Professional Development in Instructional Design

In the absence of growth, atrophy.

The world is constantly changing, and as a learning professional, your role is constantly shifting. To remain relevant and to have a positive impact in your profession, you must continually acquire and expand your knowledge and skills to improve yourself in your craft.

In this blog post, I will share some of my current thoughts on professional development in instructional design.

4 Strategies for Setting Professional Development Goals

1. Be clear about how you will impact peoples’ lives. If you have this clarity, then your next step often becomes more clear. I have articulated my professional purpose in this manner: “My professional purpose and mission is to discover and share knowledge that inspires, empowers, and equips others to succeed in their careers and lives.”
2. Envision your future self. What kind of a person do you want to be? What do you want to become?  Look at examples of people you want to be like and identify the traits you would like to develop. Who do you want to become in a year? In three years? Create a compelling vision of yourself and make it a reality!
3. Have career goals. Your career is going to happen, so you might as well be deliberate about what you want to happen within that career. What is the next position you would like to hold? What is the dream job you want to work toward? Work to align your career with how you want to impact peoples’ lives.
4. Create clear actions for reaching your goals. Be specific about the steps you will take – the skills you will develop, the people you will meet, and the knowledge you will gain. It is sometimes helpful to create a timeline for what you would like to happen, realizing that timelines and paths are fluid and ever-changing. Be sure to identify the most important step you must take and focus on that step.

Categories of Development in Instructional Design

There are 4 basic areas of professional development within the field of instructional design:

1. Process knowledge and skills. These include project management and workflow, and the result of these skills is increased efficiency, quality control, and empowerment of designers. What knowledge or skills would increase your efficiency or effectiveness in your design processes?
2. Technology knowledge and skills. These include technologies that deliver or enhance the learning experience, track design processes, evaluate learning, and manage the overall learning experience. What are your technological gaps as an instructional designer?
3. Theory. These include research and theory on how people learn (learning theory) and how to help them learn (instructional theory). There are many theories and models for learning that are pretty innovative, and improving and refining your understanding of how to help people learn is quite important. In addition, younger generations experience information and knowledge differently than perhaps older generations do, and understanding their experiences and expectations will also inform how you design. How might you deepen or refine your theoretical knowledge?
4. Self-improvement. You are the instrument through which all design takes place. You must make yourself the most effective “technology” possible. How could you improve and optimize your attitudes, beliefs and habits? How could you improve your health and mental sharpness? What could you do right now to make yourself a more balanced, well-rounded individual?

General vs. Specialized Development

I have a fairly high level of specialized knowledge in learning and instruction. I have been involved in teaching, learning and instructional design for nearly 20 years, now, including an MS degree, a PhD, several years of training and design experience, and years teaching ID to graduate students.  However, I have realized that I use a great deal of general knowledge and skills to make my work meaningful and useful. These general skills are not necessarily design-specific and might include communication, critical thinking, problem solving, and project management skills, among many others. Design skills are essential, but so are the general skills.

I will finish this discussion with two questions for your consideration:

1. What design-specific knowledge and skills (e.g. technologies, processes, theory, etc.) do you personally need to develop to make yourself more effective as an instructional designer?
2. What general knowledge and skills (e.g. communication skills, critical thinking, project management, political savvy, etc.) do you personally need to develop to make yourself a more effective professional?

The 7 Competencies of Self-Leadership

A few months ago, I jotted down some notes on what I think it means to take leadership over your own development, and here I flesh out some of those ideas. In the knowledge society, change occurs quickly. This means that you must be constantly learning, adapting, changing, and improving to succeed and thrive. And you must lead ourselves through the ambiguous, unclear paths ahead. 

