Only one out of the 37 BYU professors I work with use mastery paths in their online courses. This post is my musings on why professors are choosing not to use learning (mastery-specific) paths.
Mastery paths allow instructors to cater to the individual student needs while not sacrificing their desired learning outcomes. This Canvas training video on mastery paths is a little outdated, but still explains the topic well.
Who Uses Mastery Paths and How?
The BYU Online Physical Science 100 professor I work with uses mastery paths because she is serious about her students achieving an essential level of content mastery. But she uses mastery paths differently than how most people use them. Instead of offering students differentiated learning paths based on their scores, she only offers a single path–MASTERY. Students must score above a certain number of points for the condition to kick in and unlock the subsequent quizzes in the path. (I.e., “You will not pass my class unless you can demonstrate a basic understanding of certain concepts!”)
Mastery Path Pros
Mastery paths can potentially challenge learners at different competency levels. This is done in Montessori-like learning environments where learners at many levels learn together. It assesses a learner’s mastery of the content and then assigns them subsequent assignments that will challenge them. This keeps learners in a constant state of Flow; no one feels bored or overly challenged. For example, someone who aces a quiz might get an assignment type higher on Bloom’s Taxonomy than the module-level objectives indicate.
Mastery paths do not assign learners unnecessary practice. Some instructors say, “ALL this content is important,” or “Students MUST be spending a certain amount of time doing coursework each week.” Is it? Do they? But by focusing on competency-based education (CBE), instructors respect learners’ time, and as a result, they trust that what they are asked to engage in is meaningful.
Mastery paths offer struggling students needed resources. In mastery paths, the instructors are more “present” as learning facilitators as they passively guide students to the resources that will help them the most. For example, instructors might include pre-recorded invitations to contact them at the end of remedial assignments (content that A-students wouldn’t see). It’s an automatic way to reach out to students instead of TAs keeping an eye on the gradebook.
Implementing mastery paths is a way to show that instructors care about the growth of individuals. Students clearly see that the instructor has gone the extra mile to ensure that students are “getting” the material. Struggling students feel less alone and encouraged to engage with the remedial materials.
Mastery Path Cons (or Reasons Why We’re Not All Doing It Already)
There’s a personal ability issue. We’ve never learned why or how to do it.
Our teaching philosophy may be more content-centered than learning-centered. For generations, university instructors have been steeped in the culturally-accepted belief that they are the experts, and it is a privilege to study under them. As a result, their approach to learning and assessments is “my way or the highway.” For these instructors, if you earn less than an A, the unspoken assumption is that it results from the students’ lack of intelligence or study. However, learning-centered instructors understand their role as guides but choose to focus more on the individual learners’ paths toward mastery. Both are objective/outcome-focused, but one cares more about how it’s taught and the other about how it is learned.
Mastery path setup can be complicated and time-consuming. The amount of content created may be the same (whether mastery paths are used or not). However, mastery paths require instructors and designers to plan what learning paths look like carefully. (The actual setup in the LMS is pretty straightforward.)
For a CBE approach, instructors may offer a challenging pre-assessment instead of giving EVERYONE EVERYTHING up front. Those who score well on the pre-assessment (or indicate their predisposition to test well on the summative assessment) may be assigned less reading and practice than those who scored poorly.
For a learning preferences approach, the pre-assessment may be a single question: “How do you like to be assessed?” Students may choose from a selection of assignments that they feel more comfortable demonstrating competency.
Mastery paths may deprive learners of all potential resources. However, the instructor’s job isn’t to “get through all their material.” It’s to help learners reach pre-defined course outcomes. (Some instructors make a way to provide alternative learning path materials to all students as supplementary material.)
Conclusion
Give learning paths a try. See what it does for your student motivation and competency levels.
1. I share how my dissertation data incidentally “re-discovered” the Hero’s Journey.
2. I show how you can use the Hero’s Journey framework to heal from work-related challenges.
3. I advise novice instructional designers on how to move more efficiently from academia into the professional world.
Death is Just Part of the Journey
In 2013, after spending three years as a corporate instructional designer (ID), I questioned whether I was in the right career field. I experienced some identity-shaking work-related trauma that left me feeling disrespected and undervalued (worthless). So, naturally, I doubled down. I wasn’t go to lay down so easily. I applied to Brigham Young University’s (BYU) IP&T doctoral program. Naively, I reasoned that in a world filled with people possessing masters degree, no one argues with someone with a Ph.D. Those additional letters behind my name would certainly afford me the clout I craved. Plus, I needed a safe haven for my ego to convalesce. I still feel grateful to those faculty for taking me in.
While at BYU, I made use of the free resources at BYU’s Center for Counseling and Psychological Services, which offered me space to reflect. I untangled some of my emotional knots. I realized that I had unintentionally linked my self-esteem to my professional work. Additionally, I uncovered some personal beliefs that did not reflect reality and limited my happiness. For example, one of the beliefs I discovered was, “How could a company that I love and respect do anything wrong? If I am experiencing a problem, then I must be the (sole) cause of it.”
While some of you may relate to this story, others of you may still be preparing to face your own Ordeals. Regardless of where you are on your career path, at some point, we will all inevitably experience something that invites us to reflect on the same existential question: “Am I in the right career?” And when that time comes, Joseph Campbell’s Hero Journey can serve as a framework to help us make meaning in periods of professional crisis.
Unlock the Hero Within
Joseph Campbell was a 20th-century scholar who studied dozens of the world’s greatest myths and stories across civilizations, cultures, and religions. He identified common themes and symbols that spanned the human experience. He believed that all myths are variations of a single narrative―a primordial pattern of adventure, self-discovery, and growth. He called it The Hero’s Journey and he captured this concept in his seminal work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).
“The journey of the hero is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us; the uncanny discovery that the seeker is the mystery which the seeker seeks to know. The hero journey is a symbol that binds, in the original sense of the word, two distant ideas, the spiritual quest of the ancients with the modern search for identity, always the one, shape-shifting yet marvelously constant story that we find.” ― Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work
The Hero’s Journey originally consisted of 17 key elements or stages. It’s important to note that not every hero’s story includes every element, and the order may vary. Instead of thinking of the Journey as a predictable linear path, it may be easier to conceptualize as a narrator’s toolbox. At its essence, the hero’s journey has three acts:
How do so many of the world’s most popular myths seem to fit the hero’s journey framework? And why do so many of us resonate with these familiar stories? Campbell and Vogler argue that it because each of us (at least the privileged ones in society) are heroes in our own right—predestined for epic adventure and greatness.
Does This Framework Only Apply to Our Professional Lives?
Becoming professionals isn’t the only journey we’re on. As humans, we go on several interconnected adventures, large and small, on a daily, weekly, monthly, annual, and lifelong basis. You can think of a hero’s journeys as personal quests or challenges. Changing jobs is a journey. So are finding love, getting married, and having children. Shipping a project on a deadline is a journey, and so is hunting at the grocery store for the perfect side to go with dinner. Each adventure we successfully navigate prepares us for a bigger and better one.
According to LDS doctrine, everyone on earth is a hero. We are all spirit children of heavenly parents, possessing a divine mission and destiny. As evidenced by our earthly existence, we have already answered a pre-mortal call to adventure and crossed the threshold into this unknown world called mortality. Our goal is to bring our mortal bits into harmony with our spiritual bits. We do this by learning to align our wills with God’s. (The psychologist Carl Jung, one of Campbell’s major influences, had a name for thispsychic integration process. He called the harmonizing of our unconscious self with our conscious self individuation.)
Regardless of one’s religious belief, the monomyth has been proven to help people make meaning from their past traumas. Instead of viewing the monomyth as a modern-day Liahona or a recipe that must be followed exactly (prescriptive in nature), it is a therapeutic tool used to retroactively describe our past life events (descriptive in nature). (Read success stories from Stress.org, Counseling Today, and this therapist in Boulder, CO.) Even researchers outside of Psychology have praised its efficacy. Most studies find that regardless of how much life people have lived, or what they’ve experienced, on the whole, Hero’s Journey practitioners have been able to transform their trauma into meaningful life events. (Disclaimer: not all trauma is the same, and this approach doesn’t work equally for everyone. Additionally, the stories we tell about ourselves in hindsight do not perfectly describe reality. But they can still be helpful for meaning-making and growth.)
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
― Soren Kierkegaard
The hero’s journey can also be employed to help us navigate personal challenges. It offers us a guide we can turn to whenever we feel stuck. It helps us reflect. “Am I refusing the call? Scared to enter the cave? Do I need an ally?” The inspiring stories of other heroes who overcome and grow from their trials can give us hope to find meaning in our own hardships. With this framework in our back pocket, we are never truly alone.
Throughout these quests, familiar themes and archetypal patterns consistently emerge. We repeat the monomyth cycle again and again until we learn what we need to learn.
The Hero’s Journey Toward Job Satisfaction
The remainder of this article will focus on explaining how Vogler’s 12 stages of the Hero’s Journey can apply to our respective professional journeys. I’ll share others’ experiences in addition to my own in the hope that you will be able to apply these ideas to your situation. Each of Vogler’s 12 stages will specifically include five illustrative parts (color coded for your convenience):
THE HERO’S JOURNEY
This segment has three elements:
A summary of the stage.
A supporting quote from Campbell or Vogler.
An pop-culture video example, typifying the current stage.
BRYAN’S JOURNEY
My story of moving through the 12 stages of the Hero’s Journey.
DISSERTATION PARTICIPANTS’ JOURNEY
My doctoral dissertation was on how instructional designers found satisfaction in their careers. In this section, I share some professional examples of how they moved through Vogler’s 12 stages.
MY ADVICE TO NEW INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNERS (IDs)
My general advice for IDs transitioning from graduate school into the workplace in order to maximize personal and professional growth.
GROUP DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
A list of questions to ponder and discuss as small groups.
1. The Ordinary World
The Hero’s Journey
This first stage captures the contented hero in their ordinary, everyday life. (Life in this known world establishes the hero’s baseline and provides a context for change.)
“Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it.”
— Joseph Campbell
In Moana, the opening song, Where You Are, the hero feels pressure to maintain the status quo.
Bryan’s Journey
In June 2009, as a recent BYU graduate in Provo, UT, I embarked on my first day at the UVU Fire Academy, pursuing my third career in three years. Walking through UVU’s training facility, I witnessed Cadets in PPE racing up ladders and pulling hoses, surrounded by gleaming fire engines. Excitement filled me as I envisioned the promising career ahead. With a background in the Boy Scouts of America, I appreciated the structure this path offered. My plan: move to California, become a lieutenant in five years, a Captain in ten, and a Chief in fifteen. My professional mission: “save lives through dedication, teamwork, and innovation.” The path was set.
Note: I had no idea the field of instructional design existed at the time.
My Dissertation Participants’ Journey
Before entering the ID field, most of my dissertation participants viewed themselves as teachers at heart. They nurtured growth in themselves and others. See the Participant Profiles section (p. 49) of my dissertation for more details.
Kate was a corporation trainer.
Pepper was finding her place in business.
Valentino taught high school before becoming an instructional designer.
Tyler was an anthropologist.
Fred was a video graphics technician and web creator.
My Advice to New IDs
Job hop frequently during your first ten to fifteen years as an ID. The average person earns 10% more when switching jobs, compared to the average internal pay raise of 2%. Plus, the more varied experience you gather, the more valuable you become to future employers. If you’re a “I only like vanilla ice cream” type of person, stop it! Learn what you can and move on. Avoid career plateaus. Look for a new job as soon as you begin to sense your growth trajectory leveling off. When applying for a new job, prospective employers will be guessing how well you’ll be able to fulfill the desired responsibilities based on your past job roles. If you can show that you have “experience” from a number of reputable organizations, the greater your perceived value. Remember: Hiring managers often undervalue academic preparation and overvalue professional experience. Full-time experience outweighs internships. The closer your experience is to their business practice, the better.
Listen to tales from the unknown world. Conduct 30-minute “lunchtime chat” interviews with other professional IDs in various domains and job roles. You can save years of painful self-discovery by learning from the experiences of others. Here are some sample interview questions:
What do you love about being an ID?
When have you felt most fulfilled as an ID?
What do you enjoy doing least in your current role?
What do you wish you could do more of in your current role?
What would it take for you to change jobs?
Group Discussion Activity
Discuss the following questions with the ID students around you.
What were you doing before you entered the ID field?
What are your professional passions?
2. The Call to Adventure
The Hero’s Journey
In the Hero’s Journey, stage two is the “Call to Adventure,” where the protagonist encounters a significant challenge or summons that disrupts their ordinary life, compelling them to embark on a transformative adventure. Faced with a choice to accept or resist, this marks the beginning of their journey, setting the stage for growth and challenges ahead.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” — Joseph Campbell
In Star Wars IV: A New Hope, a disgruntled, moisture-farming youth stumbles upon a hidden message that changes the trajectory of his life and the destiny of the galaxy forever. (Only watch these video examples if they interest you.)
Bryan’s Journey
I was prepared to devote my life to firefighting, but something shocking happened that turned me from my path. As I entered the academy classroom for my first lecture, I found 6-10 of my would-be brothers gathered around a laptop watching porn. Immediately realizing I couldn’t thrive in that environment, I returned to my car and never looked back. The drive home was an emotional blur. I remember feeling like my life had fallen apart, again.
The next day, I received a supernatural phone call from Nate Neiderhausen (a young father from my home ward). “Why would he be calling me?” Our paths had never really crossed back then. Nate explained that, while he didn’t know my current situation, he had an impression to call and tell me about his work as a learning designer at Microsoft. As he told me more, I learned that the field of instructional design was essentially the combination of my greatest passions―teaching and technology. He then offered to write me a letter of recommendation to his alma mater, Utah State.
Like Hedwig delivering Harry’s Hogwarts letter, Nate sparked my journey into instructional design. His recommendation led me to Utah State four months later.
Dissertation Participants’ Journey
A participant in my dissertation shared his story about discovering (feeling “called” to) the field of Instructional Design. A business owner watched him teach a community night class. Impressed by the young man’s design-thinking skills, the businessman offered to triple his salary to come work for him. Although the salary increase meant relocating to a rural area (which was a non-starter), the high-school teacher realized his current career situation couldn’t financially support his growing family and fulfill his desire for greater teaching autonomy. Encouraged by the job offer, he quit his teaching job and pursued a master’s degree in instructional design.
My Advice to New IDs
Just because you received a call to be an ID doesn’t mean you are forever bound to it. Like the mystic winds in Disney’s Frozen II, embrace the twists and turns of fate, be open to career redirection, and avoid dogmatic adherence to your original goal. Flexibility is key. Sometimes, your purpose evolves. Be open to new paths that may lead to unexpected but meaningful destinations.
“We should grow like a tree that likewise does not know its law. We tie ourselves up with intentions, not mindful of the fact that intention is the limitation.” ― Carl Jung, The Red Book
Group Discussion Activity
Get to know the stories of the ID students at your table.
Who (or what) called you to the field of instructional design?
3. Refusal of the Call
The Hero’s Journey
The hero hesitates or resists the call. This reluctance can often stem from feelings of fear or inadequacy about the Unknown World.
“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
— Joseph Campbell
Elsa, in Frozen II’s Into the Unknown, wrestles with her call to adventure (self-discovery).
Bryan’s Journey
Similar to Elsa, I feared the unknown of leaving for graduate school. Leaving Provo meant letting go of friends and familiar surroundings. I would be alone―700 miles from the nearest immediate family member and 100 miles from the closest extended family member. On top of that, I would be entering a field I knew next to nothing about. What if I wasn’t any good at it? What would a third career flop do to my self-concept?
Dissertation Participants’ Journey
My research study showed that being flexible and adapting to new situations helped instructional designers (IDs) learn faster and improve their careers. On the other hand, IDs who stuck to their old ways and ignored the demands of their jobs faced more challenges and delays. For example, one of my male participants felt pigeon-holed as a script writing position after earning a Master’s degree in ID. He dutifully performed that role for two years before he finally came up with a brilliant idea that allowed him to transform his his job as a scriptwriter into that of a designer and community igniter, which ultimately was much better for everyone involved in the project. (He said that those two years were important for building trust with his clients was important. However, he also wondered if it really had to take that long.)
