Designing Learning that Lasts
Join Megan Torrance as she unveils agile learning design and change management tactics for digital adoption. In this session, learn how to anticipate, adapt, and design training that evolves with technology shifts, using her proven "Design for Change" framework and practical implementation tools.
Welcome to the Adoption Curve. Your guide to modern learning and enablement strategies — new stories every fortnight. Brought to you by iorad .
Today’s guest is Megan Torrance , CEO and Founder of TorranceLearning. With 23 years at the helm of her learning and development firm, Megan blends deep expertise in instructional design, change management, and agile transformation.
Her insights are especially timely as L&D teams scramble to keep up with evolving tech, org-wide transformations, and AI integration. Megan’s approach, which includes her own LLAMA and Design for Change frameworks offers the practical playbooks we all need now.
In this issue:
Want the full conversation with Kevin? Watch the Full Interview Here →
Megan Torrance on Building Training that Survives Change
Background/Context
Before agile was cool in L&D, Megan Torrance was already adapting software dev practices for learning teams. With roots in Accenture and a background in processing operations, she saw first-hand the chaos of late-night deliverables and fragile timelines. That led to a question: what if L&D could anticipate change?
Today, as CEO of TorranceLearning, Megan leads a “full stack learning team” helping organizations build resilient, learner-focused experiences that survive rapid tech shifts, internal reorgs, and even AI adoption waves.
“All good projects change. If your project doesn’t change from start to finish, that might be because nobody cares about it.”
💡 Insight #1: L&D Gets Left Out — Because We Let It
One of Megan’s core observations? L&D isn’t brought in early enough during transformation projects and that’s partly because we haven’t positioned ourselves as strategic players. To shift that, she teaches internal power mapping and relationship-building.
Instead of waiting for the invite, L&D should be running an internal roadshow.
“We built a deck and launched an internal marketing campaign. ‘Here’s what you can count on us for. Here’s how to engage us.’ It was like internal business development.”
Example: One client used this strategy post-training with Megan’s agile workshop, proactively setting meetings with business sponsors and communicating expectations, increasing early L&D involvement in key rollouts.
💡 Insight #2: Agile Learning Starts with LLAMA
Forget 6-month timelines and locked-in modules. Megan’s LLAMA framework — “lot like agile management approach” — was born from adapting extreme programming to instructional design.
“We didn’t force-fit agile. We started asking: what actually works for us in L&D? That became LLAMA.”
With user research, iterative content builds, and a bias toward fast feedback loops, LLAMA makes training adaptable. It also means saying no to overly polished builds that break the moment the UI updates.
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Example: In one rollout, her team was selected specifically because the client knew they’d “change their minds a lot” and Megan’s process could handle it without pitching a fit.
💡 Insight #3: Design for Change, Not for Perfection
While LLAMA governs process, Design for Change governs the product. Instead of scripting static lessons, Megan recommends identifying what's likely to change and building around it, sometimes even leaving it out of training altogether.
“Don’t bake UI buttons into video if you don’t have to. Link out to system documentation instead. It gets updated more often anyway, teach them how to find it.”
Her team builds in levels, from “vanilla” (base rollout) to “chocolate sprinkles” (minor customizations) to “hot fudge” (full-featured experience). This reduces overwork, lets teams launch sooner, and gives time to scale what works.
Example: One LMS course built with these principles has lasted eight years with minimal updates, a testament to designing with resilience.
🎥 In our full conversation, Megan covers:
🛠️ Steal This Template: The Technology Implementation Canvas
The Problem:
Tech rollouts often fail not because of bad tools — but because teams never align on who, how, or what success looks like.
The Solution:
Use the Technology Implementation Canvas — a 3-part framework covering strategy, change, and tactics — to align your project team before the chaos begins.
How to Use It:
🧠 Why this works:
“It gelled everyone on a common vision. And more importantly — it showed us what we were missing.”
That's it for this edition of The Adoption Curve. Have questions or want to share how you're applying LLAMA? Just hit reply!
See you next time!
P.S. Forward this to your learning or enablement lead — they'll thank you.
