The Kinda Method: A Tech Trainer's View on Half-Hearted Learning

As a computer trainer who spends my days teaching Microsoft Office, Teams, SharePoint, and more, I've become an unwitting expert in what I call "The Kinda Method."

You know what I'm talking about, that special approach where people kinda try to learn something new, kinda implement it, and then are completely baffled when they kinda don't get results.

The Tech Training Kinda Chronicles

"I kinda know Excel," says Karen from Accounting, who has been manually adding columns of numbers for seven years despite my offering three different Excel functions workshops.
"I kinda use SharePoint," explains Bob from Marketing, whose definition of document collaboration is emailing 17 versions of "FINAL_REPORT_FINAL_V2_ACTUALLY_FINAL.docx" to the entire team.
"I kinda attended your Teams training," mentions Susan from HR, who still sends meeting invites through separate emails and then wonders why nobody shows up.

As a tech trainer, these "kinda" learners are my daily bread and butter. They attend half of a workshop, implement a quarter of what they learned, then declare the software "too complicated" when it doesn't magically organize their digital life.

My Own Kinda Confessions

But before you think I'm just pointing fingers, let me be the first to admit: I'm a card-carrying member of the Kinda Club in many areas of my life.

I'm "kinda" on a diet right now. Well, I was kinda on a diet yesterday until Karen brought donuts to the Excel workshop. Then I was kinda back on it until dinner, when I decided that pasta doesn't count on Tuesdays. Now I'm kinda planning to restart tomorrow, which I've been kinda doing since 2018.

That's the thing about the Kinda Method—we all use it somewhere in our lives. I may be a full-commitment Excel wizard, but put me near a plate of cookies while discussing my fitness goals, and suddenly I'm the queen of half-measures.

The Technology Kinda Epidemic

In my years of training, I've noticed a fascinating pattern in how people "kinda" approach technology:
1. The Panic Phase: "I need to learn this new software immediately!"
2. The Workshop Phase: Attends training, nods enthusiastically, takes partial notes.
3. The Attempt Phase: Tries the first two steps they learned, encounters a minor obstacle.
4. The Abandonment Phase: "This doesn't work for me," reverts to inefficient old methods.
5. The Complaint Phase: "I tried learning it, but it's just not user-friendly."

It's the technological equivalent of buying an expensive treadmill that becomes an artistic clothing rack.

Why We Kinda Learn Technology

• I've spent years analyzing why intelligent professionals resist fully learning tools that would save them hours each week. Here's what I've discovered:
• Fear of looking incompetent: Many would rather struggle in private than admit they need help.
• The "Good Enough" trap: Their current methods haven't gotten them fired yet, so why change?
• Overwhelm paralysis: Learning feels like adding one more thing to an already overstuffed to-do list.
  The instant mastery myth: If they can't master it in 10 minutes, they decide it's "not for them."

The "I'm Kinda Busy" Defense

The most common response when I offer help? "I'm kinda busy right now, but I'll catch you later."

Translation: "I'd rather spend 7 hours fighting with this formula than 15 minutes learning how to do it properly."

It's like watching someone dig a ditch with a spoon when you're standing there holding a shovel, begging them to use it.

Breaking Free from the Technology Kinda Cycle

As someone who has both witnessed thousands of kinda learners and personally kinda dieted my way through several clothing sizes, here's what actually works:
1. Embrace your beginner status: Everyone starts somewhere. The Excel wizard in your office once didn't know what a spreadsheet was.
2. Find your "why": Connect the learning to something you care about. "This will let me leave work 30 minutes earlier" is often more motivating than "This is best practice."
3. Schedule dedicated learning: "Kinda learning when I have time" means "never learning." Block 20 minutes on your calendar specifically for practice.
4. Reach out to your trainer: We genuinely want to help! Most of us became trainers because we enjoy watching the "aha!" moment when someone finally gets it.
5. Apply immediately: Use new skills on real work within 24 hours of learning them, or your brain will file them in the "interesting but irrelevant" folder.

The Commitment Revolution Starts with Ctrl+S

Imagine an office where people either fully committed to learning tools or honestly said, "Not interested."

Meetings would be shorter.

Projects would finish on time.

Email attachments would disappear in favor of proper collaborative documents.

The space between "I'm all in on learning this" and "This isn't a priority for me right now" isn't flexibility, it's productivity purgatory.

So the next time you catch yourself saying you "kinda want to learn" a new technology skill, remember this: The difference between "kinda knowing Excel" and "confidently using Excel" is often just a few hours of focused attention.

And as for me? I'll be fully committing to my diet tomorrow.

Or kinda, anyway.

After all, they're having cake in the SharePoint training.