Wonderful Brain
JANUARY 23, 2014
'During an interview about a week back I asked the project manager about the audience for which the training courseware would be designed. The strongest criteria, emphatically made, was the consultants ability to work out a curriculum for 24 to 70 year olds. She added, by the way, some of them ‘don’t play well with others’ or didn’t want to take the training…and were clearly hostile.
Wonderful Brain
SEPTEMBER 24, 2020
It was the right time. And the right circumstances. Locked in the prison of COVID-19 with no escape, retired from designing and strategic marketing, my working office was ready for a good cleaning out. Purging files was easy, as were research docs, visuals, loose notes, and sketches hanging around, some for twenty-five years. As ego goes, I’m far from immune.
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Wonderful Brain
NOVEMBER 27, 2019
“What is the purpose of school?” my mentor asked of me when I was moved up into administration. I wrote high minded paragraphs citing everyone from Socrates to Neal Postman, that he tossed in the garbage. “Rich”, he said, “You have about 10 seconds or eyes will glaze over or you’ll sound like you’re shoveling S$*t.”. No quick answer came for a day or two until on a run on an old rail trail formed into an A-Ha moment.
Wonderful Brain
JULY 13, 2019
OK. Not really about business creativity & communications, etc., but I decided to toss this in for fun. In how many advice columns and mantras is it said a triangle is an ugly shape from which healthy relationships cannot grow. Three of anything unless it’s a grouping of items in a sentence or the set-up of a classic joke doesn’t cut it. Is it an odd number thing?
Wonderful Brain
MAY 23, 2019
Reading the NY Times, Sunday, 5 May 2019, I scan as always for an article that will inspire me to write something of a useful lesson to clients—in business communications and case studies—or an event that just sets my temper to a higher temperature. This meets all criteria. A native New Yorker (I confess I’ve been an upstater for quite some time) this headline—” 6 Years After Hurricane Sandy, Here’s What They Came Up With: Really Big Sandbags” just stopped me in my tracks.
Wonderful Brain
DECEMBER 30, 2018
Over the years I’ve come to realize that what I drew as a child were the scribblings of a design wannabe, a future practitioner, connoisseur, and collector. Two short years in design school, I was an assistant art director at a small agency doing scut work to major campaigns. Out of the design mainstream in upstate NY meant teaching was my main source of income.
Wonderful Brain
DECEMBER 18, 2017
In the midst of a project where I’m conducting quality control on both online and ILT courseware I came across this video: [link]. Put aside the use of religion as a foundation in the video, the point is the only way information becomes useful and or conducive to action (add to that skills and behaviors and we have the troika of what any course or instructor needs to impart) is to repeat the elements until they become internalized and habituated.
Wonderful Brain
DECEMBER 7, 2017
It’s been a while since I’ve written to my learning blog – for those who have followed me and others curious – I’ve been working on the marketing side of things for a bit. Most importantly taking distance from learning – and especially elearning – has allow me the perspective about how and why learning now looks the way it does.
Wonderful Brain
NOVEMBER 3, 2016
By this time we all know the tropes that define who millennials (M) are, how they act and their fundamental personality characteristics. You’d think with all of this proven—and nowhere is it more evident than in large corporations—that learning programs would have been adjusted to align instruction with M proclivities for workplace education. Having just spent some time at an F100 company I can affirm with great certainty, most instruction is still a series of bland courses and in some cases lon
Wonderful Brain
MARCH 27, 2014
'This could be a story about buggy whips. You might know the classic management tale of the craftsman who was proud of building the most handsome and useful whips to spur on carriage horses at the turn of the last century. Unfortunately, as you you probably know the tale, carriages once replaced by the automobile rendered his lovely product useless.
Wonderful Brain
MARCH 11, 2014
'More so than in other efforts learning demands a careful balance of content and context. Many courses or projects chock a block with great information never quite achieve the results intended because of the way the information is delivered. Still too many learners won’t or cannot stay engaged. And it’s not for lack of effort by designers. Neither dynamic media, nor learner engagement exercises, even all the bells and whistles designers build on can always keep the learner riveted.
Wonderful Brain
FEBRUARY 7, 2014
'When we last visited this topic about a week back I promised to create a visual—a chart of sorts—to encourage learning and instructional designers to consider how generational bias in training delivery. Just looking to start a conversation. A Quick Review. You might want to pop back to the original article: [link]. We know we’re engaging three distinct groups in today’s workplace, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y (Millenials).
Wonderful Brain
JANUARY 13, 2014
'In this article I want to explore 3 connected ideas. The first is about big data, the phenomenon that now makes available enormous, staggering, volumes of information almost instantaneously. The second is a condition that says information already known to us can limit how big data can be used because there are other types of knowing to expand thinking.
Wonderful Brain
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
Who hasn’t been the recipient of the exhortations of motivation? It seems everywhere; used to suggest, cajole and inspire workers. Indeed exhort all of us to get out in front of a task and get going. I remember, I think, a professor or mentor of mine in the education business who consistently said that motivation, a mental state, is not what we want to create.
