The Question That Changed Everything I Knew About Learning
We don't need more content. We need more relevance.
Years ago I started every single learning project the same way.
“What are the learning objectives?”
It felt like the obvious place to begin.
Define the outcomes. Build the content. Design the activities. Deliver the training. Measure completion.
Instructional design 101.
And for a long time, I thought that was enough.
Then something shifted.
I started spending real time with the people I was designing for.
Not reviewing surveys after the fact.
Not reading dashboard summaries someone else built.
Actually sitting with them.
Watching them work.
Listening to where they hesitated.
Asking why seemingly simple processes fell apart in real life.
What I found stopped me cold.
People weren’t struggling because they lacked information.
They were struggling because the information didn’t feel relevant in the moment they actually needed it.
That’s a completely different problem.
And it requires a completely different solution.
Here’s what I’ve learned about how adults actually learn:
Adults don’t learn because content is good.
They learn because something matters to them right now.
Because they recognize themselves in the problem.
Because they believe today’s lesson will make tomorrow less painful.
They don’t wake up wanting more information.
They want fewer mistakes.
Better conversations.
More confidence in the room when it counts.
Less friction on the things that drain them daily.
Learning becomes powerful when it solves those problems.
Not when it helps us complete a curriculum.
So today I spend far less time asking:
“What should we teach?”
And much more time asking:
“What decision is this person trying to make?”
That one shift changed everything I build.
A framework to use before your next session
Before your next workshop, course, presentation, or team meeting; ask yourself three questions:
Is it relevant?
Why should someone care about this today, not someday?
Is it realistic?
Will they actually face this situation at work this week?
Is it repeatable?
Will they have another chance to practice before it fades?
If you can’t answer all three with confidence…
The problem isn’t the learner.
It’s the design.
Capability isn’t built by delivering more information.
It’s built by making better decisions feel easier to reach.
That’s the whole difference.
Next, I’m sharing one lesson I learned after conducting more than 200 interviews with frontline employees.
It’s the moment UX research completely changed how I think about leadership development.
And it changed how I design everything.
See you soon.
— Ali🧡