Advice for people managing learning programs

  • 29th Aug 2022
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  • 2 min read

Recently I was asked for advice from someone about to take on a fairly large scale Learning & Development project. She was interviewing dozens of smart people before getting started, I was flattered to be one of them.

Of course my advice was unlike all the others.

The key points I found myself talking about had nothing to do with the learning industry, and everything to do with testing and marketing.

  1. Don’t assume that anyone’s advice (including mine!) is correct. You don’t know until you test, so focus on the smallest/cheapest/easiest test you can and do it before you feel comfortable testing.
  2. It’s better to build the first step for multiple audiences than all the steps for any given audience. The first step can like be repurposed across audiences, and look like the second step for each.
  3. It barely matters what you have to say. It matters what people think they know that’s wrong, and want to understand but don’t yet. Everything else isn’t relevant to them, even if it is entirely relevant to the topic.
  4. Engagement isn’t about making anything pretty or smooth, and it doesn’t have to cost a lot. Help people feel heard and adapt to what they’re doing & telling you, then engagement will likely result. People engage with what they care about, so start with caring about them and their experience.
  5. Top 3 book recommendations: Rocket Surgery Made Easy (Steve Krug), The Art of Explanation (Lee LeFever), Map It (Cathy Moore)

Please don’t assume that anyone’s advice (including mine!) is correct for your situation. You don’t know until you test, so focus on the smallest/cheapest/easiest test you can, and get started long before you feel comfortable. Let reality guide you, not academic theory, and certainly not Instructional Design fashion. Reality has already kicked the ass of theory & fashion so many times it’s silly.

People are messy, but you’ll never find success without them.

That’s why I think it’s really all about testing and iterating. Maybe it always has been? I dunno. Ask me what I think, and that’s what I’ll tell you today.