Self-Leadership
I believe the following are critical components and competencies of self-leadership:

1. Set goals - you must know how to set meaningful, intrinsically motivating goals to work toward. 
2. Motivate yourself - You must learn to motivate yourself to accomplish your goals. 
3. Work toward goals - you must have a sense for how to work toward your goals effectively and efficiently. 
4. Evaluate and adjust - you must assess how well you are doing at reaching your goals and change your approach as needed.
5. Learn constantly - you must continually develop yourself. Your knowledge should be both broad (across several areas) and deep (expert in one area). Learn knowledge and skills that will help you reach your goals. 
6. Have fun - you must do work that you love and love your work. Learn how to enjoy your daily work.
7. Practice ethically - you must work ethically - be honest, carry your weight, and do your best to contribute to bring about goals (yours and others). 

These are, in my opinion, some of the most fundamental competencies for leading yourself in today's volatile, shifting society. Without each of these in place, it will be difficult to succeed and move forward in today's complex society.

Rate Yourself
How are you doing in these areas? Take a minute to rate yourself on each of these competencies. What are your strengths? What should you work on to improve? How could you develop yourself to improve on your weaknesses and maximize our strengths?

In the final analysis, you are the most important resource in your life. You must improve yourself.

How to Achieve Success and Happiness In Life

Many people go through life living far below their potential. It is amazing to me to see so many people fall short of who they might be. In contrast, we all know people that have achieved great success and joy in life. But what do successful people know and do that others do not? In this blog post, I will share the four fundamental skills for success and happiness. These are very general in nature, and they must be individually applied be an individual to be of full effect.

My Experience With These Principles
Over the last 15 years, I have devoted thousands of hours of study to the topics of learning, goal-setting, and personal success. I have attended dozens of workshops, seminars, and trainings, speeches and presentations. I have read scores of books, listened to hundreds of hours of audio books and programs, have earned four college degrees in various disciplines, and have spent many hours researching how people learn and change.

During these studies, I have also worked and volunteered in multiple organizations, states, and countries. I have worked to apply the principles of success and happiness in my life, and I have concluded that there are a few very fundamental skills for achieving success, happiness, and fulfillment in life. In this post, I will describe what I believe these skills are and will give some strategies for developing these skills.

You Can Change
Before I share these skills and abilities, I want to discuss the most fundamental truth of success and happiness: you can change. You are endowed by your creator with the capacity to change, adapt, improve and grow. Every human being has the capacity to change habits, to gain knowledge, to live with purpose, and to grow toward the good and the pure.

Some subscribe to false ideas of predestination or determinism, believing that their choices have already been made for them. Others adhere to behaviorism, believing that our environment directs our behavior, and we only live in passive response to external stimuli. I fully reject these notions and state emphatically that every human being has the power to change their life and circumstances through exertion of thought and action. YOU CAN CHANGE. You can find direction in your life. You can grow. You can develop habits and take actions of your own free will and choice. You are not fully controlled by unseen powers or the environment you live in - you have GREAT power to live outside these influences and move toward excellence.

The Four Fundamental Skills for Success and Happiness 
Here are what I currently believe to be the most fundamental skills for success and happiness. I'll outline them here and then describe them in detail below.

1. Live with Purpose and Passion
2. Believe in Yourself
3. Develop Habits for Success
4. Keep Learning and Think Smart

Read Only if You Are Serious About Creating Change
I must be candid - it will take effort to achieve success and happiness in life. You must apply yourself and work toward your goals. And it can take a long time to make the changes you want to see in yourself.  However, if you begin down the path to your desired achievements, then you will eventually reach it. I can promise through my own personal experience that if you seriously study and apply these principles, you will find rich rewards, and the reward is always worth the required effort.

One of the most important ways you can start to build these fundamental skills is through learning. I strongly urge you to undertake a serious study of the principles of success and happiness. If you are willing to spend time reading the books and listening to the audio programs below, I can promise that you will begin to see success in these areas. I will discuss each of these fundamental skills for success and happiness in detail below, including resources for learning more.

1. Live With Purpose and Passion.
The most foundational skill for success and happiness is the ability to to find a sense of purpose in life. What are you passionate about? What do you love to think about and do? How are you uniquely positioned to make a positive impact on the world and on the people around you? Answering these questions can help you identify and move toward your purpose. For some people this can be difficult, but you must "begin with the end in mind" (Stephen Covey).

