Corporate training should function effectively, following established rules and providing predictable results. Despite the obvious advantages of a standardized approach, there are a number of disadvantages. Constraints and routine can stifle the innovation needed to grow and develop new ideas. It's important to balance structure and creativity to ensure corporate training not only meets standards but also fosters fresh ideas and approaches. Shannon Tipton, founder of Learning Rebels, author of Breakthrough Learning, and a T&D specialist with twenty years of experience, encourages colleagues to actively embrace creative problem-solving in her blog. This approach helps them effectively tackle complex challenges and develop new work strategies. She presents five successful methods to aid in this process. In the following text, we will briefly review the essence of these methods. Idea Generation Idea Generation is a key stage in the design thinking process, which is aimed at solving various problems. At this stage, it is important to generate as many ideas as possible in a limited time, eliminating criticism and the fear of expressing your thoughts. This is where it is appropriate to share even the most unusual and seemingly absurd concepts. This approach helps identify innovative solutions and stimulates creativity of the process participants.
Shannon Tipton claims that this This method is effective for gathering valuable insights from users, employees, stakeholders, and training clients. This approach promotes the involvement of all stakeholders in the process, enabling the formulation of new strategies that may not have been previously considered. This method helps identify hidden needs and offers innovative solutions for improving the quality of training and enhancing its effectiveness. The Northwestern University School of Business offers various methods for organizing ideation sessions. These approaches are well-known and often used in practice. Such sessions help participants develop creative thinking and find innovative solutions to business problems. Each of the proposed methods has its own characteristics and is aimed at activating group work, which facilitates a more effective exchange of ideas and the development of original concepts. Using proven techniques helps optimize the process of generating new ideas and increase the productivity of teamwork.
- Brainstorming: Participants share their ideas and refine each other's suggestions on the fly within a limited time. Their goal is to generate as many ideas as possible and then select the most relevant ones.
- The 6-3-5 Method: Six people each write down three ideas on separate sheets of paper—they have five minutes to do this. They then pass the sheet to a teammate, who then refines the other person's suggestion. This all takes place in complete silence so that no one stands out and all ideas are equal.
- The Five Whys: The session leader identifies a problem: for example, sales decreased in the last quarter. The question "why" is added to it. When the group comes to an answer, a similar question is added to it. For example, "Sales decreased in the last quarter. Why?" - "Because the sales department did not have time to study the new script... Why?" - "Because management does not allocate enough time for employees to train..." The process can certainly be endless, but in reality, it's quite possible to cover it in just a few questions. The main thing is to adhere to the rule about criticism—expression and discussion should be free, as this is not an attempt to find fault.
There are general recommendations for conducting sessions that will also be useful for creative group work in general. First and foremost, it's important to create a comfortable atmosphere that will facilitate a free exchange of ideas. Participants should feel confident in sharing their thoughts freely. It's also important to define the purpose of the session in advance and ensure all necessary materials are available to ensure the process is effective. A diversity of opinions and approaches should be encouraged, which will help generate more creative ideas. Regular breaks will help maintain high energy levels and reduce participant fatigue. It's important to record all ideas, regardless of their quality, as even the most unusual thoughts can form the basis for successful solutions. Additionally, it's worth concluding the session with a discussion and analysis of the findings to determine next steps and implement the best ideas.
- Prepare input data in advance—from a budget to pre-analyzed employee needs.
- Meet with the team in an unusual location. For example, one American insurance company rented rooms in a coworking space to allow employees to focus on innovation and avoid typical office tasks, while also gaining inspiration.
- Limit the number of meeting participants. For example, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos uses the "Two-Pizza Rule": there should be enough people so that two pizzas are enough for everyone.
- Create a relaxed atmosphere (it's not for nothing that our best ideas come to us in the shower or in even more secluded places!).
- Prepare a list of questions that begin with "How can we...?"
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Designing an online course using design thinking principles is an effective approach for creating an engaging and useful educational experience. Design thinking focuses on user needs, which allows you to create courses that best meet the expectations and interests of participants.
The first step in this process is target audience research. You need to understand who your students are, what their needs, problems, and expectations from the course are. This may include surveys, interviews, and analysis of existing data.
Next comes the ideation stage. At this stage, it is important to brainstorm and collect ideas for course content, material formats, and interaction methods. Use creative techniques to collect a variety of ideas that are likely to attract students' attention.
After this, you need to create a course prototype. This can be a minimum viable product that includes the main elements of the course. A prototype will help you get user feedback faster and identify any shortcomings before final implementation.