Wonderful Brain
MAY 18, 2012
Contrary to many articles published lately, scenarios are not written questions with a supposition or proposition followed by questions. They are micro dramas that bring learners onto the screen and compel interaction. Once in, learner needs to work his way out. One my mantras I have consistency followed is that elearning is an analogue to a television drama.
Wonderful Brain
MAY 7, 2012
This is National Teacher Appreciation Week, an opportunity to celebrate great teachers. While attention is focused let me float an outrageous idea. Though I don’t have the workings of this proposal completely flushed out I hope to instigate a dialogue and let you continue the conversation. I believe teachers are underpaid. And underappreciated. Let me back up a sec: What brought this top of mind are commercials currently airing (and somewhat self-aggrandizing) for the energy industry.
Wonderful Brain
MARCH 26, 2012
Mulling over branding and applying logic to emotion has become more meaningful to me on a professional and personal basis. In some engagements, I’m compelled to live within the ecology of a company’s personality that is expressed in many ways through its brand. And on a personal level, who has not been bombarded into submission in to formulate a noteworthy and memorable—not to say powerful and compelling brand: can’t communicate your value instantaneously without being commoditized.
Wonderful Brain
JANUARY 23, 2012
I n the modern era, the textbook is still the spine from which teachers deliver information. Despite the ubiquity of Wikipedia and the web, most teachers rely on a single source to reference the bulk of instructional material for knowledge transfer to their charges. Some texts are terrific; contemporary information well researched, written and compelling with story-based content attractive to the mass of students.
Wonderful Brain
JANUARY 11, 2012
There seems to be a revival of interest about informal learning. I suppose the definitions range from information gleaned from informal sources—everything from Wikipedia to People Magazine to storytelling, to disruptive media like tablets and smartphones. Some suggest it’s content discovered while looking for something else. Kind of like an accidental scavenger, a web surfer.
Wonderful Brain
DECEMBER 28, 2011
I’m the owner and managing director of Wonderful Brain LLC. We offer custom learning solutions, knowledge & content management and program/project professional services with enthusiastic leadership to drive or support business strategies resulting in compelling user experiences, people performance, and major profitability. via Delivering in the 3.0 World.
Wonderful Brain
DECEMBER 19, 2011
Let me make this clear at the outset; my birth family are the tribe of the Old Testament so my father’s association with the Christmas holiday was learned from coworkers, Nat ‘King’ Cole, the tree at Rockefeller Center and New York fragrant with good cheer – often lubricated with smoky liquids around the 25 th. That is until he had grandchildren. This was of course the divine gift my wife and I delivered to him – most likely our lifetime’s crowning achievement.
Wonderful Brain
DECEMBER 8, 2011
When I first heard the term ‘gamification’* I had the sensation of a spider wiggling down my shirt at a picnic. It’s in the same league as ‘monetization’ and ‘level set’ and, ‘incubator’, words coined to make professionals sound, well, professional. I’m not against jargon in general; shortcuts are good if they are pithy and have substance. Not so ‘gamification.
Wonderful Brain
NOVEMBER 23, 2011
I promised a colleague a week ago I’d share an experience I had producing a mobile learning project for a major airline. So to him, I apologize for this installment being a bit late…think of it as slow 3G, OK? A caveat. So many of us are involved in love affairs with the latest technologies sometimes we forget to brake our enthusiasm and learn after too much money and effort that the latest isn’t always the greatest.
Wonderful Brain
NOVEMBER 21, 2011
The benefits of knowledge management (KM) are a monster value-add to any organization. Nevertheless, the more I learn how companies capture and leverage their intellectual property, the more disheartened I become. How could such a straightforward process for transferring information and learning become bogged down in dense MBA rhetoric taking what is essentially a simple idea and obfuscating it in layers of process and jargon?
Wonderful Brain
NOVEMBER 7, 2011
An Inability to Take Action Because of Practical Issues is Not Wholly the Cause of Inaction. There are as many reasons for contracts failing to close, as there are flavors of Haagen Dazs. Unfortunately, if you don’t close many deals, you’ll be eating some house brand frozen treat. So a double yecch, right? What brought this to mind was a TED video I viewed last evening.
Wonderful Brain
OCTOBER 10, 2011
What can we learn from the methods used to develop curriculum from the academic and corporate sides of the street? In this comparison we can draw come conclusions and discover ways to enhance the integrity of the processes and the resulting knowledge development. Click here for the Improving Performance White Paper. Comments and responses are welcome.
Wonderful Brain
SEPTEMBER 20, 2011
Not too long ago we needed design tools like an artist’s palette demands a variety of colors; both to provide many ways to communicate both cognitively and emotionally. Now we have the technological capacity to deliver learning to anyone in the learning style to which they best respond across multiple platforms irrespective of time and geography. With the gate down learning designers can roam far and wide (and deep) to match content, to methods of communication to outcomes.