You must set goals that will help you achieve your purpose, specific objectives that will move you toward success. If you can discover your purpose and develop goals that will help you achieve that purpose, you will be among the empowered few who have a mission in life, a vision of how they can change the world. I believe that having purpose and goals will move you forward in life faster than any other thing.

Your task is to discover your purpose and set goals that will help you achieve it. I recommend that you study seriously these principles. It will take time to develop a deep knowledge and skill in these principles, but the following books, audio programs, and links can help you do this.

Books on Goal Setting and Purpose:
7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey
How to Get What You Want (audio) - Zig Ziglar
Goals - How to Get Everything You Want - Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible - Brian Tracy
Happy for No Reason (book) Marci Shimoff

My Own Blog Posts on Goal Setting and Purpose:
A Challenge to the Slacker: Live Your Potential
How to Become an Expert at Anything
To Reach Career Goals, Be Deliberate
To Reach Your Goals, Avoid Distractions
How to Set and Reach Career Goals
Setting Professional Goals

2. Believe in Yourself.
The famous quote states, "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." What you believe about yourself and about life directs how you behave in life. If you believe that you are unlucky, then you will behave like an unlucky person, constantly expecting bad things to happen to you. If you believe that you are not worthy of finding a companion, then your internal and external actions will likely fulfill that belief. What you believe about life and yourself becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, directly influencing and predicting the results you get in life.

Your task is to develop a deep reservoir of empowering, positive, true thoughts about yourself and life. You must flood your mind with positive, empowering beliefs, ideas and thoughts. These beliefs will act as the fuel of success, propelling you toward the fulfillment of your dreams. The resources below will get you started on doing this.

Books for Improving Your Beliefs:
Awaken the Giant Within (audio) - Anthony Robbins
Unleash the Power Within (audio) - Anthony Robbins
Happy for No Reason (book) - Marci Shimoff
A Healthy Dose of Motivation (audio) - Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
The Psychology of Achievement - Brian Tracy

My Own Blog Posts on Improving Your Beliefs:
Using the Power of Positive Affirmations

Using Your Thoughts to Create Personal Power
The Analogy of the Fleas: Self Beliefs, Learning and Success
Creating Results in Life

3. Develop Habits for Success.
Successful people develop habits that help them fulfill their goals and purpose. It is true that most of what we do each day is a result of our habitual behavior, so you must develop habits that will aid you in achieving your goals. You must also eliminate those habits which are unhealthy and which do not help you achieve your worthy goals and desires. 

To put it clearly, successful people have discovered (a) what positive habits are, (b) how they can change or eliminate old habits and (c) how they can adopt the new positive habits. If you would like to begin to identify and cultivate positive, empowering habits, begin with the resources below. These resources will give you an excellent foundation for changing your behavior for the better.

Books on Habit Development:
7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey
The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg
The Now Habit at Work - Neil Fiore

My Own Blog Posts on Habits of Success:
7 Fundamental Skills for Success
The Power of Habit (a book review and reflection)
Book Review - Instant Influence
The Importance of Humility

4. Keep Learning and Think Smart.
The world is increasingly complex, and the rate of knowledge creation is constantly expanding and changing. I attended a workshop the other day in which the speaker (a medical doctor) stated that 50% of the medical knowledge learned in medical school is obsolete before the individual graduates. The same is true in other fields, and to be successful in life, you must continuously learn and improve your knowledge so that you can maintain and improve your relevance and your ability to contribute meaningfully.

Not only must you continue learning, but you must develop and expand your capacity to use that information effectively. We live in a constant flood of information, so we must develop the ability to draw conclusions and make decisions that are effective and will bring the outcomes we desire. The resources below will give you a great start on effective thinking and decision-making.

