I am amazed how some companies have separate curriculum development departments and learning/training departments. Does it stem from lack of understanding the teaching and learning process? Do they feel there is enough interdepartmental cooperation and communication to justify it?

The first education and training company I worked at believed in the synthesis of the company's What and How, that is, the pure blending of content and its delivery. Finding success in that model of blended curriculum and delivery work fostered even closer working arrangements between us that necessitated overlap and mutual reliance. It was our own version of the Apple model where hardware and software are built together.

What was achieved by this model was strong alignment in both company products and internal training. It took the piecemeal feel out of training and development and made it work the same way as company branding processes do: lay it all out and make it all part of the same family.

It seems like for some companies—including some major ones—there is a fear of having too many people in a department or of an impression that writers are not trainers or...something.

I just hope that it is not the writers who are positioning themselves solely as writers and not trainers/teachers/facilitators, or vice versa. Learning how to do both to some degree, even if more talent lies in one area, is so crucial for helping people learn because writing content and delivering it creates an appreciation and understanding for the challenges and needs of each area, which facilitates deeper quality and better serving of the client/learner.