Don't Get Caught in the Quicksand of Design

2009-09-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

Most people who design workshops get caught up in the information trap. It's like quicksand - once you get caught up in it, you sink deeper and deeper, finding it harder and harder to breathe, until you are eventually buried alive.

OK. That was a bit dramatic, but here's the point: an information trap occurs when you get overly caught up in the information you want to teach.

Information is passive, unless you have people DO something with the information. If you focus solely on delivering information, you will create an information dump that will overwhelm and frustrate your learners. Most adults don't want that.

So how do you avoid the information trap? As you design, start training your mind to think behaviors and skills, rather than information. In other words, if you want your participants to behave differently in some way, then stay out of the information trap by focusing on what you want them to DO, rather than what you want them to KNOW.

Now, don't assume I'm advocating that you NOT teach information. Providing information is an important cornerstone of the learning process. I'm simply advocating that you neither START the design process with what you want to teach NOR focus solely on information. Instead, start with what you want your participants to be able to do. Actually imagine them engaging in what you want them to do differently. This shift in your perspective will shift how you approach teaching them, and it will actually make the rest of the design process easier.

Your mind will try to sabotage you by pulling you into the information trap over and over. When that happens, notice it, and remind yourself that it's like quicksand - it's hard to get out of. Then, re-focus your attention on what you want your learners to DO.

Design with EASE

Don't Get Caught in the Quicksand of Design