Common unspoken fears in becoming an instructional designer include the following concerns:
giving up other career paths
doubts about academic ability for grad school
job availability post-graduation
financial considerations in public education or nonprofits
My Advice to New IDs
Embrace change as a way of life. Your job is not a cozy retreat where you do just enough not to get fired (that’s how you get fired). Rather, it’s a chance to grow (even if it hurts). By accepting change as a default mindset, you become an actor (one who creates your own destiny), not an object waiting to be acted upon. Campbell charges us to “follow [our] bliss,” which means being willing to let go of our plans as we remain constantly open to new adventures.
Prioritize growth and self-discovery OVER professional recognition and money. If you do want respect, recognition and money, focus instead on hard work, optimism, courage and creative thinking.
Embrace the suck. Fail quickly, internalize your lessons and then try again. Cut Jake the dog example. Disconnect your sense of self-worth from your current ability to perform a task. Adopt a growth mindset and leverage the power of the word “yet.” In the immortal words of Jake the Dog (from the Cartoon Network TV show Adventure Time), “Sucking at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.”
We can’t escape our call. But we can control the amount of time we spend suppressing our passions or pursuing things we hate. When faced with a call to adventure, we have three choices: 1) to accept it, 2) to postpone it, or 3) to refuse it completely. If we accept the call, we commit ourselves to face and ultimately resolve the limitation or problem that triggered the call. If we postpone the call, we may be able to return temporarily to our familiar life and work. Eventually, however, as Campbell warns, “A series of signs of increasing force then will become visible until…the summons can no longer be denied” (The Hero with 1000 Faces, p. 56). If you settle for a job because it’s close to home, or one that pays you x number of dollars, you will find yourself continually haunted by an inner call to adventure. You possess an innate need for personal growth buried in your collective unconscious that―if unattended to, according to Jung―will rise and subtly peck at and consume your conscious mind, slowly driving you to depression and other neuroses eventually leading to psychoses. Basically, the more you try to dismiss your call to adventure, the more uncomfortable you will become. The time you spend in this state of discomfort is up to you.
Note: Answering the call generally involves replacing a sense of growing discomfort with worse discomforts in the unknown world, culminating in an exquisite “death and rebirth.” But after that, it gets better.
When you feel dissatisfied, creatively take inventory of your life. Sometimes, it can be hard to identify the source of our dissatisfaction. Carl Jung said, “Everything in the unconscious seeks outward manifestation.”Following Jung’s idea that the unconscious seeks manifestation, try writing exercises to pinpoint dissatisfaction and guide you toward a more fulfilling path:
Resume Reflection: Write a summary of your current role. Does it align with your past and future goals? Are you learning, building a reputation, and achieving tangible results?
Christmas Letter Reflection: Write a Christmas Letter (even if it’s February), to review the year. Consider your friendships, children, learning outside of work, creative pursuits, responsibilities to family and community, and personal health habits.
See what your unconscious mind reveals.
Group Discussion Activity
What obstacles did you overcome before beginning your graduate training in ID?
4. Meeting the Mentor
The Hero’s Journey
The Hero cannot survive the unknown world without first meeting the mentor. The Mentor serves as a vital guide for the hero, offering clarity, determination, and essential support. Their role involves helping the hero overcome doubts and prepares them for the journey ahead. This support is often provided through tools (artifacts or talismans), guidance, wisdom, and motivation (usually in the form of encouragement, though not always).
“The mentor is a guiding force, providing wisdom and direction to the hero on their quest.”
— Christopher Vogler
The Karate Kid, “show me ’wax on, wax off’.” (Note Daniel’s initial refusal of the call).
Bryan’s Journey
I had a collection of mentors during my academic preparation, many of whom are faculty in the IP&T program. After getting “beaten up” in the corporate world, I was ready for some advanced training on how to navigate the unknown world more successfully. Here is a short list of mentors who gave me invaluable support:
My dissertation chair, Dr. Yanchar, provided me with consistent care and encouragement.
Dr. Williams, a retired faculty member, guided me in transforming a significant weakness. Initially, I believed my design opinions were better than others’ ideas. However, through Dr. Williams’ guidance, which included discussions, projects, internships, and reflection, I learned that the combined intelligence of the group is more influential than that of an individual.
Dr. Kimmons expressed faith in my potential when I was feeling stuck in my research.
Dr. Graham referred me to BYU’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), providing me with the resources to overcome emotional obstacles that slowed my academic progress.
Dissertation Participants’ Journey
Depending on the scope of your journey, a mentor could be a single person (Professor, TA, or classmate). Or it could be your collective academic preparation. For example, Pepper was exposed to an effective K-12 training approach, “I do, we do, you do,” in graduate school. She applied this “tool” or design approach in her fast-paced startup environment with terrific success.
My Advice to New IDs
Pick a research chair who leaves you feeling empowered after your visits. What are the critical factors to consider when deciding on a faculty member to chair your thesis or dissertation? It depends on your program goals. If you want to establish a personal research agenda, choose a school and research advisor aligned with those interests. Then, proactively engage with existing, research-specific “labs” and collaborative research networks to co-author papers and leverage the mentoring and community benefits of graduate school. For those more focused on timely graduation, prioritize factors like availability, responsiveness, and intra-committee dynamics. At the end of the day, a good research paper is a done research paper; if you’re stuck and your chair isn’t helping (or is the problem), be open to filling out a “change of committee” form to get a new chair.
Group Discussion Activity
For those without professional ID experience:
How has the Lord played a role in putting the right people in your life at the right time?
If you had to pick a single ID mentor right now, who would it be and why? Were you given a “talisman,” “artifact,” or gift of knowledge that you anticipate will be essential in your career? Who gave you crucial feedback that prevented disaster?
What does the ideal ID mentor look like for you? (Trick question.)
For those of you with professional ID experience:
How did a mentor prepare or equip you as you entered (or re-entered) the workforce?
Why are you back in the ”training grounds”? What skill or knowledge do you hope to learn here in IP&T that will help you better navigate the unknown world?
5. Crossing the Threshold
The Hero’s Journey
The Hero must first confront and then pass through an event that forces him to commit to enter the Special or Unknown World; a threshold from which there is no turning back.
“Following your bliss is not self-indulgent, but vital; your whole physical system knows that this is the way to be alive in this world and the way to give to the world the very best that you have to offer. There IS a track just waiting for each of us and once on it, doors will open that were not open before and would not open for anyone else.“
— Joseph Campbell
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry crosses the threshold from the muggle world (at Kings Cross Platform 9 ¾) into the unknown wizarding world (Hogwarts Express).
Bryan’s Journey
After earning a Master’s degree in instructional design from USU, I worked as a civilian contractor for the U.S. Air Force. My journey into the Unknown started with a meticulous 60-page application for U.S. Government Secret clearance. It reached a point of no return when I signed the job contract, marking the true beginning of my “quest” to become a top-notch instructional designer.
Dissertation Participants’ Journey
Graduating from a graduate school program, interviewing for a full-time ID position, and getting hired are all possible thresholds into the Unknown World of Instructional Design.
As my participants entered the corporate instructional design world, they found widespread disagreement on the role and duties of an instructional designer. This led to confusion and frustration for most of my participants, except for Pepper. Being flexible and resilient, she didn’t set rigid expectations during her academic preparations. Her philosophy was straightforward: “Look at the problem. Solve the problem.” Viewing herself as a problem solver, she rarely struggled with aligning job role expectations with workplace realities.
My Advice to New IDs
Upon crossing the threshold, don’t be an “all-star;” focus on the basics. Own your newbie status. Don’t try to revamp your organization’s workflows. (Even if they ask you to, don’t do it; it’s a trap.) Humbly decline and say, “For now, I’d prefer to focus on getting really good at the basics.”
Avoid conforming to arbitrary corporate standards. Instead, craft your own identity as an instructional designer (ID). Unlike professions with well-defined roles, ID job positions vary widely, leading to confusion and differing perceptions. Attempts by organizations like IBSTPI to standardize definitions often go unnoticed. Graduates may exit academia with a narrow view, influenced by their institution’s focus, while non-academics may remain unaware of the ID field. Despite companies mentioning terms like ADDIE and the Kirkpatrick Model, the reality is that hiring decisions are often influenced by recommendations rather than a deep understanding of the field. For many entry-level ID roles, employers seek individuals who can execute tasks without probing deeply.
Don’t trust job descriptions—they’re often hastily crafted and don’t accurately represent the actual requirements. Hiring managers may lack a profound understanding of how instructional design (ID) adds value, rendering hiring algorithms ineffective. For instance, vague experience criteria (e.g., “10-15 experience in ID or related field”) may signal an opportunity for negotiation rather than a strict necessity. Therefore, focus on securing an interview with your potential manager to assess the fit with the organization and team, as that’s where you’ll gain a genuine understanding of their needs.
During the interview, inquire about the daily tasks of the job to avoid potential surprises. Managers may advertise a critical-thinking design role but actually seek a more task-oriented developer. Clarify definitions by asking questions like, “How do you define instructional design?” and “What does an instructional designer do in your company?” Conduct a gap analysis by questioning why the company is hiring, its current status among competitors, goals, and expectations from the role. If the manager provides clear answers, consider taking the job, even if it’s in an unexpected industry. Working for organizations with a clear vision has always been a rewarding experience for me.
Professional instructional design (ID) certifications are like passcodes—they help you open doors. Proving ID competence is challenging. While I’m sure research has been done on this, I’ve found that employers value the following in descending order: 1. Successful professional experience. 2. Demonstrations of ability (portfolios). 3. Professional certifications. 4. Academic diplomas. 5. Letters of recommendation and referrals. In the ID field, few certifications, except for project management ones, adequately prepare employees for real job tasks. Due to the ambiguity of what IDs do, employers often rely on these certifications as endorsements of an ID’s skills. Bottomline: Corporate credibility trumps academic training.
Get to know the stories of the ID students at your table.
What’s your goal or ‘quest’? Why do you want to be an ID? What’s your reward? Are you in this mostly for yourself, or others? Evaluate your motives.
What is an ID? Activity
First, quickly come up with a job role definition individually (1 min).
Then negotiate your definitions as a table (3 min).
Finally, share your table’s definition as a large group (3 min).
Probable result: Definitions will vary, especially the further removed you are from “your people.”
6.Tests, Allies, and Enemies
The Hero’s Journey
After entering the Unknown World, the Hero undergoes Tests, meets Allies, battles Enemies, and grasps the rules of this special realm. This perilous place poses the risk of the hero’s demise, filled with escalating challenges. These experiences are crucial for the hero’s development, serving as preparation for the impending Ordeal. This stage is typically the longest in the Hero’s journey, but can also be condensed into a training montage.
A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
— Christopher Vogler
Disney’s Mulan, I’ll Make a Man Out of You training montage
Bryan’s Journey
Despite being a recent graduate, I landed a Lead eLearning Designer role, thinking it was due to the app I donated to their organization. However, I later found out a friend recommended me. Having a friend at work improved my happiness and productivity. After two years of feeling like an imposter, I felt perhaps overconfident. Around that time, I developed a professional frenemy who criticized me behind my back, leading to my departure. The root issue was uncommunicated expectations about job roles on a shared project. Trouble arose when I prototyped features, challenging her authority. (I was performing both my development tasks and her designer tasks, a mistake fueled by my love for the company.)
Dissertation Participants’ Journey
How did my dissertation participants learn to survive the “other” world? They made friends, learned from enemies, and “leveled up” by overcoming challenges.
Friends, or sidekicks, offer the hero aid. They can be colleagues, supervisors, or even people outside of work. Like mentors, these friends can share knowledge, skills, and also help with smaller challenges. An undervalued thing friends can do for heroes is to listen. It’s crucial for the hero to have someone to talk to about their journey. This emotional support is an essential catalyst for the hero’s progress.
Enemies play an helpful role (indirectly) in the hero’s journey. Engaging with and overcoming these “mini-bosses” give the hero important experience and skills that they will need to survive the upcoming ordeal or “big boss,” whatever that might be. My interviews with participants revealed that these professional “enemies” could be uncooperative project stakeholders, insecure and underqualified managers, and team members vying for the same promotion.
Common challenges or tests, for corporate IDs may seem banal compared to fighting mythological monsters. Modern tests may include dealing with timesheet hassles, navigating office politics during layoffs, balancing opposing stakeholder needs, becoming an expert in unfamiliar technology, adjusting to a manager’s work style, and handling non-design thinking clients.
Throughout their careers, each of the people in my research faced different tests and challenges that helped them get closer to what they really wanted from their jobs. Some of them were very brave and said “yes” to every new challenge they came across. Others waited until they couldn’t take it anymore before doing something about it. Changing job roles is a big career move, so most of them were careful before taking on new challenges. However, it’s important to know that none of them felt completely “ready” before taking on these challenges.
My Advice to New IDs
Once you are working as a full-time instructional designer, your time of initiation will also likely seem like a swamp of never-ending challenges, which you will, in time, be able to surmount with ease.
Avoid overly identifying with the term instructional designer as there are various accepted titles for professionals in instructional design (and none of them mean anything anyway). Consider alternatives that pertain to your specific interests like performance consultant, e-learning specialist, or learning experience designer (LXD). For example, online, I often call myself a “learning architect.” I feel it communicates my learner-centric approach and highlights my role in designing and planning learning experiences. This title is also familiar to people from civil engineering. As you discover your preferences, don’t limit yourself to a specific title or task. Industries change rapidly, and being pigeonholed can hinder adaptability. Focus on showcasing your broader skills rather than being known for a specific task, as technology and industry needs evolve.
Lean into every relationship you can during this period of your journey. The friendships you forge now will become the professional network you rely on later. I guarantee that many jobs you get in the future will be the direct result of the loose relationships you develop now. For example, I landed a job as a BYU tennis instructor when an EFY co-counselor, whom I had known for just a week, offered me the position after learning I played tennis at a singles activity. Additionally, I still cultivate relationships with faculty, students, and peers I met at conferences (like AECT) from over a decade ago. They could be my next co-workers. Basically, make friends everywhere you go. “When you follow your bliss, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you.” — Joseph Campbell
Research shows that as much as 80% of jobs are filled through personal and professional connections. Almost always, referrals are given an initial first interview; and that’s your foot in the door! And here’s the thing – you don’t need to be best friends with the person who referred you. It can be a 5-minute conversation.
If you don’t know anyone at the company to which you are applying, message an employee on LinkedIn. E.g., “Hi there! I came across your profile, I’m actively looking for a job at your company (it’s on my top 10 list). Any chance you could connect for 5 minutes to tell me more about working there?”
Say, “Yes, I can do that,” at every opportunity during this early phase in your career. Just because you have a job lined up after graduation doesn’t mean you’ll like it. Around 50-75% of the students I graduated with were not confident about the degree to which they would enjoy their post-graduation plans. Many of us just picked a direction based on reasons and hoped we liked it. As new job opportunities arise, jump around. Discover what you like. Experimentation is a great way to find what brings you the most joy. Part of saying “yes” is not being afraid to fail.
Never stay in a job you hate. While job searching is awful and can take a while, it’s better than slowly dying in a job you hate. Don’t wait until you’re ready to quit before beginning to put irons in the fire. Consistently cultivate those “weak-tie” or casual relationships. For example, I have “Personal Connection Friday” on my calendar. Every Friday morning, I make a personal connection with one friend or acquaintance. This keeps our loose relationship alive. (E.g., personal text message or liking/commenting on one of their social media posts.)
Group Discussion Activity
Get to know the stories of the ID students at your table.
Aside from Mulan and Hercules, what is your favorite media example of the Test, Allies, and Enemies stage?
Could you see yourself moving away from ID in the future? Where might you shift your focus? When might that be for you?
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave
The Hero’s Journey
The seventh stage, the “Approach to the Inmost Cave,” is a pivotal point in the hero’s journey. Here, the hero is drawn to confront their deepest fears and hidden desires within a metaphorical cave, reflecting the subconscious and repressed aspects of their psyche. This psychological dimension is influenced by Carl Jung’s insights in Analytical Psychology.