Wonderful Brain
AUGUST 28, 2011
Notwithstanding the imperatives of cultural expectations, by the time a kids are in high school their trajectory has much been dialed in: College, training of some sort, the military, or work. There are subsets of each; the junior college to build a reputable GPA to get into a four-year school or a career that demands certification of some sort, vocational training institutes for technical knowledge and skills for local employment, or military service born of patriotism, money for college or, pa
Wonderful Brain
JULY 23, 2011
I’m writing this preamble dockside on a lake in Maine, early morning sunshine firing diamonds of light off the water. The temperature is mild and the bugs have yet to arrive for their fleshy feast. I’m in a good frame of mind–no curmugeonly thoughts or clever bon mots at the ready. All is tranquil. I point this out as so you’ll know there is no overarching agenda, no negativity anywhere in the vicinity of the words that follow.
Wonderful Brain
JUNE 5, 2011
“A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works.”. Would you like to guess the year this hypothesis was coined? That’s right! 1652. What a year! If you find this concept plausible, if the clarity with which business results are expressed, then the more accurate learning objectives can be formed. Further, the more likely instruction can be well designed to achieve the intended outcomes.
Wonderful Brain
MAY 25, 2011
Using social media (SM) to prepare material for instructional design, courseware and webinars and such is the flip side of the same coin that encourages social media as intake media. We read a lot about using SM to learn, but how about to build? Here are 5.1 reasons to build learning via SM. 1. A Social Collective. People learn best in a social context and are self-directed, particularly when focused on a specific task.
Wonderful Brain
MAY 17, 2011
So many words have been written about dysfunctional organizations, if weighed would easily capsize…oh, say an aircraft carrier. Those who work in cubicles are often victims of enterprises that are so inefficient and in some cases borderline dysfunctional it’s stunning anything of value is created. If you want to smell the enticing aroma of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, then follow the directions on the box.
Wonderful Brain
APRIL 20, 2011
I’m a big fan of “Learning Without Frontiers.” I believe Graham Brown-Martin, et. al. is interested in a learning revolution not evolution. And if that’s the case, count me in. Disintermediation and disruption. In fact his latest blog posting [See [link] I don't think Graham really cares if you watch the whole excerpt from 'The Matrix" – fast forward to the pill scene] lays out a case for this very position.
Wonderful Brain
APRIL 11, 2011
It’s no secret that coming from leadership positions in public and corporate education I am very critical of substandard learning; ‘e’ or otherwise. Without vigorous advocacy at the top you’ll never get great results. So I ask, where have the learning leaders in major corporations gone? I asked a colleague who was quite sanguine about this and we agreed there are virtually no new positions for directors, managers or above in the big leagues — organizations are just
Wonderful Brain
JANUARY 6, 2011
Reading an article from the Behance titled “Why Your Inner Critic is Your Best Friend&# I was intrigued for a few reasons. As the author Mark McGuiness scribes, the inner critic has gotten a bad wrap – interrupting, interfering and disjointing our drive to move forward. We are always trying to silence it. To paraphrase liberally, that’s a mistake because that voice is the one that has us question our creative decisions against a standard.
Wonderful Brain
MARCH 6, 2011
Kudos for trying to build screening tools using video and other media for selecting viable candidates. [link] [Using New Tools For Screening Candidates - Ty Abernethy 's Blog, ERE.Net]. It might, however raise the specter that pictures and sound might be more a weapon to keep certain candidates out? I’m sure you’re quite aware that when the recovery takes place the recruitment process will be a huge funnel; many, many potential candidates will get in at the top; make the first cut.
Wonderful Brain
MARCH 15, 2011
This past Sunday 60 minutes featured a story that no doubt will contribute to the warm dialogues concerning the public schools, teacher unionism and tenure. [link]. The Charter School – TEP, The Equity Project – makes the case that paying teachers a substantial salary, somewhat on par with (my words here) what a high level Instructional Designer or Learning & Development leader earns, will improve student test results.
Wonderful Brain
MARCH 17, 2011
During the days when I had occasion to work with adult learners face-to-face I knew early on, even with corporate adults, I needed a hook or activity, (in education terms sometimes called an anticipatory set) to quickly address the temperature in the room, open minds to accept new concepts willingly, and maybe most critically relieve tension to prevent an alpha student from capturing the class with his (and it was always a man – sorry – and congrats to the ladies) negativity.
Wonderful Brain
MARCH 21, 2011
Picking up from yesterday, you’ll recall I had one unfortunate learner act as a victim for the cohort, drawing all the attention that-a-way. Whew, everyone else sighs. But no one evades as we go round the room and, if a bit more superficially, dissect each person’s book until everyone knows the method. And that’s critical because it’s from here we depart.
Wonderful Brain
MARCH 25, 2011
Reading Sam Grobart’s article in the NYT yesterday [link] I found it not only entertaining but pretty accurate. I happen to agree with most of his calls – though I think cheesing the USB Thumb Drive could be a bit immature. Not every client, for instance will install software to see your stuff. For now, I’ll take plug and play. Kill the standalone GPS unit too – a BlackBerry with VZNavigator got me from New York to Holden, Maine (look it up – you won’t find it – though my phone did) as well a
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