TL:DR – Learning is a journey, because like success, it is sequential and not simultaneous.

Instructional Designers can learn a lot from The ONE Thing – specifically, success (and training) is sequential, not simultaneous.

The subtitle of The ONE Thing is “The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results.”

If you haven’t read it, I recommend that you do. After all, as Instructional Designers, our creative output – and our careers – are all about getting results.

But results are not guaranteed.

Success is not guaranteed.

To help us succeed and get results, Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan remind us that:

“…success is sequential, not simultaneous.” (page 16)

Success is sequential.

Training is sequential.

Or, as we discussed over on LinkedIn, training is a journey.

This means that no, Mr. SME or Ms. Manager, we can’t train everything first. This is why instructional design and curriculum development matter.

This is why we talk of the Learner’s Journey, our training roadmap, the scope and sequence, the building blocks of training, and milestones.

When we train is often as important as what we train. Share on X

When everyone is special

As Syndrome said in The Incredibles, “When everyone is special… no one is.”

This rings true in training also. When everything is the “most important,” nothing is.

I recently worked on Sales Enablement training to support the launch of multiple new products. The majority of the feedback we received from the product management team (our SMEs) on our six-week training plan was, “Why are we waiting until week four, or five, or six to train this or that?”

I get it.

All of the products are important.

All of the content is important.

But when everything is important… nothing is.

Product training, sales training, how-to demo training, and overcoming objections training are all needed. And they are all important to someone.

But not all of them can be trained first.

Training is sequential.

Curriculum design matters.

The learner’s journey matters.

As IDs, it is our responsibility to craft training that flows well, that follows the learner’s journey, and leads our learners to the results that matter.

Training Manager Tip:

As I defended over on LinkedIn, while a lot of what we do is creative, when hiring, please prioritize Instructional Design over Graphic Design. HOW we train matters.

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The ID Department knows instructional design and curriculum development. We can help you craft your training to achieve Fortune 500–level results for a fraction of the Fortune 500 budget. Learn how here.

(FYI – The ONE Thing link is an Amazon affiliate link. If you purchase through this link, I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.)