Several years ago, there were widgets and posters and branding that centered around “daring to be different.” It was everywhere for a while, featured in various books and courses ranging from kids’ books to stress relief and financial health to faith ideologies—and everything in between. The visuals featured goldfish, owls, smiley faces, umbrellas, apples, arrows, tennis shoes, and more. All were fun, and the message got through immediately.
Do you dare to be different? In your life and in your work? If not, why not? Right. It can be challenging. It might be uncomfortable at times. You’ll likely find it difficult to hide in the back of the group or fade into the background. People may not always be lovely to you or about you—and your ideas.
But as a Learning and Development professional, isn’t there an obligation to dare to be different? By this, I mean stretching forward in the ways you provide learning content to your learning population, offering more than “Click Next” eLearning and (mostly) lecture based classroom training. With the diversity of options available now, the only path to bringing interesting, forward-leaning learning is to dare to be different.
OPTIONS TO CONSIDER
- Components of classroom training that have elements of a talk show interview format. This could include the cheesy music and host. Allow attendees to ask “audience” questions of subject matter experts (SMEs) or leaders.
- Classroom training that has game elements. Think about scavenger hunts, board games, Find (or Spot) the Differences puzzles, matching games, word searches and crossword puzzles, or knowledge checks styled like game shows.
- Classroom training that asks attendees to team up to diagram procedures and processes.
- eLearning courses converted into interactive video courses.
- Video and/or audio elements inserted into “Click Next”-style eLearning courses.
TIPS TO GET YOU STARTED
- Seek out your champions who will support doing something differently. Ask them to help you spread the word.
- Craft prototypes and share them for feedback you can incorporate into the next version.
- Conduct user/learner/attendee listening sessions to find out what they need in their learning content.
Take the chance to make small, medium, and large changes. Dare to be different!
