In the education business we have this concept which applies not only to education, but to many other walks of life as well. It’s a common sense approach to getting things done. We start with what we want the final product to look like, then we move backwards to figure out what the best approach is to make this happen.
We call it Backward By Design, or BBD.
Architects do this. They don’t begin by building an edifice. They begin by drawing blueprints. They know exactly what the edifice is going to look like before they even begin construction.
Movie producers and directors do this. They know exactly what the final cut of the movie is going to look like before they even begin filming. Scripts are written, sets are built, actors are auditioned. In fact, movie scripts and sets even go through the BBD process themselves. Before the sets are even built or the scripts are written, it is already known what the final products are going to look like.
Imagine, if you will, a time and place which doesn’t operate using BBD. Imagine being tasked with creating an amazing product; a product which will dazzle the senses when complete. A product which will showcase an equally amazing large scale project. A product which promotes the project and educates users about how this amazing product will make the user’s life easier.
The one minor glitch was this: no one knew what this amazing product which would dazzle the mind was supposed to look like. They only knew what it wasn’t supposed to look like.
Someone I know well was tasked with creating a learning module using ironically, Captivate. You may have taken an online training module created with Captivate – a very useful, versatile computer application which is often used for this purpose.
This individual I know well once worked as a corporate trainer for an unnamed state government agency. When upper management learned of his Captivate expertise, he was tasked with creating an amazing introductory training module which would guide new users in the benefits and purpose of the new state-of-the-art online reporting system. The training module would showcase what the unnamed state government agency wanted to showcase regarding the new state-of-the-art online reporting system.
Unfortunately, upper management had not provided the individual I know well with any real guidance on what the final product was supposed to look like or what it was supposed to cover or include.
The only guidance he was given was the training module was supposed to be “non-linear.”
Ironically the individual I know well worked for the training unit.
As a low level trainer, the individual I know well should have never been tasked with this assignment as it was given. Common sense dictates that upper management should have spelled out in complete detail what they wanted a training module showcasing a new state-of-the-art online reporting system should look like. But all they said was that it was supposed to be “non-linear.”
The individual I know well began to create in Captivate a “non-linear” training module. But he was not guided by BBD since he didn’t know what it was supposed to look like.
His Captivate expertise would not help him.
His years of teaching and training would not help him.
So he created. He made it up as he went along. He had no BBD to fall back on.
Six times the individual I know well created an introductory training module which was not linear. Six times he failed.
Upper management was not happy with his efforts. Each of the six introductory training module versions was not what upper management wanted to showcase the new state-of-the-art online reporting system.
But one thing was clear: the individual I know well had six versions of what the new state-of-the-art online reporting system was not supposed to look like.
The individual I know well was hired as a trainer, not to play guessing games or to read people’s minds. He grew weary of high expectations when virtually zero guidance was given.
The ending of this story is obvious. It is a happy ending.
But I will take the time to ask a question for which there seems to be no answer: Why do decision makers allow this to happen?
