In Melbourne, Australia in 1970, Michael Hewitt-Gleeson designed the generic Career Acceleration Program (CAP). He used principles distilled from his leadership training experience in the Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force.


From 1967 through 1974 in Australia and South Viet Nam, Dr. Hewitt-Gleeson studied, as part of his military training and service, world-class Australian Army officer training in leadership, survival, confidence training, methods of instruction and military arts. He conducted further experiments while serving as a Chief Instructor in the Royal Australian Air Force as a Reserve Officer.

Hewitt-Gleeson discovered the value of Instructor Training in the military. The way military schools used coaching and mentoring to train young soldiers and officers. The military say that “the school of experience may be a good teacher but the tuition is prohibitive. It costs too much time to learn that way”. In 1970 he distilled his insights into the CAP Philosophy:

Whatever it is that you are doing, someone, somewhere is already doing it a "much better way".

Shrink your doing time to 80% and spend the spare 20% researching for that "much better way".

When you find the "much better way" you can leap straight to it, by-passing experience, which is too slow and too costly.

In 1976 at HBO Studios in New York he produced a 3-part video version of his train-the-trainer program (CAP I, II and II) which became the first nationwide video training program in the USA. The program was first used by Equitable Life Assurance in 185 of their branches across the US and also by the Ford Motor Company.


CAP is a train-the-trainer technology, for converting knowledge into skill. In training CAP instructors, six principles are emphasised:

1. Learning By Teaching:


2. Knowledge into Skill:

In academic education, lessons are often designed using SLOs (Student Learning Objectives). The evaluating question is asked: What will the student know? In military education, lessons are often designed using SPOs (Student Performance Objectives). The question is asked: What will the student do? There is a BIG difference in outcomes between these two methods of instruction. This important principle is about developing a thorough understanding and conviction of the difference between merely having knowledge on a matter and owning a skill of performance in it. The virtue of virtuosity. Understanding the strategy of practice and repetition.

3. Measurement:


4. Commitment to Action:


5. Effective Follow-up:


6. Reinforcement:

Noticing increments of progress in acquiring new skills and then recognising them in an appropriate way by feeding back information–cybernetically–for positive reinforcement were fundamental principles of CAP.




191 thoughts on “TRAIN-THE-TRAINER: The CAP Philosophy

  1. The program looks promising. Is there a possibility to get hold of the video? But the 6 principles are sound.

  2. Taking together these six principles will significantly improve my chance of acquiring both cognitive and practical skills..
    By using CAP, I can imagine how people’s skills will be changed and become different in both quality and use.
    CAP can help people to upgrade or maybe rebuild their learning capabilities.

  3. The CAP process ensure that the knowledge is converted into actionable skill ; it is improved and shared with more brains to further improve. This approach at work if implemented can create an open, sharing environment with feedback loops. Also important for a leader to nurture such environment where you are not just sitting in an ivory tower but also participating in uplifting the team’s performance.

  4. Learning by teaching others is a great way to make sure you have a full understanding yourself. If you are able to coach others it is helping you to learn and grow. Then others can coach others and gain a better understanding as well.

  5. acquire the skill first, then and only then can you impart your knowledge. then approach willing members to embrace the training. listen watch feed back then continue to practice.

  6. Guys can you please help me here, How can the use of problem solving help teachers to teach in ways that consisted with the principles of CAPS ?

  7. 1. Learning by teaching – This is a tool I use to train myself. This reinforces what I have learnt by passing it on. Encouraging others to teach what they have learnt reinforces what they have learnt and encourages teamwork and training through the ranks.

  8. You need to Plan, do, check & act. Don’t leave a trainee out on a limb with no knowledge of what is expected of them, in what time frame. Check their progress and adjust if required. Positive reinforcement boosts confidence and encourages an even better performance.

  9. 6. Reinforcement: Working on this will make me a better leader. Recognition along the way.

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