(Optional) YouTube Summaries of Jungian Psychology:
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
― Joseph Campbell
In Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke undergoes a symbolic battle with himself in the Dark Cave of Degobah. This surreal scene reveals that despite Luke’s verbal readiness, his subconscious fear is rooted in the possibility that the internal emotions of hate, pain, grief, and loss might push him toward the Dark side of the Force.
Bryan’s Journey
After gaining more corporate experience, I was convinced I was living up to my graduate degree, deserving of the title “Master of Instructional Design.” When I got called into some HR big-wig’s office during layoff season, I assumed it was to finally receive the recognition for which I yearned, perhaps in the form of an award. (I had gotten so good at unconsciously projecting my own fears of incompetency onto others that I was shocked when confrontation with my own perceived inadequacies.) Instead of praise, I was greeted by my greatest fear—an authority figure telling me I’m not enough.
Dissertation Participants’ Journey
While my dissertation didn’t delve into Jungian “shadow work,” I now see its value. Some participants seemed more self-aware than others, with some not even having identified their ultimate fear. Narrating one’s journey is challenging because the hero often fails to recognize their deepest fear, having successfully repressed it. For instance, imagine faithfully attending church, only for a leader’s offensive action to prompt deep introspection about what motivates your church participation, akin to what you might encounter in your inmost cave.
My Advice to New IDs
Say, “Yes.” Every once in a while, the opportunity to work on a project outside our normal job role will pop up. You may feel afraid to volunteer because it may reveal your inadequacies, but JUMP AT THIS CHANCE anyway! Feeling inadequate is generally a signpost toward growth and self-discovery. New opportunities typically allow you to work with incredibly talented people on some potentially amazing projects outside your wheelhouse. Both these things will open doors for you, in terms of discovering personal preferences and career options. “The warrior’sapproach is to say ‘yes’ to life: ‘yes’ to it all.” — Joseph Campbell
Carve out a unique career path that challenges expectations. Up to this point, you may have strongly identified as an “instructional designer.” But don’t feel you need to stick to it. Your interests will change over time. Fortunately, having a broad education in design thinking prepares you well for a variety of other professional pursuits. As Joseph Campbell aptly expressed: “If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s.” Your journey is defined with each step you take, making it distinctly yours. You’ll never find your treasure in a convenient, comfortable environment. Following someone else’s path is like buying a copy of an expensive artwork just because someone else liked it. As Joseph Campbell wisely advises, “Follow the path that is no path, follow your bliss.”
When your aunt asks you what you plan to do with your degree, instead of labeling yourself with a specific job title, focus on a specific skill or trait you’re excited about developing further. Don’t expect to find your dream job immediately out of graduate school. Focus on professional growth by learning from a variety of companies. In a survey of CEOs’ resumes on LinkedIn, those with the highest-paying salaries all had the greatest variety of professional experiences (Range, by David Epstein). In today’s dynamic professional landscape, your career trajectory is likely to diverge significantly from the stable paths of our forefathers. (And that’s probably a good thing. As my dissertation revealed, job satisfaction does not depend on adhering to predetermined job roles. It’s about relaxing your job role expectations and discovering how you love to spend your time.)
Group Discussion Activity
Get to know the stories of the ID students at your table.
What is another media example of “The Approach to the Inmost Cave?”
What do you think it means to “Approach the Inmost Cave” in your life, as an instructional designer?
For those with experience as IDs:
Have you identified your greatest fear as an instructional designer yet? If you feel inclined to share, do so at your table.
For those who have precognition of thinking you know what awaits you at the end of your Inmost Cave, have you encountered it yet? If you feel comfortable sharing, what what two sentences would you say about it?
8. The Ordeal
The Hero’s Journey
Before a Hero can achieve a metaphorical rebirth, he must first go through a symbolic “death.” Through this Ordeal, the Hero gains enhanced power or insight crucial for fulfilling destiny and reaching the journey’s end. This stage marks the pinnacle of the Hero’s tale, where everything dear to him is at stake. Failure could lead to either death or a life-altering transformation.
“He is no hero who never met the dragon, or who, if he once saw it, declared afterwards that he saw nothing. Equally, only one who has risked the fight with the dragon and is not overcome by it wins the hoard, the ‘treasure hard to attain.’” — Carl Jung, CW 14, par. 756
In Pinocchio, when Pinocchio selflessly descends to the bottom of the sea (unconscious) to rescue his father from the belly of a whale. He must relinquish control and embrace chaos in order to be “reborn” to the surface.
Bryan’s Journey
I wasn’t exactly fired, more like laid off, but the impact felt the same. I blamed everyone but myself. In reality, the perceived villain wasn’t the HR rep, or my disloyal manager, or my vindictive frenemy. Similar to Yoda’s warning to Luke about the Dark Cave, I would later come to understand that my enemy was my ego wrapped in fear.
Advised to reinforce my old identity, I was encouraged to “be so good they can’t ignore you,” fueling my ego. I embraced this advice, thinking that acquiring more credentials would enhance my influence and validate my academic and creative prowess to stakeholders. I greedily returned to BYU to fill in the apparent gaps in my education.
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t help. Hitting rock bottom, I was encouraged to seek a fresh outlook through group counseling through BYU’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). There I learned to love and accept others. And in loving others I learned to love accept myself. Brené Brown’s work, particularly the idea that I can do something bad (guilt) without being inherently bad (shame), resonated. I realized I needed to detach my self-worth from external constructs (like others’ perceptions) and embrace my 2006-07 BYU Men’s Chorus motto: “Esse Quam Videre,” meaning “To be rather than to seem.”
After a few semesters of therapy, I changed my reasons for being in school. Unlike the bad advice I received from well-meaning colleagues, I learned that “The real glow up isn’t proving the people from your past wrong. It is finally feeling so content and hopeful about your future that you stop thinking about them entirely.” ― Brianna Wiest, The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery
Dissertation Participants’ Journey
Whether or not they were aware of it, I suspect that each of my dissertation participants had undergone their own Ordeal before I interviewed them. I regret not directly inquiring, “Have you encountered any negative experiences powerful enough to make you consider leaving the field of ID?” However, I can make some general assumptions about how they might answer based on their responses. One factor emerged as their primary source of professional dissatisfaction―their professional relationships.
Their sentiments included:
“It’s my way or the highway.”
“I couldn’t stand my manager. Dealing with him drove me to the point of wanting to quit.”
“I constantly feel pressured to sacrifice the very reasons I entered this field initially.”
“School didn’t adequately prepare me for this. What am I even doing here?”
My Advice to New IDs
Don’t pick a thesis or dissertation topic that “you are passionate about.” These projects can be used as a surrogate for processing your own personal or professional trauma. In pursuing a passion project, you risk becoming emotionally enmeshed with your topic, which may cause you to stall or take longer than is needful. If your goal is self-discovery (as opposed to finishing quickly), prepare to take longer than expected.
If ever you feel like a victim; you are likely telling yourself a simplified story to make sense of the hurt you feel. In most cases, there is understanding you are lack or action you can take to resolve the issue in your favor. Instead of submitting to helplessness, get curious, seek objectivity by exploring additional perspectives. If you can’t seek perspectives, turn your experience into a hero’s journey to find meaning. This shift in perspective can be key to transforming difficulties into growth experiences. Personally, reflecting on hardship through the lens of a hero’s journey has greatly impacted me, helping me understand past events, find areas for growth, and build the confidence to face future obstacles. And I’m not alone in this experience.
In 2023, Professor Benjamin A. Rogers, in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, emphasized the advantages of adopting the perspective of your life as a Hero’s Journey. In his research, Rogers notes, “The human brain is wired for stories and we respond to them in powerful ways.” Lou Ursa, a licensed psychotherapist in California, also suggests using the monomyth to understand our lived experiences. “It is almost like an eagle-eye view versus a snake-eye view of our lives. So often, we’re just seeing what’s in front of us. I think that connecting with a myth or a story, whether it’s the Hero’s Journey or something else, can help us see the whole picture, especially when we’re feeling lost or stuck” (Time.com).
The fear of death is always worse than death itself. Having faced your Ordeal, you may feel like you are about to die. (I’m not talking about physical death; I’m talking about fundamental change.) And hopefully, the part of you that is holding you back from realizing your potential will die. Let it go. Similarly to when you answered your call to adventure, you will learn that “when you follow your bliss, doors open that were once walls.” Change can be excruciating, especially when it means letting go of a core piece of your identity. But, but it can also be blissful. And when based on values, change is always a vehicle for positive growth. The idea of death may even be eagerly anticipated when understood in the context of Jung’s individuation (or becoming your whole self). Whatever your “worst thing that could happen” is, you may realize (probably in hindsight) that it’s what you needed to progress all along. Jay Shetty, the author ofThink Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Daysaid, “If you don’t break your ego, life will break it for you.” For example, getting fired can be the best thing that could happen to you professionally. Watch this TED Talk about the uncomfortable but rewarding aspect of self improvement.
“Your new life is going to cost you your old one. It’s going to cost you your comfort zone and your sense of direction. It’s going to cost you relationships and friends. It’s going to cost you being liked and understood. It doesn’t matter. The people who are meant for you are going to meet you on the other side. You’re going to build a new comfort zone around the things that actually move you forward. Instead of being liked, you’re going to be loved. Instead of being understood, you’re going to be seen. All you’re going to lose is what was built for a person you no longer are.”
Get to know the stories of the ID students at your table.
What is your favorite example of a hero’s ordeal in media?
What is the most important thing for you professionally? The thing you may need to let go of is probably tied to that. E.g., High-paying job? Try asking yourself why feel a need for financial security. To make the world a better place? B.S. Look deeper.
9. The Reward (Seizing the Sword)
The Hero’s Journey
After overcoming the ordeal, the hero receives a reward, boon, or critical insight. (This could be an object, knowledge, or simply a new perspective.) This key becomes the tool to overcome evil and enables the hero’s return to the ordinary world. Note: The ultimate challenge still awaits, but the hero sees light at the end of the tunnel.
“Whoever looks into the mirror of the water will see first of all his own face; whoever goes to himself risks a confrontation with himself. The mirror does not flatter; it faithfully shows whatever looks into it; namely, the face we never show to the world because we cover it with the persona, the mask of the actor.”
— Carl Jung, Archetypes and Collective 48
In The Lion King (1994), Rafiki tells Simba that his father is still alive. When Simba insists that his father is dead, Rafiki shows him that his father still lives on inside him. Simba forgives himself for “causing” his father’s death and accepts the event as part of the circle of life. This understanding allows him to let go of his “Hakuna Matata” persona and confidently return to the Pridelands and confront Scar as rightful king.
Bryan’s Journey
Reflecting on the pain of losing my job forced me to question and ultimately let go of the egotistical notion that my professional worth was solely tied to my level expertise. Clinging to this false identity of needing to be the smartest designer in the room stifled the preexisting truth that I, inherently, am enough, and my ideas possess value. I had long resisted acknowledging this truth due to fear, but once I embraced it, I noticed a significant improvement in my job satisfaction. Here’s my secret knowledge in various forms:
“I don’t have to be right, I just have to get it right.”
“The smartest person in the room is the room.” [Remove the “sage” mask. Welcome synergy.]
“My job satisfaction is not dependent upon others recognizing my expertise; it’s about empowering others to bring their best to the project.”
Dissertation Participants’ Journey
In the Hero’s Journey, the Reward is tied to surviving the Ordeal. Unfortunately, my interview protocol didn’t explicitly explore this sensitive aspect of my dissertation participants’ professional journeys. Developing the trust necessary for participants to vulnerably share their most guarded insecurities requires time and intention. However, I discovered a shortcut (quite by accident). With a few weeks of preparation, each participant carefully considered what they felt was most important to share. Despite participants seeming to be at a different point of self-discovery, most interviewees were eager to impart these two bits of wisdom in our first interview:
The gift they received from their mentor that served them in the unknown world. (E.g., The powerful teaching model: “I do, We do, You do.”)
Their best guess at their hard-won Reward (E.g., If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s this…)
If you want to dig into your own trauma, I recommend working backward from a place of positivity. Start with the career advice you might want to offer someone in your field. Then think, “Approximately when did this idea become important to me?” and then “What contrasting belief did I hold before this?” and finally “What event or events helped me learn this lesson?” This approach cracks the door for uncomfortable exploration.
Other questions that might prompt self-discovery include, “What do you fear most as an instructional designer?” and “Could you discuss a moment in your career when you encountered a significant challenge that initially evoked fear and required personal change?” And “How did overcoming this challenge contribute to your professional growth, and what reward or positive outcome did you experience as a result?”
Fun observation: Each hero’s Ordeal and associated Reward are unique. So, what is easy for one instructional designer may be difficult for another. For example, the interview data revealed that what I found challenging (checking my ego) was easily navigated by both my female case study participants. Perhaps, this is because women are forced to learn humility in their professional interactions in order to survive in a patriarchal workplace.
My Advice to New IDs
In the moment you let go of the thing (you think is) of most value, you will be rewarded with an invaluably greater treasure. As you seek success (job satisfaction) in the corporate world, your story’s villain (or the thing you fear most) is often tied to an aspect of yourself. (It is often an unconscious limiting belief to borrow a term from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.) Whatever your obstacle is, you will likely be unaware that it is holding you back. When it is exposed, it will battle mightily to survive, and if you let it, it will devour you. I’ll reshare this epic quote that help define the Inmost Cave and the Reward. “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” ― Joseph Campbell
It’s okay if you don’t immediately recognize your elixir. Upon surviving your Ordeal, your reward might not appear immediately (if it’s recognized at all). In fact, you may be the last person to recognize the value of the elixir in your possession. (This is normal.) Just because someone else knows the secret (about you), doesn’t me that you do. Movies often simplifies this process of recognition for time’s sake. But in reality, realizing what has been staring the hero in the face since before entering the unknown world (or world of learning) often requires great emotional and cognitive work. And unless the hero learns what he is supposed to from his ordeal in the inmost cave, the universe “helps” the hero by repeating the Test stage (Stage #6) of our adventure. In the LDS faith, we know that God does not tempt us beyond that which we are able to bear; in fact, he provides an escape (elixir a.k.a. The Atonement of Christ) (1 Corinth 10:13).
E.g., This “die-and-try-again” process sadistically plays out in many video game boss battles. No matter how long you study the attack sequences, if you don’t have a particular item or special knowledge, you’re going to lose. For example, Skull Kid from the video game Zelda: Majora’s Mask crushes you with the moon unless you play the hard-fought “Oath to Order” song, which dispatches him effortlessly.
Seek insight from confidants. Verbalizing your story in a journal or to a trusted friend can serve as a catalyst for recognizing your Reward in two ways:
The act of storytelling forces you to clearly define what you may have intentionally kept foggy as a defense mechanism. This new-found narrative can reveal insights that were previously untapped.
Your confidant can offer valuable 3rd-party insight regarding your situation. A trusting friend will lovingly and skillfully help you recognize what part of you “needs to die” and what needs to take its place. If you trust your friend, you may just believe it.
Note: Letting something die is not the same as giving up. It means you are opening yourself to options and wisdom beyond your current understanding. Without help from others or intentional self-reflection, self-discovery can take a long while.
Money is not the most important factor when taking a job. (I’m preaching to the choir in a room of educators.) I was willing to take a 15% pay cut in order to work with a friend whom I enjoyed working with. Fortunately for me, I got the relationship and the money.
Group Discussion Activity
For those who haven’t yet identified their reward, identify a favorite book or film that you are all familiar with (Disney films are always a solid choice):
Who is the hero?
What is their Elixir (lesson/skill/attribute they needed to learn)?
For those who have identified their personal Elixir or Reward,
What was it?
Do you “know what you must do”?
