Training and development are two terms that commonly get used interchangably, however, some professionals are careful to distinguish between the words. EBTD programs make this distinction, because the type of transfer used is critical to the lasting effect of change and learning. Training is about learning precise skills in order to better perform production tasks. An example would be practicing to glue components together in order to do so on the assembly line. Another example would be learning to balance funds in an accounting course in order to better manage project finances at work.
Development is about learning general skills in order to better perform business processes.
An example would be taking a negotiation seminar at a conference in order to resolve conflicts among members of a project team. Another example would be learning teamwork in a classroom exercise and returning to work with another team at the office. EBTD programs utilize metaphors in a third form of transfer. Metaphoric transfer is an attempt to narrow the gap between apparently different learning environments through client realized metaphors. A metaphor is an idea, object, or description used in place of another different idea, object or description, in order to denote comparative likeness or similarity between the two.