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Innovation in Learning
Innovation is part of the four-part construct that defines the value and impact that learning provides to the business, and it’s one of the attributes of a high-performing learning function. But while we all may agree that innovation is a good thing overall, we need to better understand why it is so important in the learning industry, what it looks like for the learning function, and how we can create an environment that encourages and enables it.
The Call for Innovation in Learning
Innovation is already being fueled at an unprecedented pace, largely by automation and the exponential improvements across core technologies that are influencing—and will continue to influence—the work, the workforce, and the workplace. The future of work is being reimagined, and this has significant implications for the future of learning. This changing landscape requires the learning function to sustain its value and impact; we absolutely have the ability to not just keep up with innovation, but to make innovation a core value and pioneer how we use it to enable and optimize development.
The half-life of many technology skills is shrinking, and new or enhanced skills are now more in demand. Whereas deep domain expertise once enabled success, those skills are quickly becoming outdated and will need to be refreshed. In addition, the future workforce still requires a blend of professional and leadership skills for success, no matter how significant the shift toward automation and technology or the type of work they’re doing. Uniquely human capabilities—such as resilience, divergent thinking, curiosity, and social and emotional intelligence—will be particularly important, because they will allow professionals to manage ambiguity, develop creative solutions, stay relevant amid constant change, acquire knowledge, and understand the implications for the future, all while leading inclusively and empathetically. This, in turn, will help cultivate agile teams that can be creative, adaptive, and excellent at problem solving, all while quickly pivoting in the ever-changing landscape of work and technology. The professionals of the future must be nimble and flexible—able to apply key capabilities across multiple domains throughout their careers.
How do we drive innovation in learning to address this future of work and the distinct needs and preferences of the modern learner? For one, we need to be flexible in where and how learning occurs. This also points to continuous, curated, and holistic learning content that is integrated into the flow of work, where learning can occur on-demand and at the point-of-need. In addition, organizations must have a strong learning culture, where learning is viewed as an enabler for individual, team, and organizational performance, as well as a driver of engagement, connections, knowledge sharing, and collaboration. Professionals should be able to own their career growth through meaningful learning and development. Innovation in learning is critical for creating these learner-focused development experiences that drive career progression and performance.
Creating a Culture of Learning Innovation
Bringing new and effective methods, tools, or solutions that better address learning issues, needs, and challenges requires that we first understand how innovation is defined. Merriam-Webster defines innovation as “the introduction of something new, or a new idea, method, or device—a novelty.” At its core, innovation is about creative problem solving and different ways to define and address those challenges, or—better stated—those opportunities. Being innovative means that you need to approach things from a different angle and perspective, and be willing to depart from the way something has always been done. Innovation can include—but is not limited to—technology solutions; it is more about dissecting the challenge or opportunity and then determining the solutions that optimize the associated experiences. Innovation occurs when the manner in which the challenge or opportunity is framed drives the process for how the solution is framed.
But we can’t just write “be innovative” in our daily planner and expect it to happen. Innovation isn’t exactly an intrinsic skill, nor is it one that is necessarily taught. Rather, certain mindsets need to exist to cultivate and foster innovation; we need to be:
• open-minded to issues, opportunities, and wild, innovative ideas
• empathetic to the learner’s situation and experience
• committed to collaboration and diversity of thought
• embracing of creativity
• willing to experiment with a bias toward action.
Innovation is anchored in divergent and then convergent thinking—which is different from typical brainstorming—in that we converge on the specific problem to solve and then diverge into the solution exploration space seeking radical ideas. Innovation also requires an almost relentless practice of asking “why?” to get to the root of the challenge or opportunity. This is what yields the meaningful, sometimes unexpected aha moments about the learner experience—the insights that lead to action. And that action comes in the form of iterative processes—testing partial, imperfect prototypes to learn from, refine, and test again. Finally, innovation is dependent on having the courage to think of and suggest radical ideas that address the core problem. And that can’t happen if ideas are discussed and voted down before they are even tested. If you have an idea or a solution, don’t over-deliberate or decide against it prematurely—be willing to experiment!