Books on Thinking and Learning:

Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - Malcolm Gladwell

My Blog Posts on Thinking and Learning
How to Become a Successful Lifelong Learner
The Tendency to Jump to Conclusions
Become an Active Learning: Here's How!
Skills for Success in the Knowledge Society
6 Principles for Using Data to Make Decisions
Effective Strategies for Making Decisions
Leadership and Effective Decision Making

A Note on Spirituality and Success
I would like to emphasize that I believe in God and believe that He wishes the very best for each of us.  I believe that He has given us the power to choose good in our lives, and my personal belief is that exercising the habits described above can also be used to bring us closer to God. I have found that a more spiritually-focused life will build a deep foundation of happiness. There are books that can bring a deeper layer of happiness in life, and I have personally gained a great deal of spiritual strength from reading the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon. I also gain a great deal of insight and strength in speaking with my friends of other faiths.

What Will You Do?
So, what will you do? Are you willing to take the challenge and begin to develop these skills and habits in your life? Are you willing to take the journey to higher levels of happiness and success? I know through my own experience that gaining and applying these skills has helped me to grow in my life, and I hope to continue to increase my knowledge and skill in these areas. Are you willing to change?

A 30 Day Challenge
Here is my challenge to those who are willing to work toward success and happiness. I challenge you to do the following for the next 30 days:

• Read two of the books from the resources described above.
• Listen to two of the audio programs described above. (I check them out from the library).
• Apply at least two of the strategies I discuss in the linked blog posts.

If you are willing to do these things, you will almost certainly find yourself in a state of increased happiness. You will also find yourself beginning to see the path forward to the accomplishment of your own goals and desires. So, will you do it?

How to Become an Expert at Anything

There are lots of experts out there. From brain surgeons to master carpenters, experts have highly refined, authoritative knowledge and skill in a given area. But how did these experts become experts? And perhaps more importantly, how can you become an expert? In this post, I will describe how you can very quickly become an expert at anything.

What Does It Mean To Be An Expert?
When you are an expert, you have authoritative knowledge and skills in a given area. This knowledge and skill often comes from extensive experience and education in that specific area. Expertise is usually refined and focused in a given field, though some people can become genuinely expert in multiple fields.

Related Article: How to Achieve Success in Life

How To Become an Expert
In this post, I will share some of the fastest ways you can become an expert in any area. You may be surprised at how easy it is to start gaining vast amounts of knowledge and skill. It can sometimes seem overwhelming, but all you have to do is just start learning and building experience and you will already be moving closer to becoming an expert.

If you want to become become an expert at something, here are the best strategies:

