Designing one thousand business experiments

“There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge…observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.” Denis Diderot The French philosopher Diderot would have been helpful in guiding many companies towards becoming learning organisations: observe what is going on, reflect on why and what it… Read More Designing one thousand business experiments

08/11/2022 jonathanbriggsLeave a comment

Are we investing enough in learning design?

I am now a freelancer (after 12 years employed by Hyper Island in Singapore) and this gives me the freedom to question everything anew. Why did we do things this way? How was our business structured and funded? And how could we have scaled what we did without scaling people (which is always very difficult)?… Read More Are we investing enough in learning design?

07/09/2022 jonathanbriggsLeave a comment

Creating magical meetings and workshops

I’ve been busy writing, (having Covid), thinking and changing my job role at Hyper Island; going independent will allow me to work for a wider range of clients and educational organisations. It’s been a scary change but also a good opportunity to reflect on what I have been doing and to focus on what I… Read More Creating magical meetings and workshops

31/08/202231/08/2022 jonathanbriggs5 Comments

Designing active learning sessions

I’m trying to document some of my thinking around active constructivist learning for adults. In my experience everyone appreciates the idea of learning by doing but many find it hard to imagine the range of sessions that can be designed. Many learning designers fall back on talking and telling, and relegate making and reflection… Read More Designing active learning sessions

28/06/2022 jonathanbriggsLeave a comment

Building worlds for digital transformation

Every organisation is being affected by digitalisation as technology transforms how work gets done, consumer expectations change and new ways to create value are devised. For more than twenty years I have worked with a wide variety of companies from banking to retail and from pharmaceuticals to luxury wines and spirits. Each has it’s own… Read More Building worlds for digital transformation

19/06/2022 jonathanbriggsLeave a comment

Think, make and reflect like a board game designer

When we construct sessions for learners we should borrow ideas from a wide range of different creative industries. Harnessing the skills, tools and practices from a completely new field gives a group new perspectives and helps them make new connections between ideas. In this post I want to describe the process I have used… Read More Think, make and reflect like a board game designer

17/05/2022 jonathanbriggsLeave a comment

Design for your heroes

When we build worlds we populate them with characters, and give those characters challenges to allow stories to emerge. To create interesting stories, the world must fit the characters and the characters must fit the worlds. At the end of this post I will share an activity to help you design both. There are many… Read More Design for your heroes

14/05/2022 jonathanbriggsLeave a comment

Learning through making has been a powerful force in my life

I am fascinated by learning, by how we learn, by what might be going on inside my head and inside my mind, and how experimenting and making things might be at the root of all of these. I would call myself a constructivist educator. What is constructivism? This is a theory of learning that comes… Read More Learning through making has been a powerful force in my life

10/05/2022 jonathanbriggsLeave a comment

One small change can build a new world

Here is a way to generate a new world that will get you started with world building: imagine that we start with a world just like our own and make a small change. It can be anything from a technological invention to a trend that sweeps across the globe. Write it down and then… Read More One small change can build a new world

03/05/202203/05/2022 jonathanbriggsLeave a comment

Data voids and #thetalentedgardener

A gardener is a world builder in the real world; a maker of fruit, flowers, vegetables, landscapes and views, who works within the rules of climate, weather, insects, biology and time. Gardeners experiment and learn; constructing and refining models of what works and what does not but aware of the randomness of outcomes and the… Read More Data voids and #thetalentedgardener

02/05/202230/05/2022 jonathanbriggsLeave a comment

Digital Jobs To Be Done

thoughts about customers, data, analytics and constructionist learning