10. The Road Back
The Hero’s Journey
Having endured figurative (or literal) death, and attained the sword (elixir), the hero must now return to the ordinary world. This stage begins when the hero realizes how to use the sword to defeat the antagonist. The common sentiment is articulated by Kylo Ren in Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens, “I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.” The hero’s path back (to catch up with the antagonist who is poised to conquer the Ordinary World) is not without challenges. The hero may face additional obstacles or confrontations, as the hero practices integrating his newfound wisdom or gifts. It’s a stage of resolution, personal growth, and often involves addressing any remaining conflicts and making amends. (In a story, this can be summarized, but when lived, it might take a while.)
“The hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.“
― Christopher Vogler
In the Disney’s Wish, Asha has obtained her elixir of knowledge and shares it with the kingdom as a rallying cry.
Bryan’s Journey
This is where I currently am on my own Hero Journey. I know what I have to do, but from time to time, I forget to drink of my elixir (letting go of my ego). For example, while writing my dissertation, I caught myself, many times, tying my daily self-worth to how many pages I’d written that day. Those always felt like low days. But as I practice disentangling my self-worth from my professional persona and how I perceive others to perceive me, I reinforce the truth that the more authentic I am with others, the happier I am.
I know I’m making progress because as relationship conflicts arise in professional settings, my old self would have painted others as potential villains. But now, I recognize those thoughts as my ego hijacking my emotions, driving me to react. In those cases, I take a quick sip of my elixir juice box, breath for 10 seconds, and mentally reaffirm my mantra, “I don’t have to be right, I just have to get it right.” Like magic, my shoulders relax, and the tensions simmer. Acknowledging my own imperfection allows me to extend compassion to others and myself. It becomes easier to honor the efforts of others who are likely doing the best they can do.
As I prepare for my Resurrection (the next stage), I can practice my “sword skills” by making amends with subplot characters from my past and by seeking practice opportunities in the present.
Past Manager: I reached out to my old manager (who witnessed my Ordeal) on LinkedIn and let him know that I understood the awkward position he was in during that fateful HR meeting. I recognized that he was a reluctant, new manager doing the best he could. And my role didn’t fit under his purview; he was just trying to be helpful. I apologized for holding him responsible for my actions for so long.
Past Frenemy: I do my best to support her when I see her activity on LinkedIn. She has it tough. Fighting for recognition in a corporate domain where discrimination is the norm. If I had the knowledge I have now, I would have been a true friend to my USU “frenemy.” I would have set aside my uncompromising code to produce excellent eLearning, which I used to mask my ego. And instead, I would have listened to and honored her values as highly as I did my own.
Present Opportunities for Practice: Every chance I get to flex my design muscles is an opportunity to check my ego. I will continue to practice multiplying others in anticipation of the next time the stakes are “life and death.”
Dissertation Participants’ Journey
Pepper, one of my most self-aware interviewees, was also a product of years of therapy. Though the details of her emotional evolution were not fully disclosed in the interview process, it seemed that her Ordeal and Reward revolved around gender inequality issues, specifically trusting men. Pepper shared painful anecdotes about navigating power imbalances and overbearing personalities with specific male figures in her professional life. Discussing these interactions revealed her strategic Road Back. She continues to work on identifying and improving those aspects of relationships within her control, and consciously avoiding negative dynamics beyond her influence. This seems to be paying off because Pepper is now happily married to a man she adores and continues to practice healthy professional curiosity, compassion, and boundaries toward men in her life.
My Advice To New IDs
Don’t expect perfection immediately after finding your sword/elixir/reward. Initially, the sword may feel awkward in your hand. The Road Back is an opportunity to hone your skills.
Seek opportunities to practice using the sword on the road back to the boss. It builds confidence, brings joy, and, most importantly, prepares you for the Final Battle.
Get yourself some therapy. (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy pairs well with the Hero’s Journey framework). Many professional IDs feel unsettled in their careers; like they are stuck in a cycle of never-ending Ordeals. (This really stinks.) Here are my two cents on how to get past the Ordeal phase and identify your elixir. If the Hero’s Journey is to be believed, many of your Rewards for undergoing and surviving the Ordeal will be some kind of self-realization. What you need (this personalized wisdom, knowledge, or understanding) is often a mirror image (or opposite) of what your Great Opposition holds most dear.“Fixing” it won’t work, and fighting against it is an expensive and losing battle (because it’s you’re fighting against yourself). Instead of fighting, put it in perspective. Acknowledge and accept it as a natural and essential (yet small) part of your whole self. Integrate it by not allowing it to be without consuming all your attention, which it craves. When your unseemly shadow rears its head, compassionately call it out and move on. In time, as you learn to understand your shadow’s needs and motivations, you will develop compassion for it and even make peace with the formerly-dissociated aspect of yourself. You will realize was Joseph Campbell meant when he said, “The purpose of the journey is compassion. When you have come past the pairs of opposites, you have reached compassion.” For example, if the socially unacceptable part of you seeks power, your elixir will be empowering others. If your shadow self wants recognition, you must let go of competition and empower others.
Use your elixir to serve others. As you reenter the
E.g., When a certain co-worker is driving you crazy, instead of lamenting, “Why is my co-worker so insecure?” Ask yourself the following questions:
“Am I the one who is acting insecurely?”
“Am I unconsciously projecting my own fears onto my co-worker?”
“What would acting more compassionately towards them look like?”
“What does self-compassion look like?”
“What clues are this person revealing through their words and actions regarding their deepest need?”
“What can this relationship dynamic teach me about myself?”
Group Discussion Activity
Get to know the stories of the ID students at your table.
“What are your favorite ’Road Back’ examples?”
If you have experienced the “Road Back,” what did the road back look like for you? Did you make amends with anyone?
11. The Resurrection
The Hero’s Journey
One of the harrowing requirements of the hero’s journey is self-annihilation. The obliteration of the hero’s old form and the transformation into something new is a sacred act, akin to temple worship. The belly of the whale symbolizes the womb; the darkness (or cave and ordeal) represents death; and the hero’s emergence, or Resurrection, parallels the act of birth (or rebirth).
The Resurrection is the story’s true climax, where the protagonist shockingly returns from seemingly out of no where for a final battle with the embodiment of evil. According to Christopher Vogler, the central Crisis (experienced earlier in the bowels of the Inmost Cave) is like a midterm exam, and the Resurrection is the final exam. The hero faces one last test to see if they’ve learned from the Supreme Ordeal. In this Final Battle, the evil “dragon” targets the hero’s old self, which is sacrificed as a decoy or feint, allowing the hero to defeat the dragon with the “sword.” If the Hero survives, the threat disappears, bringing a positive ending. (If the hero dies, it becomes a tragedy.)
Note: In the Ordeal, only the hero’s “life” (e.g., career, identity) is at stake. In the Resurrection, the hero must wield the hard-won Reward for the survival of the entire ordinary world (much higher stakes).
“The hero of yesterday becomes the tyrant of tomorrow unless he crucifies himself today.”
― Joseph Campbell
At the end of Nolan’s The Dark Knight, Batman choosing to take the blame for Harvey Dent’s crimes to preserve Dent’s reputation as Gotham’s white knight, despite knowing the personal consequences, represents Batman’s commitment to a higher moral code. He is willing to sacrifice all he has (his physical body, his mind, his time and all other resources, and hope for a family of his own) for the sake of justice.
Bryan’s Journey
While I feel reborn, I have not yet experienced my Final Battle. (The Resurrection can be interpreted to be in reference to the hero’s recurring confrontation with the ultimate enemy, not the spiritual metamorphosis or apotheosis of the hero.) Unlike the movies where the hero rises and is immediately ready for a rematch, my Resurrection may not happen for a while. But when it does, my job won’t be the only thing on the line, it will be the fate of an entire team, product, or company.
Dissertation Participants’ Journey
I never explicitly asked my participants about this stage in my research. I can say that most of my participants seemed further along their Hero’s Journey than me. Of all my participants, Pepper struck me as the most self-actualized. She was fearless in following her bliss.
Pepper recounted a time when she couldn’t reconcile a relationship that was the source of daily frustration for her. She tried every reasonable thing in her control to fix the situation, but couldn’t. Instead of staying miserable and fruitlessly trying to make it work, she courageously left the company to pursue a work environment that better aligned with what she wanted in an ID role—greater autonomy over project management.
My Advice To New IDs
Stay humble. Be like Tony Stark sending the bomb to the space rift, or putting on the Infinity Gauntlet. Stop thinking completely selfishly. You’re doing what you do for the good of everyone, including yourself.
Ignore rigid, prefabricated job roles. No one really knows what an ID is or does. No one knows your specific skills and interests but you. Instead of fitting someone else’s (probably ignorant) definition of what you should do, find roles that allow you to explore your own interests within the field. This will reduce unmet expectations and subsequent frustrations.
Stay wildly ambitious. The current world is bubbling with opportunity for an ambitious person to find flowery, fulfilling success. The specific direction may be unclear, but it’ll work itself out—just dive in somewhere.
Group Discussion Activity
Get to know the stories of the ID students at your table.
“What does resurrection mean to you?”
“What is your favorite monomyth example of a hero’s Resurrection?”
“Given that this fight must be done alone, who or what do you want beside you when you return to face your greatest fear? Why?”
12. Return with the Elixir
The Hero’s Journey
This stage marks the hero’s return to the ordinary world. But now, he has changed. Having completed the journey out and back in, the hero is now a master of both the Ordinary (domestic) and Unknown (alien) worlds and can pass over the threshold between the two without further trial. He has brought with him something valuable or transformative. This could be wisdom, a tangible reward, or the hero’s changed perspective. Inhabitants of the Ordinary world may have witnessed the hero’s final battle for their continued existence, or they may remain blissfully ignorant. But life in the Ordinary world has changed for good.
“To learn something in the Special World is one thing: to bring the knowledge home as applied wisdom is quite another.“
— Christopher Vogler
In The Wizard of Oz (1939). Dorothy spent the vast majority of the film trying to find a way out of Oz — only to learn at the end that she had been wearing the means of her escape (the Ruby Slippers) on her feet the entire time. Glinda didn’t tell her earlier “…because she wouldn’t have believed me. She had to learn it for herself.” This lesson/Reward was co-learned by the rest of the main cast, including the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion, who initially sought attributes from the Wizard that they already possessed but didn’t realize. The Scarecrow wanted a brain, the Tin Man desired a heart, and the Cowardly Lion sought courage. In the end, the Wizard rewards their respective journeys of self-discovery symbolically: the Scarecrow receives a diploma, the Tin Man a heart-shaped clock, and the Cowardly Lion a bravery medal. In the end, Dorothy returns home transformed. She shares the wisdom she has acquired—”there’s no place like home.”
Bryan’s Journey
The Ordinary World is anywhere away from work. For me, the Ordinary World is when I come home from work. I feel unburdened. I love going to work every day. I’ve learned to stop chasing job roles and just find employers who pay me to do what I love. “Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.” ― Joseph Campbell
Dissertation Participants’ Journey
“Look at the problem, solve the problem.” — Pepper, rapidly responding to the corporate world. This was one of the first things that came up in my interview with Pepper. I now recognize it as her elixir, which she was excited to share with me (back in the ordinary world).
My Advice To New IDs
For those who read to the end, you have earned my two biggest pieces of advice:
Even after earning a graduate degree and being more knowledgeable than anyone else in the room, view yourself as a learner and a team player. (To learn more about this concept, read Liz Wiseman’s book, Multipliers.)
With your ego in check and co-workers supporting you, don’t be afraid to dream big and fail hard. While working inside your sphere of influence, be a creative problem solver. That’s how you get assigned bigger and better challenges.
What hero do you relate most to?
Ask yourself who would star in the movie of your life.
One way to assess your inner voice is to figure out who would star in a film about your life, says Nancy Irwin, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles who employs the Hero’s Journey concept personally and professionally. Doing so can help us “sufficiently dissociate and see ourselves objectively rather than subjectively,” she says.
Go on more heroic adventures—or try something new.
Rogers suggests asking yourself: “If I want to have a more meaningful life, what kinds of things I could do?” One possible avenue is seeking novelty, like driving a new way home.
In classic Hero’s Journey stories, the protagonist starts off afraid and refuses a call to adventure before overcoming his fears and committing to the journey. Consider Rocky Balboa: When he was given the chance to fight the world’s reigning heavyweight champion, he immediately said no—before ultimately, of course, accepting the challenge. The narrative has proven timeless because it “reflects the values of society,” Rogers says. “We like people who have new experiences and grow from their challenges.” They serve as motivating examples for us to overcome our fears and answer our calls to adventure.
Watch lots of movies. Read lots of books. Familiarize yourself with the Hero’s Journey. The more you do, the easier it will be to approach your own challenge with faith and hope. It’s the same reason why I love the Book of Mormon. When I don’t want to do my ministering, I read about the journeys of Ammon and the Sons of Mosiah.
When you need a boost, map out where you are on your journey.
Ursa explains that once you find a narrative hero you can relate to, keep their journey in mind as you face new challenges. “If you feel stuck or lost, you can look to that story and be like, ‘Which part do I feel like I’m in right now?’” Maybe you’re in the midst of a test that feels so awful that you’ve lost perspective on its overall importance—i.e., the fact that it’s only part of your journey. (See: When Katniss was upset about the costume that Snow forced her to wear—before she had to fight off a pack of ferocious wolves to save her life.) Referencing a familiar story “can help you have that eagle-eye view of what might be next for you, or what you should be paying attention to,” Ursa says. “Stories become this map that we can always turn to.” Think of them as reassurance that a new chapter almost certainly awaits.
That perspective can also help you flip the way you see obstacles. Say you’re going through a tough time: You just got laid off, or you were diagnosed with a chronic illness. Instead of dwelling on how unfortunate these hurdles are, consider them opportunities for growth and learning. Think to yourself: What would Harry Potter do? Reframe the challenges you encounter as a chance to develop resilience and perseverance and to be the hero of your own story.
Practice reflective journaling.
Campbell described more than a dozen key elements of a Hero’s Journey, seven of which Rogers explored in his research: protagonist, shift, quest, allies, challenge, transformation, and legacy. He says reflecting on these aspects of your story—even if writing a few sentences down—can be an ideal first step to reframe your circumstances.
Group Discussion Activity
Get to know the stories of the ID students at your table.
As an ID, describe your Ordinary World?
What do you imagine your life might look like back in your Ordinary World after coming full circle on your Hero’s Journey?
Conclusion
Campbell’s Monomyth is about discovering a truth you are willing to “die” for that enables you to truly live. Seeing oneself on a hero’s journey can give meaning to the hardship, pain, and sorrows in life. (It is certainly not the only model for interpreting one’s lived experience and finding meaning. But I has been helpful for some, including myself.)
I transitioned from felling like somewhat of a failure at instructional design, to caring less about what others think and just loving what I do; following my bliss if you will. Somedays. I see myself as a character in a video game. I am given or self-assign a goal. I engage, explore, (and all the other Es in the 5E learning model) in order to gain the necessary perspective to first recognize my perceived roadblocks and overcome them. I see this daily labor of overcoming obstacles as passing over speedbumps on my way to success or self-actualization (a.k.a. Jungian Individuation). Speedbumps help me slow down and more carefully take in what’s around me. I’m learning more and more that the meaning in life is not about where we’re headed, but the journey along the way.
Resources
Videos
YA Author Uses Moana to Illustrate the Hero’s Journey.
Monomyth Crash Course feat. Pleiades (by John and Hank Green).
How to write any story by answering 6 questions based on the Hero’s Journey.
The Hero’s Journey illustrated in 5 Disney Films.
Your story doesn’t have to follow all 17 stages of Campbell’s pattern.
Jungian Psychology on Individuation.
Heroes Become Heroes Because They Bring the Boon Back to their Communities.
Criticism of Campbell’s Monomyth
Campbell and Vogler were ontological realists. Their monomyth attempts to shoehorn every hero’s journey into an single explainable invariable truth. Many types of critics take issue with this approach.
Relativists would argue that the Hero’s Journey strips cultural stories and myths of their situated meaning.
Predestination critics argue that most people end up living ordinary, often tragic, lives.
Feminists would ask how women are situated in the hero’s journey? Campbell, apparently blind to his 1950s American values, positions them as beloved mothers and heroic rewards.