This speaks to another important factor: the broader organizational environment for innovation. You need people with the mindsets to foster innovative thinking, but you’ll also be helped by an organizational culture of permission and encouragement. For learning functions, it can be challenging to innovate if the organization does not promote or enable it as part of the overall culture. A strict process for making decisions or approving investments will stifle innovation, as will an environment that doesn’t allow for experimentation. Many organizations have innovation as a core value, but they need to back that up by clearing the path for creative problem solving so the learning function can achieve value and impact.
However, there are ways to overcome a lack of organizational support for innovation if that’s what you are facing. Innovation by definition includes small-scale ideating and prototyping. You don’t need to employ an organization-wide rollout—instead, you should look for a single stakeholder group that’s willing to test your solution. Then, leverage their success to build the momentum that can open the door a bit wider.
When it comes down to it, the learning function needs either that license or the willingness to ideate and experiment—the permission to try. And using the word try is intentional. We need permission to try, not permission to fail, because experimentation is what we’re going for—not failure. Think of it this way: Baseball players aren’t encouraged to go strike out—they are expected to swing the bat knowing that one of those times, they will make contact. And striking out swinging is always better than striking out looking! Now, let’s explore one form of innovation that learning functions can employ: human-centered design.
Human-Centered Design: Creating Development Experiences for and With the Learner
Learning solutions are typically planned, designed, and developed with the learner in mind—taking into account learner capability needs and performance objectives. And subject matter experts represent those learners by providing valuable input on the design. But designing for the learner is not nearly the same as designing with the learner. Human-centered design (HCD) is a form of design thinking that addresses this dual objective by putting the learner at the heart of the design process, and also serves as a cornerstone for innovation.
HCD is a structured, iterative, and collaborative approach to creative problem solving that starts with understanding the end users (our learners) and ends with solutions tailored to their specific needs. It taps into skills often overlooked by more conventional problem-solving practices, such as our ability to be intuitive, recognize patterns, and construct ideas that are emotionally meaningful as well as functional. HCD drives innovation by elevating the voice of the customer to understand complex, human-centered challenges and opportunities and address those by uncovering novel ideas. The approach is anchored in advocacy for the end-user experience, which requires empathy, curiosity, and humility to generate new and relevant solutions, focus on the desired impact, and mitigate the influence of bias and institutional assumptions. Ultimately, HCD is a way of thinking that leads to a way of doing. Most important, it can be learned! Let’s look closer at how you can use HCD to build innovative, end-user-focused, and effective learning experiences.
The goal of HCD is to develop simple, unthought-of solutions using end-user data to make informed decisions and embracing the innovation mindset. Counterintuitive for many, HCD flips the traditional management model on its head; it starts with understanding end users and their experiences and defining root causes rather than first defining operational goals and creating concepts or solutions based on them. For learning, HCD focuses on creating an optimal development experience that addresses distinct learner needs and preferences but is largely based on what the learners are sharing, not just we are inferring.
The Human-Centered Design Process
There are a few different models for the HCD process, but they all reflect an amalgamation of the five innovation mindsets and core design thinking action steps. The Discover-Define-Develop-Deliver model (Figure 23-1) depicts a phased approach to identify, research, and define the problem; ideate and prototype solutions; and then test those to determine if and what to implement.
Figure 23-1. Discover-Define-Develop-Deliver Model
In the discover phase, we look at the challenge or opportunity from the learner’s perspective and then gather information and inspiration to further define it. Empathy-based research techniques are important for observing the situation and users to reveal root causes, uncover areas for improvement, and point to potential solutions. You can use three key methods to build an empathetic understanding of end users: observing them, engaging with them, and immersing ourselves in their experiences. By putting ourselves into their world, we best understand what our learners do, feel, think, and say.