1. Set your goal.  
1. What do you want to be expert at? Before you can really become an expert, you must clearly articulate what you want to be expert at. Do you want to be an expert teacher or writer? Do you want to develop expertise in sewing or organ playing? Perhaps you want to become a motivational speaker? Be totally clear about what expertise you want to gain. 
2. Why do you want to become an expert? Do you want to make a while bunch of money? Do you want to use the expertise to benefit others? Are you planning on giving a presentation on the topic, or do you plan on starting a small business in the area? Whatever your reason, it must be compelling or you may not have the drive to sustain the effort required. 
3. What are the milestones? Sometimes you must achieve certifications or degrees of some kind to gain the expertise that you are working toward. If you want to be a doctor, you must earn several degrees, do a residency, and pass many exams. Be sure to find out what milestones are required and make them a part of your plan.
2. Find a model. Whatever your goal is, someone else has probably already done something similar to what you are working to do. This approach will move you toward your goal very quickly. Find someone that you can model your work after and do the following:
1. Use them for advice. Ask them questions whenever you need additional help or support.
2. Watch them! See how they do their work. Volunteer to work with them for free if you need to, just do what you can to spend time with them and learn by observation.
3. Mimic them. Use the same patterns of action, speech, body gestures, and attitude that your model uses. Adopt their strategies until you make them your own and can adapt them to your own style. 
3. Start learning! Find books, videos, movies, and CDs on the subject you want to learn about and simply start learning. Personally, I became very interested in how people learn and how to help them learn. Early on I started taking classes on communication, training design, presentation skills. I checked out and bought books on training and training design. Eventually I earned an MS degree and a PhD in Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences. But I have not stopped learning - I continually build my knowledge through consistent study. Here are some ways you can start learning:
1.  Read. Libraries are incredible resources of knowledge. I check out a couple of audio books a week and am continually listening to books that will expand my knowledge and give me greater expertise.
2. Online groups and communities. There are many communities online that can provide you with support in your learning. Join LinkedIn groups, discussion groups, and listservs to read about what people are talking about in the field and to ask questions. Get involved with the community.
3. Ask people. If you have a burning question about your chosen field, ask! There are many people out there that will be willing and happy to share their knowledge.
4. Take local community classes. There are all kinds of community classes out there - from cooking to technology you can build your expertise and really extend your practical knowledge and skills.
5. Google. Just start searching and you will likely be surprised at what you can find. I have a friend in an MBA program who wanted to learn about microeconomics and wasn't getting his professor's explanations. He eventually searched out and found a series of excellent YouTube videos that taught the materials very clearly and helped him become more expert.
6. Get a formal education. Very few things can give you expertise like going to college or university. You can start by taking a course or two. Earn a degree. If you want to become an expert at finances or educational design, start taking classes. Start working toward gaining more formal knowledge.
4. Start doing. Begin doing whatever it is that you want to learn about. If you want to learn how to build a log cabin, start by building a deck or a shed. Or perhaps just start building the cabin! The point is to start doing what you want to learn about so that you can learn from your mistakes and keep improving.
5. Keep moving forward. As long as you keep moving toward your goal, you will eventually reach it! Just keep building your knowledge one day at a time, and in time you will have greater expertise than you ever imagined possible.

So, what do you want to become an expert at?

A Challenge to the Slacker: Live Your Potential

I am often amazed and saddened by the number of people that go through life living far beneath their God-given potential. I have learned through many years working with students and coworkers that everyone has the ability to achieve incredible success in their own lives and profoundly impact the people around them. And yet so rarely do people achieve what is within their potential.

In fact, I sometimes get tired of seeing people floating through life, consuming without contributing, failing to see and do the many incredible things that are available. What wasted potential! What a sad thing to watch people of such potential wallowing in their own apathy, falling short of their incredible potential to live a full life and share their rich blessings with the people around them.

What do You Want?
I write this blog post as a sort of challenge to everyone that reads it. What do you want out of life? Is there something that you wish you could do, something that you've wanted to achieve in life but haven't yet done it? Is there something you would like to see, some place you would like to go? What do you want out of life? How do you want to bless and help the people around you? How can you more fully fulfill your own destiny and divinity? When you die, how do you want to be remembered by the people you love?

I am sure that you do have answers to these questions, I believe everyone does. Everyone has the desire for something better. If you do want something different in your life, keep reading. However, if you don't want to accept these challenges, don't waste your time by reading the questions below.