Despite Campbell’s personal shortcomings and developing a framework that potentially overexplains the universe, his Hero’s Journey does have value. Google “Alternatives to the Hero’s Journey” for other approaches to finding meaning in life. (E.g., The Heroine’s Journey.)
[Call] “The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.“
[Call] “The call to adventure signifies that destiny has summoned the hero.”
[Refusal] “The fates lead him who will; him who won’t they drag.”
[Threshhold] “If you are on the right path you will find that invisible hands are helping.”
[Tests, Allies, Enemies] “We’re so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it’s all about.”
[Ordeal]“Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.” — Joseph Campbell
[Ordeal] “We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god. And where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves. Where we had thought to travel outward, we will come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world.”
[Ordeal] “The ultimate dragon is within you, it is your ego clamping you down.”
[Ordeal] “The abyss…requires an abandonment of the attachment to ego itself, and that is what is difficult.”
[Reward] “You’ve got to find the force inside you.”
[Reward] “At the darkest moment comes the light.”
[Reward] “The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.”
[Road Back] “We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain. Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.”
[Road Back] “Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again.“
[Resurrection] “If you want resurrection, you must have crucifixion… The hoarder [a Jungian archetype], the one in us that wants to keep, to hold on, must be killed.“
[Return with Elixir] “When the hero-quest has been accomplished, through penetration to the source, or through the grace of some male or female, human or animal, personification, the adventurer still must return with his life-transmuting trophy. The full round, the norm of the monomyth, requires that the hero shall now begin the labor of bringing the runes of wisdom, the Golden Fleece, or his sleeping princess, back into the kingdom of humanity, where the boon may redound to the renewing of the community, the nation, the planet or the ten thousand worlds.”
“It’s not an advantage to be without a PhD. But it’s an advantage not to have taken a PhD because of the things that they do to you to get you into the slot that they want you in.” — Joseph Campbell
“No one in the world was ever you before, with your particular gifts and abilities and possibilities.” — Joseph Campbell
“Passion will move men beyond themselves, beyond their shortcomings, beyond their failures.” — Joseph Campbell
“I think the person who takes a job in order to live – that is to say, for the money – has turned himself into a slave.”
Vogler
[Mentor] The names “Mentes” and “Mentor,” along with our word “mental,” stem from the Greek word for mind, “menos,” a marvelously flexible word that can mean intention, force, or purpose as well as mind, spirit, or remembrance. Mentors in stories act mainly on the mind of the hero, changing her consciousness or redirecting her will. Even if physical gifts are given, Mentors also strengthen the hero’s mind to face an ordeal with confidence. “Menos” also means courage.— Christopher Vogler (The Writer’s Journey, p.120)
[Threshhold] “Every hero begins their journey in the ordinary world, but it is their courage to venture into the unknown that sets them apart.”
[Tests, Allies, and Enemies] “To live a life of creativity, we must lose our fear of being wrong.“
[Reward] “Each of us has an inner dream that we can unfold if we will just have the courage to admit what it is.”
“The hero’s journey challenges the status quo, forcing the hero to question their beliefs and values.” ― Christopher Vogler
“The hero’s journey teaches us that failure is not the end, but a stepping stone on the path to success.”
Others
[Threshhold] “You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” — William Faulkner
[Approach to the Inmost Cave] “No tree can go to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.“― Carl Jung
[Reward] “There is generally no effective technique for assimilating the shadow. It is more like diplomacy or statesmanship.” – Carl Jung
[Resurrection] “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” — Carl Jung
Unused Advice
Think of the IP&T department as your training ground. This is where you receive the knowledge and skills to survive the post-graduation trials that await you. They help answer the questions, “What are the rules in this Other World?” and “What can I eat, and what can eat me?” Look around at your professors and fellow graduate students. Due to the deluge of information you are currently absorbing, it might be impossible to identify who your Mentor is. That recognition may only happen after you apply that knowledge or skill in the Unknown World.
Your mentor might not fit the traditional image of a seasoned father figure. There are many types of mentors. And you never know where you’ll bump into yours. In order to ensure you don’t miss meeting yours, I encourage you to intentionally meet new people with different perspectives. Mentors with the wisdom you require typically hold “weird” perspectives (ones different from yours). Cultivating this open mindset will equip you to confront the horrific truth that awaits you at the end of your inmost cave. Here are three examples of non-stereotypical mentors:
The Unlikely Mentor: Your mentor might have less experience than you. They may not be an instructional designer at all. Or they might be untested in the corporate world. Nevertheless, they could provide a casual remark that turns out to be the key to successfully navigating the unknown. (E.g., In “The Mandalorian,” Kuiil, an Ugnaught with tech skills, becomes an unexpected mentor to the main character. Other underqualified mentors include Rue from “The Hunger Games,” Hermione Granger from “Harry Potter,” and Phil Coulson in Marvel’s “Avengers”.)
The Dark Mentor: Your mentor could, unfortunately, turn into the antagonist, betraying you and working against your interests. Examples include characters like Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ra’s al Ghul from Batman Begins, Frollo in Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disguised-Jafar from Disney’s Aladdin, and Mother Gothel from Disney’s Tangled.
The Personified Mentor: Your mentor might be yourself or an object. In Westerns and detective stories, the hero often has an “inner mentor” to guide him through the journey. (E.g., Henry Jones’s grail diary in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, or a pithy, motivational catchphrase serendipitously simply stated in a loved one’s recently-recovered suicide note.)
Sidekicks don’t just pop up. A hero’s relationship with sidekicks are cultivated well before they are required. These allies may not have sage advice offered by the mentor, but they can provide you with timely and relevant knowledge and resources to avoid immediate pitfalls. They are in the wing to answer more trivial questions like, how do you solicit learning objectives from a reticent SME?
Trust-building Hacks
Friends are perceived as more competent than non-friends. Earning trust can take years, or it can take moments. Show you care about the people you work with on a project. Personal (but not too personal) things about yourself to break the ice. Be curious about their lives. Show interest in what they care about. Ask them their story. There’s a funny psychological occurrence that happens when someone trusts you on a personal level. For some reason, they imbue you with professional credibility too.
Building professional trust with project managers ― Project managers love to talk about The Triple Constraint of Project Management (a.k.a. The IRON TRIANGLE). Ask them which orientation of constraints they enjoy best. Whichever one or two fixed constraints they pick, make a point of showing them you also value their choice. Strategically throw out trust-building statements in later conversations:
Schedule: “I deprioritized some other projects so I could get this one to the rest of the team for review before the holidays.” Scope: “That feature was too cool not to include in this version of the product. I worked extra hours to make it happen.” Budget: “I discovered this awesome 3rd-party AI tool that will allow us to cut down on art costs in the budget.”
In order for online students to have meaningful learning experiences, social interaction needs to be more than a federal requirement or best practice. On a global scale, developing genuine connections with others has the potential to cure the loneliness epidemic. Specifically, for BYU students, it can prepare learners to embody the university mission, “Enter to learn, go forth to serve.”
The question I’m trying to solve in this post is how to develop genuine connections among online classroom students in asynchronous learning environments. I’ll share my thoughts, but I’d love your help identifying additional ideas.
The first half of this article is background. Skip to the Discussion or Conclusion sections for practical examples of how to foster “communities of (covenant) belonging.”
AI-Generated image of university student
The Problem with Discussion Boards
In the realm of online course design, a persistent challenge has been occupying my thoughts for months — how to transform students’ negative perceptions of peer-to-peer interaction. As a federally-accredited school, BYU is mandated to facilitate “regular and substantive [peer] interaction” in their online courses. The online social interaction research claims that peer interaction is a crucial learning component linked to learner engagement, performance, and knowledge retention. In theory, discussion boards conveniently check this requirement. They promise diversity in content delivery and the potential for learners to glean insights from one another. However, a deep dive into our student feedback revealed a common lament: “I would do away with the discussion boards, they don’t facilitate meaningful or effective discussion among students.”
This all-too-frequent student sentiment suggests that participating in online discussions feels like bureaucratic “hoop jumping.” Students don’t really get to know one another, the experience lacks a sense of utility because it usually doesn’t help them study for tests or provide them with reliable, expert knowledge, and the essence of interpersonal connection is gone. Tragically, for many students, participating in discussion boards is the virtual equivalent of silently occupying the back row of the classroom, and pulling the drawstrings on their hoodies throughout the semester. For these students, receiving points is the only benefit.
Around 2018, one of my colleagues tried to improve how we use discussion boards by giving students improved prompts. The old prompts asked students what they learned from the lesson and how it related to their lives. The new prompts got students more involved by encouraging students to think more critically about the material, reflecting on how it relates to the gospel, and encouraging stronger connections with their peers.
Connect course content to students’ own life experiences and the experiences of others
Debate issues (if there is one best answer or a small number of acceptable answers, it’s an essay, not a discussion)
Find and bring additional material into the course
Give peer feedback on application assignments
Collaborate on solving a problem or creating an artifact
Connect course content to gospel principles (or the gospel to academic learning), circumscribing truth into one great whole
In their experimental feedback, we also learned that students appreciate the following:
Being given a selection of (equally-rigorous and valuable) prompts to choose from.
Begin given a rubric to better match their effort to their desired grade.
Being a part of smaller discussion groups for higher quality participation.
Knowing how to modify LMS notification settings so they could be notified when someone was engaging with their content.
Being assigned a lighter workload elsewhere when discussions require more work.
Structure to encourage equitably distributed commenting. (It’s discouraging to put a lot of thought into a post only to find that no one engages with it because it wasn’t one of the first few posts.)
If available, use LMS settings to sort by date of original post, newest first.
Have a policy that no points will be awarded for replies to posts that already have # replies.
Small discussion groups (10-20).
We hoped that these new discussion prompts and changes would be enough to help our students feel more connected to each other and to God. And while student feedback improved marginally, it still wasn’t producing the desired degree or duration of change (average of 10% change that lasted only a single semester). Obviously, something else was going on.
As someone deeply invested in learner growth via appropriate course design, I feel for these students and am disheartened by my apparent inability to grasp and enhance this facet of the student experience. In search of inspiration, I’ve prayerful sought new solutions that will breathe life into the existing online “zombie” interactions (superficially alive, but dead inside).
An Unexpected Epiphany
A turning point in my perspective occurred while attending a BYU seminar on fostering communities of covenant belonging. Recent research shows that, now more than ever, college students are experiencing a profound longing to be known and cared about.
This article reviews empirical research concerning loneliness among college students before 1990. It emphasizes that loneliness has been a prevalent issue within this age group for a long time.
Loneliness in America: How the Pandemic Has Deepened an Epidemic of Loneliness and What We Can Do About It (Harvard University Study, 2020)
Of 950 Americans surveyed, a startling 61% of young people aged 18-25 and 51% of mothers with young children reported feeling lonely “frequently” or “almost all the time or all the time” in the prior four weeks.
College Students’ Belonging and Loneliness in the Context of Remote Online Classes during the COVID-19 Pandemic (Online Learning Journal, 2022)
This study, conducted by Hansen-Brown et al. (2022), explored college students’ experiences during remote online classes amidst the pandemic. It found that students’ sense of belonging and loneliness was linked to various factors, including class format, aspects of virtual classes, social contact, and experiences during the pandemic.
With this need in mind, it struck me that perhaps higher engagement, test performance, and knowledge retention weren’t the ultimate goals of social interaction for our online students. Perhaps there is a higher standard we ought aiming for as instructors and students. I felt inspired that covenant belonging may be the ultimate objective of BYU’s online student-to-student interactions, which is consistent with the university’s mission of preparing its students to go forth and serve.
How to Foster Communities of Belonging
This made me think of a new question: How can I meaningfully fulfill the federal requirement of “regular and substantive [peer] interaction” in an online, asynchronous learning environment? In the past, I’d give students points for talking to each other. (That’s what got them to go through the motions.) But my attempts to manufacture “friendships” with one another didn’t work. Now, I want to focus on more than just changing what I say on the discussion board. I want to teach and encourage students to think about more than just themselves, and take part in connective group experiences.
As we think about helping online learners create communities where they feel they belong, I’ll start by sharing my ideas. I’ll list obstacles to community building and brainstorm a few principles and applications for overcoming those. But I have to admit that my ideas are far from complete. To help me, I’d like to hear your thoughts on other ways to help people feel like they belong, especially in on-demand (asynchronous online) learning.
Discussion
How can we, as online instructors, foster communities of belonging?
Is it really worth the effort to look beyond discussion boards? Should we elevate the goal of online social interaction beyond the federally-mandated best practice of “regular and substantive [peer] interaction”?
Should belonging be the ultimate goal?
What motivates people to feel belonging within a community?
What design strategies can enhance students’ sense of belonging specifically in an asynchronous learning setting?
How can teachers prepare themselves to help their students achieve this higher goal?
We must overcome the natural obstacles preventing this type of celestial sociality. I have brainstormed five factors that serve as barriers to community building:
1. Feelings of Unworthiness (Prevents Vulnerability)
Solution: Learn to view one’s imperfection as a feature, not a bug. Embracing imperfection is a unique trait that fosters a sense of connection among us. There is a perception espoused by many BYU students that peers are “practically perfect in every way.” However, even the highest-achievers often struggle with feelings of inadequacy. Many students carry a sense of shame about personal aspects they mistakenly believe make them less likable or subject to ridicule. Regrettably, a significant number of students tie their self-worth to this idealized perception of others. The truth is that when we share the parts of ourselves that we find shameful with those who deserve our trust, usually, we often discover that it’s not as severe as we initially thought. In fact, these vulnerabilities are what make us relatable to others. Opening up allows us to receive compassion from others, laying the groundwork for a close-knit community of belonging.
Establish a culture that embraces awkwardness (whole self-ness).
Demonstrate imperfection, by intentionally sharing examples of imperfection with students. Don’t showcase it necessarily, but don’t hide it either. Model that imperfection is a natural aspect of one’s whole self and serves a valuable role in identifying places for personal growth.
Somewhere toward the beginning of the course, invite students to break the social ice by sharing “two lies and a truth” with one another. Perhaps pick a themed topic like “something embarrassing” or “something you were afraid to tell your high school friends.”
Require them to share their unfinished work with one another with the intention of offering praise. This will train students to realize that what they might think is “trash” has value in the eyes of their peers.
2. Fixed Mindset
Solution: Show confidence in students’ potential by reenforcing a growth mindset. Instructors must relentlessly model a growth mindset for students. Instead of simply preaching to students, inspiring teachers create an open and consistent atmosphere for students’ development.
Let Carol Dweck’s spirit of acceptance, encouragement and growth guide every interaction we have with students. With enough exposure, they may learn to extend the same grace to others and ultimately themselves.
Student: “I didn’t know I needed to do that assignment.” Teacher: “It’s in the syllabus.” Student (who was homeschooled during COVID): “I don’t know what a syllabus is.” Teacher (Instead of feeling frustrated says): “It’s okay that you don’t know where to find the syllabus yet. You will learn, and then you’ll be so happy because you’ll know everything that is expected of you in this class.”
Offer quizzes that encourage trying and failing. Make them low-stakes. Offer multiple attempts. Offer shots at redemption.
Include one’s teaching philosophy in the course syllabus. Encourage student-teacher communication and grade negotiation.
3. Lack of Direction (Model or Instructions) for Creating Communities of Belonging
Solution: Provide scaffolding. A growth mindset does little good without a scaffolding to support it. Instructors don’t create these communities. We model, show examples, and invite students to create these communities themselves. Belonging is not given by the popular kids on the inside, or earned by “self-worth hustlers” on the outside. It is co-created by those who are compassionate enough to see others and open enough to be seen—imperfectly.
Blended Example: Ideally, these assignments are in a blended classroom environment where in-person meetups can be required. Assign students to “practice courage and reach out to one another” throughout the course. Assign them to do one or two peer or small group projects together. Preferably require an activity centered around the BYU or class mission that allows them to serve others (by learning about and empathizing with them). Let them communicate on their own (don’t set up assignment-specific communication channels for them). Let them exercise their agency to decide how to communicate and what activity to do together as a group. Perhaps provide a list of example activities. (E.g., an on-campus activity like BYU 2024 Walk of Life, or something asynchronous like a virtual art exhibit.)
