employees find their best fit.

6.   Let star employees stay star employees.

Create paths for recognition, reward, and advancement that let top performers keep doing the work they’re best at — without forcing them into training or management if that’s not their talent.

At the end of the day, talent determines what people notice — and what they miss.

As long as we keep blaming individuals — learners for being lazy, HR for hiring bad fits, trainers for not caring — we’ll keep getting the same results: failed programs, frustrated employees, and organizational dysfunction no amount of “trying harder” will fix.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

When we stop treating talent like common sense, we can start to recognize the unique talents that set our top performers apart. We can hire for the right talents, design training without blind spots, and create career paths that set up both learners and trainers for success.