Accelerate!

 In perusing Dr. Dennen's draft on instructional design with social media, she highlights accelerated development and prototyping within the classic ADDIE process.  The section resonates with me because working in corporate learning and development means constantly answering the question, "can we develop this faster?"

And my classic answer is NO.

Her description reminded me of the design sprint process from Google Ventures - one I learned of when the first time about a year go working for another company.  The process reduces what I am accustomed to  taking 6-10 weeks to 5 days.


Had I not done it - worked with a team together get to a prototype one can test in five days - I would have dismissed the process as startup nonsense.  Growing up in old-school corporate hallways, so much of the Google/Oracle/Meta era of big business has felt goofy and gimmicky.  Casual clothes, unlimited PTO, passion projects, and failing forward works for them but becomes problematic with old-school practices and strictures.  The biggest hurdle with this accelerated development method: who can devote five days to this?  The missed emails alone...

When I actually did it, there were two keys that I realized would work designing this way in a traditional environment:

1) Five days will pass regardless.  Remote or in-office, the flow of work is unending.  The emails, meeting, and deadlines will always be there.  Proper planning, however, can make room for an innovative approach that will clear the way for continued development.  Saving weeks of traditional meetings and heartache will benefit in the long run.

2) Use the prototype.  The biggest opportunity of the one sprint I was in was the fact we created a workable prototype and didn't use it.  I don't mean it became something else or it's in development.  When I left six months later there were no plans to use the innovative idea we created.  None.  If you commit the time and energy to such approach - especially in for-profit enterprise - you have to make it worth it.  My peers back at that company will never undertake that type of accelerated development again because they now believe it's not politically feasible at the company.  What a shame.  

Between the draft article and revisiting Sprint, I'm motivating myself to use it at a project at my current workplace.  There is never a shortage of need for acceleration.  Instructional designers can be the vanguard to bringing it in spaces that desperately need new approaches.


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