On-demand Example: If meeting physically or at the same time is impossible, students could find other ways to prove their commitment to one another. E.g., If the course is Biology 100, have students interview one another about someone they know with a health issue and discover what the latest research says about prevention or treatment. Or for a Plant and Wildlife Sciences course, have students interview a classmate (or friend or family member if it’s an IS course) about an environmental issue they are most concerned about and what the current events are. The goal is to get to know one another and learn to care about what they care about.
Leave the assignment completely up to the students. But at the end of the course, require students to post video recordings of themselves (essentially giving a class presentation) about what they did to help co-create a community of belonging, and what they learned from that experience.
Encourage teaching one another.
Encourage service learning in the community.
4. Fundamental Belief in The Worth of Souls
“Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;
“For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.”
Solution: Encourage students to see the (divine) worth in everyone. Our current challenge is to help BYU online students overcome the lingering acceptance of the isolationist mentality from the years we spent avoiding the spread of COVID.
Secular example of belonging: Brené Brown addressed belonging in the final chapter of her book, Braving the Wilderness. Middle school students helped her articulate that belonging is the belief that you are already enough. You don’t have to change yourself (or fit in) to belong. Creating belonging requires vulnerability (willingness to be rejected), which requires courage.
Spiritual example of belonging: Lita Giddings, Co-vice President of the BYU Office of Belonging, says that belonging is difficult to objectively define because it means something different to everyone. But, subjectively, she says “belonging is the feeling you have when you’re with Jesus.”
Example of seeing the divine worth in others: C.S. Lewis said in The Weight of Glory, “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”
The best way to help students create an atmosphere of belonging is to act as role models ourselves, committing to the norms and values of worthiness. This is done by stepping outside our own self-interest. Show students that they mean something to us, that they are worth sacrificing for.
Share a meal with students in our homes.
Host an extracurricular activity on campus.
Let students in on our personal lives (whole selves).
5. Lack of Commitment to Classmates, BYU, and the Common Good
Solution: Work to restore our commitment to each other and the common good. In this age of hyper-individualism (self-concerns and self-advancement), we must help students move away from the mentality of “I’m just here for the tithing-subsidized tuition” and towards “I am BYU,” or even better, “We are BYU.” Students were sold on the idea that the BYU experience would be different than any other university. That there was a reason why we need to live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. But some juniors have never even prayed in class. Let’s find ways to remember that we seek truth by knowledge and also by faith.
There is a prevailing social standard for students to focus on themselves. In iGen, the author Jean M. Twenge reports findings from an analysis of four longitudinal social research studies of youth (born 1995-2012; those who used smartphones their entire lives). Though I read this book over five years ago, one story still stands out. One college-aged woman offered her take on the prevalence of “hookup” culture and why she was uninterested in a committed romantic relationship. She essentially said, “Life is hard enough on my own. If I were to have a boyfriend, when he has a bad day, then I have a bad day too.” I’d rather just hook up and leave out the emotional baggage.” Twenge also found that when iGeners are unhappy, they turn to social media, which rewards them with sweet but fleeting hits of dopamine, leaving them feeling unfulfilled, and craving real connection. We know from academic research and prophetic counsel, the real antidote to unhappiness is cultivating a sense of personal worthiness and engaging in meaningful service. Similarly, Twenge’s analysis found that personal interactions correlate with iGen happiness. Unfortunately, the more depressed iGeners feel, the less they want to be with people.
BYU-Idaho’s Learning Model emphasizes teaching one another as one of their core principles. They move beyond
Example of commitment to one another through covenant belonging: “By divine covenant, we belong to God and to each other. Covenant belonging is a miracle. It is not possessive. Like charity, it “suffereth long, and is kind,” and it “envieth not; … vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up” (1 Corinthians 13:4; see also Moroni 7:45). Covenant belonging gives roots and wings. It liberates through commitment. It enlarges through love…Covenant belonging is to keep the faith. It is not to give up on ourselves, on each other, or on God.” ― Elder Gong, The Miracle of Covenant Belonging (2019)
Help students locate themselves in BYU’s mission and aims. Hand out copies of the BYU mission statement and ask students to locate themselves in the document. What prophecies and visions have been given about WHY BYU exists? What privileges and responsibilities are theirs as BYU students? How do they feel about being seen by prophets and seers of old? What does school pride really look like?
Do a similar thing with the mission of the course. Creatively share your vision for your course. (E.g., Invite a celebrity guest to share a testimonial. Alternatively, you might reach out to former graduates to have them shoot a video applying what they learned in this class. Help students identify WHY they should care about this course.
Establish the expectation of a culture of community at the beginning of class. Promise blessings that not only will developing a community of covenant belonging improve students’ exam performance, this class will teach them what it means to be disciples of Christ.
Reward students for demonstrating that they learned a personal fact about every other member of the class.
Assign student devotionals.
Create opportunities for them to study the scriptures.
Encourage faithful prayer inside and outside of class.
When one student is struggling, subtly let another know and watch what happens.
AI-Generated image of university student
Conclusion
In summary, students must learn to create their own communities of belonging. We can aid students in three ways:
Imbue students with self-worth. Teachers are powerful role models (intentionally or unintentionally). To impart a sense of worthiness to our students, teachers must first demonstrate acceptance of their own self-worth. By definition, no student can inherit a quality from a teacher that the teacher does not actually possess. While holding a temple recommend is an excellent measure of personal worthiness, simply being “temple worthy” may be insufficient for many instructors to have the desired effect on students. If we want to have a greater impact on our students, we may want to re-examine our personal spiritual hygiene habits. As we draw ever closer to the Savior, we will see students more in the way the Savior does, we will naturally testify more of Him, His mission, and His love for us all.
Relentlessly model a growth mindset. Instructors must truly believe that we are all learners on our own dynamic paths of growth and self-discovery. We avoid thinking, saying, or doing anything that would lead students to feel incapable of growth or permanently inadequate. As BYU instructors, it is our privilege and responsibility to relentlessly reinforce students’ divine worthiness and ability to grow. Two ways to do this is by requiring opportunities to connect imperfectly with one another and invite them to have shared service experiences together.
Help students identify with their BYU privilege and the accompanying responsibility to serve others. Instructors can take a few minutes of class time to help students locate themselves in the prophecies of old and in the mission of BYU. They can show students research about loneliness and isolation. They can give students opportunities to connect and care about others in their class. Through their assignments, they can help BYU students learn to apply the habit of covenant belonging throughout their lives. (E.g., Church ministering, being a committed friend, a devoted spouse or family member, or a self-sacrificing community leader.) Help students see that God’s purpose for them is often discovered by them, counterintuitively, caring for and serving others. This lesson is reinforced in the scriptures, reflecting on the experiences of students who have served missions, and engaging in experiential learning.
Cleaning dishes was my least favorite chore as a child. One of my worst dish-cleaning memories (which, after checking with my parents, was an exaggeration from the mind of an imaginative, resentful child, but still felt very real) happened on a warm summer afternoon. I was responsible for cleaning a greasy sink full of dishes after lunch, but I just “couldn’t” do it. So, Instead, I stubbornly “chose” to remain standing all alone at the sink for hours while my siblings got to go the zoo. At the time, I didn’t have the tools to understand the various forces working against me.
When I finally read Influencer (2007) by VitalSmarts (now, Crucial Influence by Crucial Learning), I learned about a set of hidden sources influencing my anti-dishwashing attitude and behavior. Too often, people primarily explain their undesirable behavior (or absence of a desired behavior) simply by claiming a lack of willpower. While personal motivation is, indeed, a key influencer on behavior, there are several more that are equally powerful, but rarely acknowledged. Imagine a team of invisible horses driving your behavior. The trick, I’ve found, for turning around many of my undesirable behaviors is to get all six of these horses pulling in the desired direction. This model doesn’t fix everything (e.g., deep-seated trauma), but it can help!
The following personal reflection is aimed at illustrate how the Influencer model can be practically employed to get one’s horses pulling in a the same (positive) direction.
Note to family: As I reviewed this post, I could tell it was still emotionally charged. I love my relationships with my parents and siblings. I forgive them for any past dishwashing resentments I’ve held. I ask their forgiveness for my impertinence then, and now as I awkwardly process my memories and emotions. Hopefully, this post may help explain why I often ran and hid just before family chore time. (Sorry siblings.) I claim responsibility for my actions and feelings. My parents were great teachers. But some lessons just take a long time to learn. And as a new patent myself, I realize that we all parent the best we know how at the time and we all know we are making mistakes.
And now, how to not get left home from the zoo!
Horse #1: Personal Motivation
Perhaps the biggest reason why I hated dishwashing was because I didn’t understandwhy I was being asked to do the dishes in a certain way. I was fine eating off bacteria-infested dishware and cutlery.
For some reason, I never internalized the purpose behind my parents’ approach to cleaning dishes. And as a result, we had different standards. It would have been nice to feel united around a shared vision. Here are some examples of what I imagine a fruitful conversation may have looked like.
Connect to a shared value of health: “Bryan, do you enjoy feeling healthy and not puking up your guts? We do the dishes because we don’t want anyone who eats at our house to get sick. If we don’t clean the dishes well, then the bacteria that remains will fester and grow, even if we can’t see it.”
Connect to a shared value of godliness: “Bryan, do you love God? When we keep the house clean we invite the Spirit of God to be with us here. It’s a symbol of our desire to be close to Him.”
Horse #2: Personal Ability
I felt unskilled for a number of reasons:
I told myself I was bad at doing the dishes because of how long it took me compared to the rest of my family members.
When I did do it quickly, I was told it was wrong.
I didn’t feel confident knowing which tools were most effective in combination with which amount of dish soap. I was afraid of using a sponge that would damage a pan.
I had to do it without help before I was ready.
My family of six produced a ton of dishes. As a little guy, some of that pot-scrubbing was a legitimate challenge. I didn’t possess the technique or skill to effectively clean the tougher grime and grease.
I was underperforming and needed upskilling. I would have loved to have been given space to improve. I yearned for the satisfaction of executing something well that I wasn’t initially good at. When my parents noticed that I wasn’t performing up to their expectations, instead of assuming it was an “issue of willpower,” I would have appreciated taking a step back in the learning process. Maybe have them start with some interactive modeling, then supervise me while I work while providing caring, immediate feedback, and then let me try it again independently.
I felt alone. I was jealous of my family members whom I distortedly saw as malicious competitors. They raced to finish their after-dinner chores, then mocked me by running off to play.
My siblings weren’t really mocking me. I just felt that way. But I certainly would have appreciated some sympathy or encouragement from them.
What if I had been surrounded by good examples? It’s easy to be a curmudgeon alone, but not when you’re surrounded by others with much more positive attitudes. Enthusiasm is infectious. Instead of chores being an independent effort, what if it were a collaborative group effort. In my family, individuals were primarily responsible for their own tasks. I’m not suggesting that everyone should be responsible for every chore. But if the expectation were that we all pitch in during chore time until everyone’s chores were done, things would probably get resentful at first, then toxic, and finally—after some problem-solving—evolve into something synergistic. (We’ll see when I get teenagers.)
Horse #4: Social Ability
At some point, I turned off my ability to receive help. And because of that, I played the victim. When I was being coached, I just felt criticized. When I failed to meet expectations, I wasn’t open to being shown a better way. I was too proud to seek assistance, though I obviously needed it. I was naturally talented at so many other things that my brain couldn’t reconcile needing help with such an elementary. I felt ashamed.
It would have been great to receive some remediation and have be put on a scaffolded improvement plan. (I don’t remember studying anyone doing it well.) While, I should have initiated it myself, I wasn’t in a place to ask for help.
Horse #5: Structural Motivation
I felt frustrated and helpless. I don’t remember any carrots (rewards or incentives) for successful dishwashing; only sticks. The idea persisted that I couldn’t leave the sink area until all the dishes were done.
Dish duty was a daunting task. I don’t think my personality necessarily needed any extrinsic rewards for successfully completing my task. But I would have benefitted from the joy of experiencing small wins. Who am I kidding, if I were allowed to play the Nintendo upon completing my chores, I would have “done” them with joy.
Horse #6: Structural Ability
I felt limited by my dishwashing tools. There were a lot of brushes and sponges, but they were all grimy and made my hands smell. I think I would have had a more positive outlook if had I been given tools that didn’t remind me of mildew every time I smelled my hands for the next few hours.
I also remember pots and pans being too heavy to manage. Maybe it was the weight of the water inside them. Maybe it was the angle at which I was holding them. Regardless, I felt weak and too ashamed to speak up about it.
I wonder if my parents asked themselves, “What simple changes we can make to modify the sink environment to make dishwashing easier for kids?” They may have discussed buying smaller dish wands, newer sponges, a lower workstation (that I didn’t need to use a stool to reach), or intentionally cooked with fewer/lighter pots.
Conclusion
Surprisingly, I love doing dishes now thanks to this Influencer model, a significant mental shift, and a lot of life experience. I was able to turn all six of those sources of influence that were working against me into allies of my desired dishwashing behavior.
What are some ways you help influence your kids to become confident and capable dishwashers? (Bonus points if you can identify which influence it falls under in this model.)
I am a learning experience designer for Brigham Young University (BYU)’s Continuing Education Division. My job is to collaborate with BYU professors to create high-quality online educational experiences (courses) that lead to holistic growth for on-campus students. But are they really growing? Are we really doing our part to inspire growth? Our end-of-course assessments should prove learner competency. However, despite our rigorous assessment design process, which includes a 150-point list of industry-tested best practices, I still worry that students are not being changed having achieved the course-specific learning outcomes. I worry that the learning experience I’ve curated for them only (barely) goes exam-deep. Do our assessments just not cut it? Is readiness an issue?
We receive survey feedback from many students saying things like, “Great course!” and “Don’t change a thing.” But conspicuously absent are phrases like, “This course answered questions I’ve had since childhood!” or “I now see the world differently!” or “I will never forget [specific lesson from the semester].” At least those are the kinds of things I imagine college-age students saying who are becoming forever changed. How do I foster meaningful, long-lasting (eternal) growth in those for whom I provide learning experiences?
While there are dozens of concepts that promote learning, I will focus on one prerequisite for meaningful learner growth, according to Gallup—for teachers to excite students about learning.
Assuming this second bullet point is true, I wonder about the following questions:
How do I to encourage learner excitement?
How can learners feel that I care about them as people (not just as students)? This may be prerequisite to exciting learners. But is can also be a method for exciting learners, and an end result.
How do I encourage students to pursue their dreams? This bullet point may also be a prereq for, method to, and result of exciting learners.
What is Readiness? Classical Eastern Thought (500 BCE)
“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni (via the Theosophists)
I watched way too many kung-fu movies as a kid. But I did learn a lot. Eastern thought suggests that it is wisdom to let the learner determine the timing of their own readiness. But what is readiness? Perhaps, it requires more than merely stating or physically showing up. As depicted in so many Kung Fu movies from the 70s, would-be disciples are consistently turned away after making the meager sacrifice of forsaking loved ones and climbing a treacherous mountain to prove their readiness. Likewise, in a university context, paying tuition is only the first measure of readiness.
Not all learners will be excited about learning. While it might seem reasonable to assume that someone paying for a college education would be motivated (and prepared for) that learning experience, I have found that many are not. So what would Buddha have me do? Do I shove the content in their faces like a carnie desperate for attention hoping that students will engage through pity? Do I calmly provide expert learning resources for those who choose to drink from the zen pool of knowledge? It is very Zen to just allow things to happen and let go of the illusion of control.
It’s Time for a Tanner Tangent: Let’s digest this “Buddha” quote for a moment. Who are these 19th-century Theosophists? Basically, they were agnostic truth seekers. I usually find it in poor taste to judge someone by their strangest-sounding belief, especially since I’m LDS, but this (hopefully true) factoid is just too interesting to keep to myself: Theosophists also believe that primates are on Earth today because tech-advanced (and psychic) Atlanteans mated with “she-animals” soon after sexes were a thing. It was this decadence and abuse of their power and knowledge that caused their fall into the sea1. As far out as that may sound, it actually has a lot of parallels with the Judeo-Christian Adam and Eve story.
