What my son taught me about modern learning interventions.

This past weekend I rented Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo for my kids. There is no way they would have picked it, but I was feeling nostaligic for old Disney movies (brought on by the release of Race to Witch Mountain which looks like a fun movie). I mean, who doesn't like Don Knotts?

The beginning of Herbie goes to Monte Carlo sets the stage and foreshadows the rest of the movie. It alludes to the race team's arrival in Monte Carlo by showing passports being stamped. It then uses a sweeping panoramic style showing the car driving across the French countryside on the way to Paris. This sequence takes maybe three minutes, four at the most.

My son interrupted my nostalgic moment with a comment that inspired this blog. About a minute into the opening sequence my son said, "When is the movie going to start?" I found myself having to explain that this scene set up the movie and might be important later.

It occurred to me then that the modern learner has very little stomach for lots of context setting up front. They are used to jumping right into the topic and figuring it out as they go. The younger generation (Gen Y and the Millenials) do it when they learn to play video games and figure out new technology. Most of the "action" cartoons I let my son watch start the same way. It's an exciting action sequence that may or may not have anything to do with the story being told in that episode.


We all know as learning professionals that one of the first steps in a good design is an attention grabber. It seems to me that we often rely on the WIIFM (What's in it for me) to be our hook. Instead, we have an opportunity to use the moment to build on learning.


1. Give people a problem to solve. Here's a great way to make the learning practical and utilize pre-work. Send out work-related puzzles/questions to potential learner groups to drive interest and enthusiasm about the learning.

2. Illustrate real life examples. Have learners see or be exposed to real life examples of situations in which the content will make a difference. This will help them relate personally to the content.

3. Create conditions that help people unfreeze behavior. I mentioned this in an earlier post (Learning, Innovation and...Soccer). If you embed an activity that illustrates how useful the future learning can be, your participants will line up for development.

4. Use collaborative tools to create a shared desire for change. Try using discussion groups, wikis, blogs and forums to have user groups build enthusiasm for learning interventions. They will not only share the best practices; they may also help you set the direction of your training team.


When you get learners engaged in productive work right away, you won't have to deal with, "When does the movie start?" Instead, you'll have them engaged from the start and ready to absorb and use the learning you have to offer.