In the define phase, we combine research, observations, and insights to identify the real learner needs. Areas for improvement or change are highlighted when we share findings and stories, synthesize insights to make sense of the data, and find patterns and meaning in the data. From this we develop the “How might we …?” question, which attempts to pinpoint an area for growth or change that also keeps the door open to other possibilities. “How might we?” statements are a critical part of the HCD process because they:
• Articulate the end state or outcomes we are trying to achieve.
• Provide guidance and strategic direction for future ideas.
• Provide focus and creative freedom for future brainstorming.
In addition, answering “How might we …?” along with “so we can …” is a great way to reframe the problem in the define phase. It becomes the anchor point for the HCD process, and should be regularly revisited as solutions are identified, developed, tested, and implemented to stay true to the challenge or opportunity being addressed.
Next, in the develop phase we ideate and prototype creative, innovative solutions to consider and further evolve. Using brainstorming and iteration to build and refine models, we generate ideas, refine those ideas, and generate prototypes. We use the “How might we…?” question to come up with creative ideas that keep us grounded in the user’s need. Ideation is essentially iterative brainstorming, allowing ideas to build off one another and giving the group the freedom to explore new possibilities. However, this type of ideation is different from typical brainstorming because we focus first on converging around the specific problem we need to solve for, and then diverge into exploring solutions for radical ideas. The process needs to be focused, deferring judgment to generate a large quantity of ideas with structured, time-bound ideation methods. Prototyping is about producing an early, inexpensive, and scaled-down version of the solution. It might be the whole solution, or simply core pieces to test for proof of concept. Prototyping provides an opportunity to bring ideas to life, test the design, and explore how the end users think and feel about the solution.
Finally, in the deliver phase, we’ve tested, refined, and presented using divergent thinking to generate many ideas. From here, we narrow those proposed solutions to one or a few cohesive concepts, developing and evolving those through prototyping and testing, and then moving into implementation. When we have ideas, we have a tendency to talk about them, debate the pros and cons, and decide to move forward based on what we think will or won’t work. But as designers, we need to avoid this process and instead move swiftly from an idea to a concept model, building out ideas so we can learn from them. This is where that mindset around a bias toward action comes in—developing those partial and imperfect solutions to make the “rough but ready” prototypes. Then we iteratively test for feedback and measure outcomes, refine the solution accordingly, and develop a compelling case to move forward. Ultimately, the solutions we end up with fall at the intersection of user desirability (do they want this), technical feasibility (can we do this), and business viability (should we do this).
HCD in a Learning Context
In an HCD project, this process is repeated at scale, synthesizing large volumes of data to pull together our end-user experiences, frustrations, delights, and needs. The following scenario presents an example of how HCD can be applied to develop or transform a development experience.
Let’s imagine that the learning function seeks to redesign the development experience for newly hired or promoted managers across the entire organization. This is being undertaken because the existing new manager experience is:
• delivered inconsistently across business units, locations, and geographies
• mostly focused on a live learning program that occurs just after the promotion cycle
• not aligned against a common set of standards, expectations, capabilities, and roles
• not effectively supporting the manager’s transition into the new role.
These issues are drawn primarily from learner feedback and reveal the need and opportunity to have new managers help shape what an improved development experience should entail. Accordingly, the learning team decides to use HCD to drive the transformation effort.
Starting with the discover phase, the learning team conducts a series of “voice of the customer workshops” to gather insights from a representative sample of end users and define the challenge and opportunity from their perspective. The end users in these focus group discussions include recently hired or promoted managers who went through the current new manager development experience and rising managers who will likely go through it in the future. Key questions the team asked of those who went through the experience include:
• How did you feel during and following the experience, and how do you wish you felt?
• What content were you offered and what do you wish you were offered?
• What worked and what didn’t work regarding the delivery method and timing as it pertains to your transition to being a new manager?
• What were you prepared for as a new manager and what do you wish you were better prepared for?