Despite its questionable origin, this quote about the master appearing to the prepared student has consistently proven itself to be true across time and space. This quote teaches me several things:
The responsibility to learn ultimately belongs to the learner.
Learning happens within the learner.
Learning is best facilitated when the learner is ready.
Readiness is a holistic characteristic. It is not just cognitive, but emotional, physical, and spiritual.
Just because a learner claims to be ready, they may not be ready.
Once a learner is ready, a teacher may light and ease the way – in other words, facilitate learning, but the learner must walk the path.
Coddling and prodding (by the teacher) are not required to excite or motivate learners.
Coddling is certainly not required throughout the learning process. For example, the Master monks at the Shaolin temple allegedly beat and reprimanded their students during training. Disciples may be willing to endure this because they are already intrinsically motivated.
Likewise, Angela Duckwork found, in her modern-day West Point Grit research, that recruits who were intrinsically motivated performed better (and stayed employed by the military longer) than recruits who were both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated.
For Kung-fu masters who didn’t have time to waste training a single disciple for a decade, it is reasonable to be particularly selective about learner readiness. Thanks to technology and course-lengths constrained by specific outcomes, modern-day university professors can serve multiple student, for only a few months at a time. We can be less selective about whom we teach.
Readiness isn’t a requirement to initiate the higher ed learning process.
Perhaps there is a yin-yang shared responsibility around teaching and learning. Am I responsible to engender intrinsic motivation in those I teach? While it may not be my responsibility to excite learners, ? I’m still not sure. Socrates thought so.
Who is Responsible for Learner Readiness? Classical Western Thought (500 BCE)
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle did not explicitly address the concept of “learner readiness” as a modern educational concept. However, their philosophical ideas on critical thinking, individual development, and the role of education in preparing individuals for their roles in society are relevant to the broader discussions about the readiness of learners to engage in meaningful and purposeful learning experiences.
Socrates described himself as the “gadfly” of Athens—a city which, like a sluggish horse, needed to be aroused by his stinging. He made an effort to excite (or bother) potential learners. However, he also understood that he couldn’t just philosophize at his students; he believed knowledge was created through conversation. Thus, he developed the Socratic method, a form of inquiry and critical reflection through dialogue and active questioning. He believed in the importance of self-examination and critical thinking to facilitate learning. His fellow interlocutors had to have emotional skin in the game. They had to have an argument—an ego-driven hypothesis—which they tested in the crucible of discussion. While Socrates did not explicitly discuss learner readiness, the Socratic method can be interpreted as one way to excite learners and prepare them for deeper understanding.
Plato, a student of Socrates, founded the Academy, one of the earliest known institutions of higher learning in the Western world. He wrote extensively on the nature of education in works such as The Republic. Plato believed in the importance of selecting and preparing individuals for specific roles in society based on their abilities and aptitudes. He advocated for a system of education that would help individuals fulfill their potential. Plato believed learners could grow. He believed one will rise to the level of one’s curiosity and aptitude; a belief shared by Confucius. (See The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.) It is the role of education to support that individual pursuit for the good of society. But not necessarily to prod learners to fulfill their potential; that’s the learner’s job.
Aristotle, a student of Plato, wrote extensively on various subjects, including ethics, politics, and education. He believed in the personal development of moral and intellectual virtues. Aristotle’s concept of “eudaimonia,” often translated as “human flourishing” or “living well,” emphasized the importance of individuals becoming the best version of themselves through education and self-improvement. While Aristotle did not directly discuss the ownership of learner readiness, he squarely places the burden of readiness on the shoulders on learners regarding their respective journeys toward realizing their full potential.
In summary, all three of these great thinkers implicitly believed that learners were primarily self-motivated and were ultimately responsible for their own education. However, a “good” teacher serves as an integral catalyst of the learning process.
What are the Benefits of Learner Readiness? Italian Renaissance (1400s)
“Study without DESIRE spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.”
Leonard DaVinci
This quote is often attributed to DaVinci and it raises an interesting point about the relationship between understanding the meaning of knowledge and remembering it. In simpler terms, we can say that the more someone desires or wants to learn, the better they will remember the knowledge. DaVinci may also be implying a few additional things:
Readiness is not binary; it’s a spectrum.
Not all learners will be “fully” ready to learn.
And that’s okay.
But the fact remains, the more a learner is jazzed about their topic (curiosity/passion), the deeper the grooves will be in their brain. E.g., Stephen Hawking
What are Obstacles to Learner Readiness? Modern Western Thought (1700s)
“We stigmatize mistakes in school, mistakes are the worst thing you can make. We are educating our kids out of their creative capacities.” “We need to educate our children for unpredictability.” “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” “Our task is to educate their (our students) whole being so they can face the future. We may not see the future, but they will and our job is to help them make something of it.”
Sir Ken Robinson
Get ready for a bit of a tirade. (Having been marinated in constructivist theory early in my career, I view behaviorism as a vestigial artifact of the industrialist era.) The Western educational system has serious problems. Behaviorism was and continues to be curriculum designers’ educational method of choice. Adopted with intentions to provide a quality and equal experience for all learners, the current system unfortunately, had dumbed learners down into assembly-line robots. U.S. classrooms were initially created through government regulation to safeguard against child labor. But as an unfortunate result, this educational system has all but extinguished creativity, curiosity, innovation, and critical thinking among its learners. (See Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk, Changing Education Paradigms, for more details.) For over 150 years, schoolmasters have seen themselves as the water pitchers responsible for pouring “liquid knowledge” into their passive students (aka cups). Learners are indoctrinated through standardized testing that there are correct and incorrect answers to every question. Students’ ability to recall instructor-given, “correct” answers over short periods of time measure both student intelligence and their future success. The system has (sadly) conditioned students to habitually ask, “How long do I have to remember this?”
What are the instructor/learning facilitator and the learner each responsible for in the learningprocess? What have we done to learners’ natural, knowledge-seeking flame? I am a naturally curious person and I highly value personal growth, so I’m biased. However, I argue that one of the great purposes of education ought to be personal growth. And I agree with the corollary to Da Vinci’s belief stated above, that if the learner is not intrinsically ready to learn, they are not going to remember it.
Where does Readiness Happen? Gagné’s 9 Events of Instruction (1960s)
In Robert Gagné’s 1965 landmark work, The Conditions of Learning and Theory of Instruction, he theorizes that the 1st of 9 Events of Instruction is that—in order for learning to happen—learners must experience a “change in stimulus.” This is commonly interpreted as gaining the learners’ attention. So how is this done? Is “saying ‘boo'” to learners sufficient to gain learners’ attention? No.
Though his theories initially tended to side with behavioristic (teacher-centered) principles, by 2002, Gagné had been influenced by some cognitive theorists and understood that his 9 events were external events intended to aid the internal learning process. Like Da Vinci, Gagné firmly believed that something intrinsic must happen within the motivational embers of the learner in order for learning to stick.
Were Gagné and DaVinci saying the same thing? Could Gagné’s word “stimulus” be replaced with DaVinci’s word, “desire?”
If that is the case, then instead of asking, “How can I shock or wake up the learner into a state of readiness?” perhaps instructors could focus less on themselves and their lesson plans and ask, “What can I do to kindle a desire to learn in them?” A subtle but important difference, I think.
What are the Conditions Surrounding Learner Readiness? Merrill’s Literal First Principles of Instruction (1990s)
How do we ignite a desire for learning in students? M. David Merrill, one of my professors at Utah State University, adds a valuable set of conditions that he argues are essential components for starting a fire within learners:
Principle 1: Task/Problem-Centered — Learning is facilitated when students apply it to real-world problems.
Principle 2: Activation — Learning is facilitated when learners are able to connect current learning with previous learning.
Principle 3: Demonstration (Show Me) — Learning is facilitated when learners see a practical demonstration of learning to solve the problem.
Principle 4: — Application (Let Me) Learning is facilitated when learners can use new information in a meaningful way, straight away.
Principle 5: Integration — Learning is facilitated when learners are able to actively interact with what they have learned through discussion, debate, and presentation.
While these don’t all happen at the onset of an instructional experience, they are all important in keeping the learning flame alive.
Is there a Spiritual Component to Learner Readiness? The Mission and Aims of BYU: Inspiring Learning (2010s)
Based on BYU’s mission statement and Aims, the primary aim of faculty, staff, and administrators at BYU is to Inspire Learning. The messages in BYU President, Kevin, J. Worthen’s 2016 university conference address hold true today:
Inspiring is an interesting word. It derives from the Latin term inspirare, which means “to breathe into” and, more specifically, “to breathe life into.”9Inspiring is both a noun and an adjective. The noun can be defined as the act of inspiring or motivating. In this sense, the term “inspiring learning” describes actions that inspire or motivate students to learn. As an adjective, inspiring is a modifier. In this context it describes a kind of learning: learning that inspires—or, more precisely, in our setting, learning that leads to inspiration or revelation.
When I use the term “inspiring learning,” I have in mind both meanings of the word inspiring. I hope we inspire our students to learn. And I hope that learning leads to inspiration. When both things happen, inspiring learning occurs, and we can then know we are on the right track to achieve the core goals set forth in our mission statement.
President Worthen, Inspiring Learning, 2016 BYU University Conference
I love the visual of “breathing life into” learners. I think this illustration resonates most with how I see my role as someone who excites learners or inspires growth. I may not be responsible for their excitement, but I can do my best to breathe my enthusiasm for the subject into them.
In addition to inspiring learning, I hope that the learning experiences I design will, as President Worthen distinguishes, also inspire and motivate learners toward service and further personal growth. When students know that their learning will have eternal impact and ramifications, it can serve as strong motivation.
Conclusion
Who is responsible for learning? The learner.
Who is responsible for teaching? The teacher.
What role does excitement play in the teaching/learning process? It sparks desire and acts as an immediate catalyst for understanding. And it situates learning for improved long-term recall.
Is it important for both parties to be excited to inspire learning? Yes. While the more experienced learner (aka teacher) is responsible for offering a vision of how exciting a subject can be, it is the less experienced learner’s responsibility to open their own eyes.
Is it possible to excite all learners at once? Probably not. But in a future post, I’ll explore what attention-gaining (inner-desire motivating) tactics teachers find most successful.
Be your best self outside of work, and bring that to the office. Have a purpose. Live your purpose.
Introduction
According to Dan Pink’s book Drive, purpose is the most powerful and enduring kind of motivation there is. So what is purpose and how can I employ it effectively? Consider the following campfire metaphor.
Purpose : Motivation :: Oxygen : Fire
Savvy campfire builders know that although oxygen helps things burn, it is not flammable by itself. Similar to oxygen, purpose is an essential but invisible ingredient motivating human behavior. And because they’re both invisible, they’re easily overlooked and underappreciated. For example, when I view a roaring campfire, all I see is the flaming wood (or other visible fuels) and sparking embers against a dark background. It’s easy to forget about the element which is constantly feeding those flames. Without oxygen those beautiful, sky-licking flames could not combust.
By definition, every fire must have at least a little oxygen flow. Individuals who claim to be solely driven by things other than purpose are fooling themselves. When someone’s oxygen source is weak, their fire or productivity do one of the following things:
fail to ignite
burn out rapidly, or
require more and more (extrinsically-motivating) flash fuels, like money, recognition, perks, etc., to desperately keep their motivation alive
I believe everyone has their own personal bellows. Possessing the key ingredient to fan their own flames, why do so many people float through life stoking wimpy fires? What prevents them from tapping into their energy source and resulting in powerful light and heat? There are many reasons:
They don’t know how fire (or motivation) works. They mistakenly believe the only ingredients necessary are fuel and a spark. Or they falsely believe that their motivation is the fuel. (FYI, your task is fuel; the thing your motivation acts upon.)
They understand the role of oxygen, but they don’t realize that they hold the bellows.
They know they have their own bellows, but they’ve been blowing it in the wrong direction.
They’ve wanted to blow their bellows in the right direction, but haven’t been able to for various reasons.
When I picture less-effective fires, I imagine inexperienced boy scouts pouring gasoline on a stack of newspapers. Once ignited, the paper explodes, glowing debris blown across the campground. These lessons in motivation are often learned eventually, but it’s always sad for me to watch people spin in their hamster wheels of ephemeral delights. It doesn’t have to be that way.
The trick to experiencing powerful motivation is to line up one’s native genius (knowledge and ability) in the right direction. (See Chip and Dan Heath’s book, Switch.) What is the direction or path for your oxygen? Every campfire is different, but if you examine yours, you’ll be able to identify best spot for you to use your bellows. Sometimes smoke blows back in your face. In those situations, do the natural thing. Don’t fight against it. Step back. Be patient. And find another place to apply your purpose.
My 3 Favorite Books on Defining Purpose
Here are the best books I’ve come across that have served as my guides for defining personal purpose:
Find Your/Start With Why by Simon Sinek simplifies the question of what should I do with my talent and energy. Speaking to both organizations and individuals, he claims that starting with why yields greater focus, energy, and thus productivity.
Effortless, McKeown’s sequel to Essentialism, answers the question, “once I’ve define my priority, how do I structure my life so that I can prevent distractions from creeping back in?”
How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen asks, “once you think you’ve found your why, are you sure? He asks a few questions to help assure you that you’re on the right track.
Honorable Mentions
Here is a list of honorable mentions. Some of these are intended to strengthen your purpose, while others remove non-purpose-driven clutter from your life:
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle offers insights on finding inner peace and living in the present moment. This book taught me to relax and as a result turned down the volume of distractions. (E.g., Pain/anxiety/distress comes from trying to control the incontrollable or failing to act on things we ought to act on.)
Becoming by Michelle Obama is an inspiring memoir that shares the personal journey and experiences of the former First Lady of the United States. She demonstrates how to navigate the messy dynamic of finding ways to live your purpose given unforeseen circumstances.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho relates a captivating parable about following one’s dreams and finding the true meaning of life.
Once Steve Arntz writes a book, I’m sure his will make my list.
Conclusion
A key to greater happiness, productivity, and success in life is to 1) identify our own respective purposes and 2) like fanning a nascent campfire, intentionally focus our oxygen in the right spot. Take the time to identify your passions/purpose/special gifts. Then, don’t waste them. Working hard without connecting to your purpose is like blowing air without oxygen; it might do more harm than good. Applying your purpose, but in the wrong spot, is like blowing above a campfire and hoping it’ll make a impact; it won’t. You’ll just get burned. All of us have purpose/oxygen to contribute. Your task is to match your purpose with the appropriate fire and then position yourself precisely where your passion can make the best contribution. You’ll know it when you’ve found it. The results will be unmistakable. By tapping into our inherent and native geniuses and directing it toward an appropriate space, we will experience powerful and enduring fulfillment, productivity, joy, success, and growth.
Why is Usability Testing Rare in Corporate Settings?
Many organizations love the idea of user testing, but rarely do it in practice. Why the discrepancy between belief and action? It comes down to the organization’s inability to execute small, rapid testswhen faced with a design decision. Lacking a process for user testing means that testing becomes a luxury event that happens—at best—once per project.
These mono-test projects invariably defer usability testing until the design work has been “completed.” This practice still occurs despite twenty years of experience uniformly showing that most projects require multiple rounds of testing and redesign to achieve acceptable user-experience quality, and the equally strong finding that it is a 100x cheaper to fix usability problems discovered early in the projectrather than at its end.
User Testing in 3 Simple Steps
To increase the number of organizations that apply usability methods correctly, the process must become cheap and easy.
Get representative users.
Ask them to perform representative tasks with the design.
Be quiet; let the users do the talking.
1. Get Representative Users
The cost of finding a representative sample of users can be inhibitive for many organizations. However, instead of paying an average of $171 (as of 2013) per usability tester through professional recruiting services, you might get away with giving internal testers incentives like $20, or a free book or meal at the cafeteria. These internal testers can be cherry-picked from within your organization, friend group, or regular clients (preferably outside of your field, and representative of your users) for usability tests. While your representativeness might suffer, you’ll definitely save time and money.