The next step is to test the course. Conduct pilot runs to gather participant feedback and identify what works and what needs improvement. Feedback at this stage is crucial for improving the quality of the course.
Finally, don't forget about continuous improvement. After the course launch, continue to collect feedback and make changes based on the data. This will allow your online course to remain relevant and in demand over time.
Thus, designing an online course using design thinking ensures a deep understanding of student needs and creates an educational experience that truly matters.
The SCAMPER Method
SCAMPER is an effective brainstorming method designed to update and update various materials, such as curricula or courses. This approach allows you to audit a course or product using unconventional methodologies, which helps generate new ideas and improve existing solutions. SCAMPER helps teams identify opportunities for innovation and optimization, making it an indispensable tool in educational and business settings.
The name is an acronym that encompasses the key stages of analysis and brainstorming. This process helps to gain a deeper understanding of the problem, identify key issues, and develop effective solutions. The analysis and brainstorming stages facilitate idea generation, improve creative thinking, and optimize approaches to solving various problems. Using this structure allows teams to work more cohesively and productively, which ultimately leads to higher-quality results.
- Substitute - replacement. In the first stage, the team considers what could be replaced in an existing product to improve it.
- Combine - connection. What in a course or, for example, instructions could be simplified? Perhaps it would be worth combining a longread and a presentation on a similar topic into a single program? The idea is to take several aspects of a finished product (sometimes not very compatible) and figure out how to make them work differently, even more simply and effectively.
- Adapt — adaptation. At this phase, it is worth analyzing the process of creating a product (course, training) itself: how to make it more flexible? How will this affect the results?
- Modify — change. How can the product be changed so that it solves problems more effectively?
- Put to another use — application in a new way. Can the program, course, training, or instructions be used in some other area?
- Eliminate — exclusion. Which element of the product can be painlessly excluded, what will be the least significant loss?
- Reverse — reversal. Is it possible to swap product elements to improve the results? For example, you can swap theory and practice, or you can give a test first and then the course. The essence of this step is to turn the process on its head if this is necessary for improvement.
Liberating Structures
Liberating Structures is a set of 33 techniques developed for effective group work. Shannon Tipton emphasizes that these methods are ideal for both organizing team activities and conducting training sessions in a corporate environment. The use of Liberating Structures helps increase participant engagement, improve communication, and achieve higher-quality results in training and teamwork.
Each structure is a ready-made instruction for action. For example, the "1-2-4" method asks meeting participants to consider a specific problem. First, each participant spends one minute thinking about their own solution. Then they form pairs and discuss their ideas for two minutes. After this, participants form teams of four, and the discussion continues for four minutes. At the end, the facilitator collects information from each group on the most attractive idea. The entire process takes 12 minutes and can be repeated several times. This structure promotes active participation, improves the quality of discussions, and allows for the identification of the most interesting solutions.
A complete list of these structures and recommendations for their use have been translated into Russian and are available to everyone. You can find them, for example, at the following link.
Crazy Eights
The "Crazy Eights" technique involves generating eight ideas in eight minutes. The process involves team members who prepare sheets of paper in advance and divide them into eight squares. Participants are given one minute to write down each idea, resulting in eight rounds over the course of the session. It is recommended to pin the results to a shared board, which can be either physical or online. Upon completion of this stage, each participant presents their ideas, and the rest of the team highlights the most attractive and promising ones. This approach promotes active engagement of participants and an effective exchange of creative solutions.
According to Shannon, this technique promotes creativity in the development of educational materials and the effective solution of complex problems in instructional design. This allows for the creation of more engaging and effective learning programs that better meet the needs of learners. The use of this technique can also lead to improved learning outcomes and deeper assimilation of the material.
Mind Maps
Mind maps are an effective tool for organizing and structuring ideas, which helps to find optimal solutions to various problems. They are widely used both in the educational process and in its development. In corporate environments, mind maps help design training courses, formulate clear learning outcomes, and visualize complex concepts. Using mind maps improves comprehension and promotes deeper absorption of information, making them indispensable in modern training and professional development methods. The method involves creating a detailed hierarchical structure centered on a specific idea, problem, or concept. Key subsections are located at the first level, and the second level is filled with details and additional information. For example, you can develop the structure of a training course on a complex topic using mind maps, which also allows for the effective assignment of roles and tasks within the development team. This approach promotes a better understanding of the material and simplifies the organization of work, which increases its effectiveness.
Read also:
- Bookshelf: "Find an Idea" by Genrikh Altshuller
- 9 Facilitation Techniques for Productive Group Work
- 6 Books to Help in Employee Training and Development
- 3 Principles L&D Should Learn from Marketers