Learning Development and Blink

I recently went back and re-read Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking”, where he presents the concept that spontaneous decisions are often as good as—and many times better than—carefully planned and considered ones. I find it particularly relevant in terms of learning development as we move more and more into areas like micro-learning and just-in-time training.

How often have we found ourselves slowed down by analysis paralysis trying to get a course or a program just right? How often have we spent too much time trying to create the perfect learning program, when our initial instinct as to what was needed was the right one all along? As learning professionals, we understand the importance of creating really tight, targeted objectives, but as writers from Voltaire to Shakespeare have written, at what point is perfect the enemy of good?  More and more often these days, learners need something quick and accessible. 

Not to say that taking the time to create great objectives is bad……on the contrary. After all, we do need to have a guideline and a goal for what we are trying to accomplish. Without that, our courses will not meet our users needs. But as we've seen from the way modern apps are created, the goal is to get something out to our learners as quickly as possible that meets their immediate needs, and then continue to tweak and enhance over time.

I enjoying re-reading Blink every few years. While not every point is pertinent, overall its a great reminder that humans are not always rational. For example, ask someone what attributes their perfect soulmate should have…..but then more often than not, they'll find themselves with someone completely different than the picture they just painted!