2. Ask Them to Perform Representative Tasks with the Design
The hardest part of asking users to perform tasks is doing in in an unbiased way. The key to avoiding bias is to try to view the user-testing experience from a user’s fresh perspective. One way to avoid bias is to break down tasks to their core elements so that the testers are not swayed by pre-programmed processes or leading language. For example, if you want a user to locate the “find and replace” feature in your program, avoid asking, “will you please find all instances of the word “beast” and replace them with the word “best?”
Developing this skill takes self-awareness and practice. Hone your skills by first using qualitative inquiry on low-stakes projects. Then, through trial and error, you will develop the confidence to approach larger, quantitative projects (which require much more precision) with less bias.
3. Be Quiet; Let the Users Talk
This final step is surprisingly difficult. It is natural to want to “help” others navigate the tasks. Resist the urge! My tip here is to get into a super-curious state of mind. Trade any preconceived notions of what’s “right” and “wrong” for the belief that the user is 100% right. Observe keenly. Wonder. And when necessary, ask questions, especially about their unseen thought processes and emotions. But take caution when interfering. Remember that anything you say, no matter how unbiased it may seem to you, can send messages that can affect a user’s experience.
Conclusion
User testing is worth the investment and can be done in less time and with fewer resources than you probably imagine. While you can identify most UX/UI issues with as few as five users, it’s best to repeat design testing at least twice more to identify new issues and any uncover residual issues. And when comparing designs, you’ll need at least 20 users to get a believable confidence interval. But with a little systemization and practice, your products and services will achieve previously-unfathomable results for relatively little cost.
A company recently asked me to perform a “design challenge” as part of a job interview for an instructional design (ID) position. Initially, I thought the up-to-4-hour exercise was a fun idea and assumed it would be a good measure of what I would be asked to do for the position I was applying for. However, my experience was soured after investing hours of deeply creative thought into this hypothetical project and was never given the opportunity to showcase my work before being told the position had been filled. *Frustrated growling noises.*
Clearly, my issue was with a communication breakdown and not with the idea of offering ID job candidates design exercises. Nevertheless, the negative experience opened the door for me to question the validity of using design exercises to assess job fit. Coincidentally, that same week, I happened across an insightful article on this very issue—the underlying ethical issues of assigning design exercises in job interviews. It was written by a product designer named Faruk Ateş: Hiring a (product) designer? Don’t use design exercises! (5-minute read). While product design and instructional design are somewhat different fields, the principles addressed apply across the board.
Ateş’s Problem with Design Exercises
The purpose of my post is to review and evaluate Ateş’s article from an instructional design perspective.
The author summed up his concerns using the following metaphor:
In many ways, homework design exercises are like telling a carpenter: “Build a house. It must be beautiful and functional. We will be back in five hours to evaluate it, after which we’re going to discard your work.” That’s not an interview process, but a reality TV show competition, which is a terrible approach to evaluate designers to hire. It filters away the kind of candidates you really want, while retaining the ones who don’t challenge your assumptions and bad practices.
Article author, Faruk Ateş
Image by Faruk Ateş, Product Matters
In his article, Ateş specifically outlined three problems with asking designers to complete design exercises as part of the interview process:
Asking candidates to do spec work is unethical and exclusive
A designer doesn’t just execute orders; designers solve problems
A designer’s job is to ask questions; design exercises lack answers
Ateş then suggested three alternatives, which seem to be much better at assessing desired skills while mitigating many of the problems associated with design challenges (unethical, unpaid, time-intensive, inaccessibility of tools, robbed of ideas, etc.). In the following section, I will expound upon Ateş’s three alternatives (written in bold), while evaluating them from an instructional design perspective.
Three Alternatives to Design Exercises
Option 1: Actually collaborate with them. This feels like a one-day internship, and I love it. Essentially, the closer you can get your assessment activity to the real job task, the better you’ll be able to determine the candidate’s fit for the role. In this case, the ID can demonstrate their design process and skill by asking the appropriate questions at the appropriate time to the appropriate people—something that is impossible when engaged in a solo design exercise. Additionally, participating in a “mini sprint,” as it were, reveals a lot more about a candidate’s fit beyond their skill ability. The downside is that it would require a massive amount of time and preparation. Therefore, it’s only feasible if you have already narrowed the candidate pool down to one or two individuals. If resources permitted, one way to reduce people hours is to conduct the sprint online, splitting team members in to groups if necessary—one group per candidate. They would then work simultaneously on a real project and come up with separate deliverables. The candidates’ efforts would, of course, be compensated and require signed NDAs. This may be as short as 2-4 hours, or as long as 2-4 days. Even if the ID weren’t selected for the role, they knew they were finalists, they were compensated for their efforts, and gained valuable (while limited) experience within a new organization.
Option 2: Request an in-depth demo of a case study. Allow candidates to select a project/case study they’ve worked on and are able to showcase. This is an elegant, lo-fi solution for assessing design thinking. Unlike the first option, having candidates talk through work they have already done, which is much less time intensive—a plus for all involved. For this to be successful, however, it is critical that the interviewers are prepared to ask plenty of questions to uncover the skills and abilities desired in a new hire. Preparation will help the interviewers and the candidate speak more confidently. E.g., If time permits, consider giving these questions to the candidate beforehand. Give the candidate a day or so to decide upon a project. Then allow the interviewers a similar amount of time to look through the project and refine their questions. Here are some sample questions for instructional designers:
Technical questions
“Describe how you created this effect.”
“How did you create a studio lighting effect for that video?”
“How did you animate that avatar’s face so it looks like he is mouthing the audio?”
Design questions
“Which stakeholders were essential to have at the kickoff meeting?”
“Do you have a philosophy that drove the design of this project?”
“How did you come up with a prototype?”
“Describe how you ended up going with those activities for this eLearning module.”
“If you were to redo this project, what changes would you have made to the design?”
“What did you learn from this experience?”
“In hindsight, would you make any changes to the design?”
“Knowing what you know about our company, tell us how does your approach design fits our needs?”
Personality questions
“Why did you choose this project to showcase?”
“What excited you most about this project?”
“Is your ‘signature’ anywhere in the project process or final deliverable?”
“Were there any disagreements during the design process? How did those play out?”
“What frustrated you most about this project?”
Option 3: Offer design exercise freedom, such as a candidate’s own concept. While letting designers loose on a passion project does sidestep some of the ethical issues of traditional, assigned design exercises, it is still my least favorite option of the three. This is quite similar to option one, except that candidates now get to come up with their own, respective pet problems to solve. This may be a useful assessment for product designers whose job it is to build something from scratch. However, for an ID, it fails to clearly assess the candidate’s design process and skills. This is a bit meta, but perhaps if the candidate were asked to describe/illustrate their design process, it might offer some insight into the candidate’s ability. This a acceptable alternative when hiring managers can’t afford the massive amount of time required for option one.
Conclusion
Bottom line: Every organization will have distinct needs. Therefore, their assessments should address those distinct needs directly. Whatever assessment fits your organization’s needs—be it a design challenge alternative or something else—, base your assessment on the following principles: First define the requirements of the job in question along with the corresponding attributes candidates must have (your objective), THEN use backward design to tailor assessments and activities to identify those attributes.
As I child, I kept a small notebook of “million-dollar business ideas.” My inspiration could come from any source. For example, after receiving a must-anticipated visit from the ice cream man on a hot Summer day, I remember staring down at my popsicle-stained hands thinking, “Now what I am supposed to do? Go inside and wash?!” To prevent this apparently significant inconvenience, I decided to redesign wrappers for popsicles and ice cream cones to fold over the hand, protecting it from drips.
At some point during my early elementary school years, I tragically lost that little notebook along with my creative flame. Among other factors, I chiefly blame my traditional school system experience for my creative castration. Teachers and curricula trained me to obey and regurgitate, rather than reward exploration and original thought. The more I valued achievement, the more I dreaded failure. (See Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk, Do Schools Kill Creativity?) However, after finishing my undergraduate degree, I no longer felt beholden to the man, and I strove to rekindle my dormant creativity.
As a part of that journey, I read Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant. Among many other messages, it contained five ideas on how to foster creativity and originality in K-12 students. According to the author, Adam Grant, there is a difference between creative thinking and being original: “An original for me is someone who has lots of creative ideas, but goes beyond brainstorming and says, ‘I’m going to try and make those a reality.’ So, dreaming up a vision and taking initiative trying to improve the world around you.” In this post, I’ll explore how these principles can be applied to adults in the corporate world.
How Parents and Teachers Can Foster Originality in Children
1. Ask children what their role models would do. Children feel free to take initiative when they look at problems through the eyes of originals. Ask children what they would like to improve in their family or school. Then have them identify a real person or fictional character they admire for being unusually creative and inventive. What would that person do in this situation?
2. Link good behaviors to moral character. Many parents and teachers praise helpful actions, but children are more generous when they’re commended for being helpful people—it becomes part of their identity. If you see a child do something good, try saying, “You’re a good person because you ___.” Children are also more ethical when they’re asked to be moral people—they want to earn the identity. If you want a child to share a toy, instead of asking, “Will you share?” ask, “Will you be a sharer?”
[I should add, Grant’s suggestion has a hidden and harmful double-edge. Timothy Galloway, in this bestselling book The Inner Game of Tennis, warns that for every time instructors think to offer learners positive verbal reinforcement, the learner subsequently (and often silently) criticizes themselves multiple times over when they fail to meet that desired standard, convincing themselves that they are actually terrible tennis players. Likewise, when children’s behavior is intrinsically tied to their character, it opens the door for children to see the absence of perfection as evidence that they’re not good people.]
3. Explain how bad behaviors have consequences for others. When children misbehave, help them see how their actions hurt other people. “How do you think this made her feel?” As they consider the negative impact on others, children begin to feel empathy and guilt, which strengthens their motivation to right the wrong—and to avoid the action in the future.
4. Emphasize values over rules. Rules set limits that teach children to adopt a fixed view of the world. Values encourage children to internalize principles for themselves. When you talk about standards, like the parents of the Holocaust rescuers, describe why certain ideals matter to you and ask children why they’re important.
5. Create novel niches for children to pursue. Just as laterborns sought out more original niches when conventional ones were closed to them, there are ways to help children carve out niches. One of my favorite techniques is the Jigsaw Classroom: bring students together for a group project, and assign each of them a [distinct] part. For example, when writing a book report on Eleanor Roosevelt’s life, one student worked on her childhood, another on her teenage years, and a third on her role in the women’s movement. Research shows that this reduces prejudice—children learn to value each other’s distinctive strengths. It can also give them the space to consider original ideas instead of falling victim to groupthink. To further enhance the opportunity for novel thinking, ask children to consider a different frame of reference. How would Roosevelt’s childhood have been different if she grew up in China? What battles would she have chosen to fight there?”
My Ideas on How to Foster Originality in Adult Employees
The following five ideas are based on the same principles as the ideas for kids, quoted above. The only real difference is in their application.
Augment the ego. Many adults don’t consider themselves creative. When problem solving, it may seem silly, and yet it can be mentally liberating to imagine how some else, who is “truly creative,” would address the issue. This person could be a role model in real-life or a fictional character. The more details you know about them, the better. The more different they are from you, the better. E.g., If Samwise Gamgee (from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series) were in my shoes, how would he add value to this team project?
Provide employees an identity to live up to. People inherently want to be perceived as good, and they willing to earn that perception when they can. The job of the employer is to make it easy for employees to innovatively live up to that desired perception. One way to do this is to recognize positive behavior by tying employees’ consistent actions to specialized workplace titles. However, the key to fostering creativity is to reward employees who find inventive ways to exemplify workplace values, not just follow an established rubric. As I found as a university instructor, people will often go above and beyond established expectations when offered the flexibility to think creatively to come up with assignment solutions. Likewise, many companies have mission or vision statement touting the importance of their values, and yet few have systems in place to reward or reinforce them. My suggestion is to leverage this opportunity—but not in the typical way of giving employees a clear set of behaviors to follow. Instead, foster creativity by rewarding imaginative ways to embody those values.
Encourage a meritocracy of ideas. When an employees are solely focused on their own job role, they limit their potential contributions to overarching workflows. While some managers may be tasked with improving processes, even the smartest, most-experienced individuals are not smarter than the combined creativity of 200 different employees. I.e., If your goal is original thought, more brains are better than one. Encourage employees to think, “How could I tweak my workflow to make it easier for the team?” “How could this process I’m involved in be improved?” “Is there anything that stands out to me as inefficient or less effective?” Toyota’s commitment to kiazen (or the principle of continuous improvement) is an example of this idea. All employees, from assembly-line works to C-suite executives, are encouraged to submit ideas into a general box for process improvement. Good ideas are implemented and rewarded, encouraging a culture of speaking up and sharing ideas.
The hallmark of originality is rejecting the default and exploring whether a better option exists. I’ve spent more than a decade studying this, and it turns out to be far less difficult than I expected. The starting point is curiosity: pondering why the default exists in the first place. We’re driven to question defaults when we experience vuja de, the opposite of déjà vu. Déjà vu occurs when we encounter something new, but it feels as if we’ve seen it before. Vuja de is the reverse—we face something familiar, but we see it with a fresh perspective that enables us to gain new insights into old problems.
Adam M. Grant, Originals: How Nonconformists Move the World
Replace workplace rules with values. Rules are restrictive by definition. Values, on the other hand, allow for flexibility to improve processes and performance. A simplistic workplace application of this idea is to replace the common kitchen cleanliness rule “no dishes in the sink.” A rule like this would reward employees for finding loopholes like leaving dishes on the counter instead. However, workplaces could find greater success reinforcing a value like cleanliness or workplace consideration. You can still be direct regarding expected behaviors. Just be sure to tie behaviors to values. For example, a new sign might say, “Be kind; keep the kitchen clean for your neighbor.”
Another example, which includes adult principle #2, could be set at an AutoZone [car parts store]. Company executives or store managers could encourage employees who want to set themselves apart from their peers for a promotion to live up to the ideal of “store manager material.” Given a list of values desired in-store managers, employees would then find innovative ways to prove themselves over time. Demanding that employees follow a rigid rule like, “smile and wave at customers as they come and go” could be unfair for the stocking clerk who rarely gets an opportunity to welcome customers and when they do, their hands are often full of parts. Instead, a stocker could find ways to embody the value of friendliness by offering heartfelt compliments and well wishes to fellow employees, and when they do make it out to the front of the store (likely with their hands full), they could ask customers if they’ve would like some assistance. These efforts could be brainstormed and acknowledged during regular evaluations with the store manager.
Encourage/incentivize workplace diversity. Groupthink is the enemy of creative thought. And, unfortunately, that is exactly how we are trained to operate all throughout our formative years. Schools traditionally adopt an Industrial era teaching model, which prepares students to become assembly-line workers. After 12 years of daily practice, we become great at simply doing what we are told. However, this antiquated model does not foster creative thought. To break free from this model, businesses must actively re-educate employees to value diversity. For example, Bridgewater—an American investment firm run by Ray Dalio—promotes dissent by expecting employees to challenge common beliefs and operations. During training, when employees learn of the company’s investing principles, they’re constantly asked: Do you agree? Then they have to either operate by them or disagree with them and fight for better ones. “If you’re gonna make connections which are innovative,” Steve Jobs said back in 1982, “you have to not have the same bag of experience as everyone else does.”
How Can We Rediscover Our Creativity?
George Bernard Shaw once said, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
If you grew up like me, creativity was trained out of us from an early age labeling us as silly and troublemakers. We must proactively work to reclaim this childlike mentality if we are going to affect significant change in this world. Hopefully, this post has been a springboard for your own creative thought. But, as Grant argues in his book, thinking new thoughts is not enough. We must act if we are going to move beyond creativity and become originals.
How can you improve your own creativity in your work, in your home, and in other aspects of your life? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments.
If you want to wrap your head around Agile and its most-popular framework, SCRUM—but you only have 5 minutes—this is the infographic for you (Download PDF)!
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