The first Big Game I remember watching was the 1985 contest, when my older brother and I sat on a shag carpet at a family friend's house. It was the San Francisco 49ers vs. the Miami Dolphins: Joe Montana vs. Dan Marino. Given that we *had to* root for opposing sides, my brother chose the Dolphins and eternal misery, whereas I lucked into the 49ers and grew up in the glow of the Montana/Young/Rice era. š
These days, when I see the screen split into three sections of Fantasy stats or watch the Peyton/Eli Monday Night Football live stream, Iām impressed with how far production value has come. Still, I wish the league would bring back an all-time favorite (with or without the grainy analog footage): the 1980s and early 1990s interactive football broadcast, āYou Make the Callā (presented by IBM).
Ice Cube puts it best: āThese were cool because these were plays that could teeter-totter.ā
Great question! Hereās the play-by-play.
The answer is not obvious, so the audience has to think. A lot. š¤ Far too many compliance training scenarios require zero actual business judgment. (If we need to teach our colleagues that insider trading is illegal, we probably shouldnāt have hired them in the first place.)
Judgment is the core of what made this series simple yet compelling. The answers are based on understanding the rules, but they also require interpretation of auditory and visual cues.
If your training videos are funny but donāt improve judgment or situational pattern recognition on gray-area issues, they arenāt helping you achieve better compliance outcomes.
Audience debate is implicit in the narratorās challenge. This ad spot was usually played at the beginning of a commercial break, and I recall numerous spirited *ahem* ādiscussionsā with my family about the correct call.
And thatās exactly what we strive for in compliance!
Facilitated, discussion-based training in compliance is essential because it encourages conversation about ethical issues in real-time.
Pro tip: Donāt be cheesy about itāno, compliance Pictionary is NOT allowed.
(Source: The Office)
If you want some help getting started, we have guides and professional guidance to kickstart your discussion-based program.
IBM and the NFL were happy to facilitate my education in the rules of the gameāone engaging concept and one week at a time. You could do a lot worse than educating your colleagues using this formula and cadence. (They might even look forward to it.)
Youāll also notice that the NFL never dedicated a segment to reading the entire rulebook to fans. Likewise, compliance teams shouldnāt still rely predominantly on all-inclusive annual training.
If we had DVR back in the day, you can bet weād be rewinding and rewatching those clips to get all the details. š¼
But, I live in the real world. I realize that nobody will ever want to re-watch a compliance video, no matter how great it is. (Well, maybe?)
So, we need to adjust our expectations: A rewatchable compliance training video is one thatās both short and easy to access. (Like all the videos available here!)
It is NOT a 32-minute rehash of the first half of your code of conduct. Compliance is an open-book test, but expecting an employee to sift through 32 minutes of content to find the 30-second segment on non-retaliation is a waste of employee time and company money.
On the other hand, a 45-second video linked in your code and resource library on your intranet site under an easily searchable term will likely get some plays.
If you find yourself seated on shag carpet next weekend, debating a call about a pivotal play, think back to all those IBM segments that inspired a generation to not-argue š with their families about football.
And then think about how it applies to compliance.
Psych! Donāt do that (unless you want to). Just sit back and enjoy the game.
P.S. Go Chiefs!
P.P.S. Because we're compliance geeks, we didn't use the real name of this event. But perhaps we should haveāwhat do you think? You make the call!