Training development is both an art and a science, requiring a delicate balance of creativity, structure, and persistence. This post explores the journey of a seasoned training developer who encounters and overcomes creative obstacles while designing a session on "Creating a strong foundation for learning technologies before using artificial intelligence" for a professional association.
Creating strong foundations for learning technologies before implementing artificial intelligence—represents an area of significant expertise for the trainer, who has been developing educational programs since 1996. Yet even with decades of experience, this project presents its own unique set of challenges.
The Development Timeline: Breaking Down the Process for Directors
Phase 1: Conceptualization and Planning
The initial excitement of a new project fuels the early stages of development. Approximately 15 minutes are dedicated to refining preliminary concepts and establishing the core message. This phase involves clarifying objectives, identifying key takeaways, and determining how to structure the content for maximum impact.
Director Insight: This phase requires minimal resource allocation but establishes the foundation for all subsequent work. Directors should encourage thorough conceptualization while keeping initial planning sessions brief and focused.
Phase 2: Visual Framework
With concepts solidified, attention turns to visual elements. About 5 minutes are spent sketching rudimentary layouts—simple stick figures and basic diagrams that serve as the skeleton for more refined designs. These preliminary sketches help visualize how information will flow throughout the presentation.
Director Insight: Supporting quick visual ideation without immediate technological intervention allows for greater creative freedom and rapid iteration, saving resources in later stages.
Phase 3: Design Exploration
The next hour is devoted to exploring visual imagery that both complements the content and enhances audience engagement. This involves considering color schemes, typography, graphical elements, and overall aesthetic approach. The goal is to create a visual language that supports rather than distracts from the educational objectives.
Director Insight: This represents a critical decision-making period where brand guidelines must align with educational objectives. Directors should ensure their teams have access to pre-approved design elements and templates to streamline this process.
Phase 4: Initial Build
With a visual direction established, the trainer invests 2-3 hours constructing the presentation framework. This involves creating slides, organizing content sections, and beginning to integrate the visual elements identified earlier. Progress is steady, and satisfaction grows as the presentation begins taking form.
Director Insight: This production phase represents the first substantial time investment. Directors can optimize this stage by ensuring team members have uninterrupted work periods of at least 90 minutes.
Phase 5: The Creative Blockage
Despite momentum and experience, the project hits an unexpected impasse. The visual elements begin overshadowing the content, making it difficult to organize information in a way that effectively engages the audience, guides learning progression, and supports practical application. The balance between form and function becomes skewed, resulting in confusion and frustration.
Director Insight: Creative blocks should be anticipated in project timelines rather than treated as exceptional events. Building contingency time into project plans acknowledges this reality without stigmatizing developers who experience such blocks.
Phase 6: Strategic Disengagement
Rather than forcing creativity—a strategy that rarely yields optimal results—the trainer implements a deliberate two-day pause from the project. This represents approximately 2,880 minutes of distance, during which only reflection on the core purpose and objectives is permitted. No active work on the presentation occurs during this time.
Director Insight: Strategic disengagement is not lost productivity but rather an essential investment in quality outcomes. Directors who normalize and even schedule such breaks foster environments where breakthrough thinking can flourish.
Phase 7: Preparation for Inspiration
Recognizing that inspiration often strikes unexpectedly, the trainer prepares by keeping two blank sheets of paper and writing instruments close at hand at all times. Approximately 5 minutes are spent finding the ideal pen—an often underestimated tool in the creative process. These materials become constant companions, ready to capture ideas whenever they might emerge.
Director Insight: Equipping team members with appropriate capture tools—whether analog or digital—represents a minimal investment with potentially significant returns. Consider providing dedicated notebooks or mobile apps specifically for project-related inspirations.
Phase 8: Unexpected Inspiration
As anticipated, clarity comes in unpredictable moments. Insights emerge during a church service, at 4 AM while in bed, during lunch over stir fry, and while relaxing on the couch watching a movie. These scattered moments of illumination total approximately 36 minutes of pure inspiration, demonstrating that creativity rarely adheres to scheduled work periods.
Director Insight: The most valuable creative contributions often occur outside traditional work settings. Directors who acknowledge and respect this reality create cultures where team members feel empowered to capture and share insights regardless of when they occur.
Phase 9: Reorganization and Research
With renewed vision, the trainer gathers the scattered notes (which have somehow separated during the break) and returns to the laptop. Approximately 20 minutes are dedicated to reviewing these inspirations, organizing thoughts, and consulting current research to ensure content accuracy and relevance.
Director Insight: This transition back to active development represents a critical junction where fragmented ideas must be consolidated. Directors can support this process by providing dedicated re-entry time after strategic breaks.
Phase 10: Focused Completion
The final push involves about 420 minutes of concentrated work interspersed with strategic breaks. What previously seemed like an insurmountable obstacle transforms into a clear path forward, resulting in a completed presentation that achieves the intended educational objectives while maintaining visual appeal.
Director Insight: This concentrated work period delivers the majority of tangible output. Directors can optimize this phase by clearing schedules, minimizing interruptions, and ensuring all necessary resources are readily available.
The Emotional Landscape of Training Development: Strategic Implications for Directors
The training development process follows not only a timeline but also an emotional trajectory that influences the final product. Understanding this emotional journey helps directors better support their teams:
1. Excitement: The initial thrill of a new project stimulates creative thinking and energizes the planning process. Director Strategy: Capitalize on this energy by ensuring clear objectives and boundaries are established early, preventing diffusion of enthusiasm into unproductive directions.
2. Creativity: The joy of brainstorming and sketching preliminary ideas provides momentum and establishes direction. Director Strategy: Facilitate structured brainstorming sessions that balance creative freedom with strategic guardrails to maintain project focus.
3. Thoughtful exploration: Carefully selecting visual elements requires focused attention and consideration of how design choices impact learning. Director Strategy: Provide access to design resources and guidelines that align with organizational standards while allowing creative flexibility.
4. Satisfaction: Seeing the presentation begin to take shape provides positive reinforcement and motivation to continue. Director Strategy: Implement progress checkpoints that acknowledge accomplishments while maintaining momentum toward completion.
5. Confusion: Hitting unexpected roadblocks can lead to frustration and doubt about the project's direction. Director Strategy: Normalize creative challenges by sharing examples of how previous projects overcame similar obstacles. Provide troubleshooting resources without micromanaging solutions.
6. Contentment: Accepting the need for distance from a challenging project brings relief and reduced pressure. Director Strategy: Authorize and even encourage strategic disengagement when projects reach impasses. Communicate that stepping away temporarily demonstrates professional judgment rather than inadequacy.
7. Peacefulness: Finding calm in deliberate disengagement allows mental resources to recover and reorient. Director Strategy: Ensure workloads permit genuine mental breaks, recognizing that continuous reassignment to other tasks prevents the cognitive rest needed for breakthrough thinking.
8. Inspiration: Experiencing breakthrough moments creates excitement and renews confidence in the project. Director Strategy: Create channels for immediate capture and sharing of insights, regardless of when or where they occur. Acknowledge and celebrate these contributions.
9. Confidence mixed with curiosity: Returning to the work with fresh perspective enables both assertive decision-making and continued exploration. Director Strategy: Schedule debriefing sessions after strategic breaks to integrate new insights into project frameworks while maintaining momentum.
10. Accomplishment: Completing the training with clarity brings professional satisfaction and readiness to share with others. Director Strategy: Implement structured review processes that validate achievement while capturing lessons learned for future projects.
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