The team also asks rising managers in the group are about their expectations and to give them a wish list for their upcoming development experience.
The learning team and the voice of the customer group synthesize the data collected from these questions to jointly create new manager personas (fictional characters to represent types of end users and new manager profiles), proposed journey maps depicting interactions and moments of need, and ideas and prototypes for possible solutions. At this time, the learning team also conducts internal and external research on similar development experiences within and outside the organization, as well as on other factors informing new manager needs and preferences and enabling development solutions (future of work, future of learning, modern learner, and so forth).
In the define phase, the learning team further synthesizes the voice of the customer session data as well as research from other sources to find patterns and meaning that generate insights and highlight areas for improvement or change. The challenge and opportunity are reframed by developing the “How might we…?” statement: “How might we create a consistent, innovative, and effective development experience for all new managers that enables the transition into their new role?” This also serves as the guiding principle for the ideation, prototyping, testing, and refinement that follows in the next phase.
In the develop phase, the learning team digs deeper into the personas, journey maps, ideas, and prototypes identified by the voice of the customer group to build out solutions to prototype and further evolve. This is where the learner-centric perspective can really fuel innovative design. For example, what content can be pulled out of the live learning program and delivered via other means or at a different point in the new manager transition to make it more accessible at the point of need? Or how could a more holistic development experience be offered—one that complements the live learning program with curated content, on-the-job development, and networking, mentoring, and coaching—to facilitate the transition to manager? And finally, what innovative and creative solutions not previously offered are they inspired to create based on how you want the new managers to feel coming out of this experience? The learning team ideates through iterative brainstorming to identify the possible solutions in that new manager journey, and then defines prototypes of the solutions they wish to test.
In the deliver phase, the learning team tests the development experience solution prototypes, measuring their impact and effectiveness, and shares their story to determine the way forward for those solutions. They deploy each prototype against a subset of the new manager population, using a control group for comparison to determine the effectiveness of each solution. That measurement effort is critical for understanding how human centered the solutions end up being, based on learner feedback from surveys, interviews, and focus groups.
The team shares the results of this testing with new manager experience sponsors and stakeholders, and together they make decisions around which solutions to drop, refine, or implement as-is for the transformed development experience.
Summary
Organizations are evolving to keep up with the future of work, and the learning function is responsible for driving the future of learning. Being aligned with and enabling the business, driving learning that improves performance, and staying efficient are all essential attributes of a high-performing learning function. But that alone is not enough—we must also be innovative in bringing creative problem solving to define, design, develop, and deploy learning solutions.
Human-centered design is one approach that can accelerate innovation in learning—because we define and understand the challenge or opportunity from the lens of the learners and put them at the center of the process. Empathic research on the learners, a deep look into root causes, and an iterative process for ideation, prototyping, and testing solutions serves as a framework for innovation. While HCD isn’t the only way to be innovative, focusing on understanding the human experience to determine user-centric solutions can facilitate our transition from training to development and from instructional designers to experience architects, and can also increase the learning function’s value and impact in enabling performance.
Key Takeaways
The call for increased innovation in learning is being driven by the changing nature of work and what the workforce needs to know and be able to do. Learning functions need to be more nimble, responsive, and creative in building a rapidly changing set of capabilities.
Organizational permission and encouragement for innovation is important, but the learning function needs to at least be willing to innovate and have that stakeholder partner for ideation and prototyping.
Human-centered design is just one form of innovation in learning. It puts the learner at the heart of the experience design process and enables learning to be built for and with the learner.
Questions for Reflection and Further Action
1. When you consider your learning challenges and opportunities, where could you benefit from a more thorough examination of the learner experience from their perspective?
2. How might you use this better understanding of the user—along with collaboration, creativity, open-mindedness, and a willingness to experiment—to yield creative ideas that will improve learning?
3. How could this be an opportunity to test more holistic learning solutions that extend the development experience, further integrate learning into the work, and meet the needs and preferences of your learners?