What it Takes to Set and Reach Goals

• Figure out what you want! Discover what you really want to change in your life. Read and answer the questions at the beginning of this post. Think deeply and seriously about where you want your life to head so that you find true clarity on what you really want in life.
• Do it. If you want something meaningful in life, then go for it. Do what it takes to make it happen. Don't spend your entire life thinking about it, worrying about it, and discussing how things aren't quite ideal for you to be able to do it. Get out there and start doing!
• Focus. Minimize and eliminate distractions from your life. Cleanse yourself of mindless television and internet surfing. Consistently increase activities that contribute to personal growth, health, learning, and success. Be sure that you do not get distracted by what you can't do in your own circumstances. Focus on what you can do and do it!
• Plan. Figure out exactly what you need to do to reach your goal. Research what it takes. Talk to people who have done it. Figure out what you need to do. If you can't figure out all of the steps right now, that is totally fine. Just do what you know you can do right now. If you step toward the thing which you desire, you will find yourself closer with the pathway clearer.
• Learn. To succeed, you must fill your mind with positive, true knowledge. If you want to change who you are, you have to drastically change what you allow others to teach you about life. You must acquire and trust knowledge that gives you personal power. Read scripture to heighten your understanding of your divine nature. Listen constantly to motivational speeches and talks to build confidence in yourself and in your abilities. You must flood your mind with good, pure, motivating, useful knowledge so that you have the power to sustain success. And you must eliminate that which lowers your view of yourself and your destiny.
• Get used to discomfort. Working toward new goals and dreams is difficult because it takes you out of your routine. Humans naturally like things to be comfortable and even predictable. Human beings like safety. But if you want to change and improve your life, you have to become friends with the pain of learning, action, and setbacks. After a time, however, you will learn to enjoy these difficulties as personal challenges and will welcome them as a way to improve yourself.
• Get help. If you do not have the knowledge, skills, or resources you need to reach your goals, get help from the people around you. Your spouse, friends, children, clergy members, teachers, managers, and even strangers are very often willing to give you support and guidance in your goals. Seek out the people who will teach you everything you need to do be successful.
• Persist. Keep working toward your goal. If you do not give up, then you cannot fail at reaching your goal. Think about it - as long as you continue to move forward toward your goals, you will succeed! I have seen many of my students overcome incredible obstacles to complete their studies because they kept moving forward and reached their goals. Be persistent - get back up when you fall down. Learn from your mistakes and adjust your approach. Just keep moving toward your ideal life and you will quickly find yourself living it.
• Find joy in the struggle. Working toward a goal is often as satisfying as reaching the goal. Training to run a race can be as exhilarating and beautiful as running the race. Learning so that you can pass as class or earn a degree can be as enriching as earning the degree. Consciously and consistently placing yourself on the path to success is success itself, so learn to love the process and path of success.
• Celebrate success. Set short-term goals for yourself and when you reach them, rejoice! If you run 3 miles for the first time, celebrate! If you complete a difficult course, or lose X number of pounds, celebrate! You are moving along the path to a more fulfilling, successful life.

So, what are you going to do? If you are not satisfied with your life, will you get up and begin to shape and create the life you desire? Or will you continue to meander through life living below your potential for happiness and success? Are you willing to accept the responsibility to make the changes you wish to see in your life? Are you willing to sacrifice the comfort of the apathetic slacker? It is never too early or late to learn, grow, change and achieve.

Are you willing to pay the price?

To Reach Career Goals, Be Deliberate

I thought I would share some ideas from a recent conversation I had one of my former (now graduated) students from the IDPT Program. We were discussing approaches for working toward career goals and career aspirations, and this student was seeking general advice on how to approach their own career goal setting. In this post, I'll give a summary of the ideas that I shared with this student. I should point out that there are clearly many other important pieces, including interviewing, applying, networking, but my focus here is on preparing and qualifying for the positions you desire.

I want to note that I have applied these strategies in my own career and have been very pleased with the success I have had. It has been a difficult process filled with a great deal of hard work and sacrifice, but I am now enjoying many of the blessings that come from that hard work, and I am excited to keep moving forward in my career.

How to Reach Your Goals: Be Deliberate
The most successful people in the world are successful on purpose. They are deliberate about where they want to go and work hard to get there. In instructional design, we use systematic processes like ADDIE to deliberately ensure that we are being systematic and thoughtful in our approach. You can use this same approach to design your career:

• Analysis - Look at several positions that are similar to your ideal job and analyze them to see what the job requirements are. Identify what education, credentials, knowledge and skills, and previous positions are required. Then compare the requirements with your own current capacities and credential so that you can identify your gaps- where you fall short in the requirements.
• Design/Develop – Plan out exactly how you can start working on filling the gaps so that you are qualified. Depending on the position you are working toward, you may need to work in different prerequisite positions before you are qualified to work in your ideal position. This means that you will need to map out a progression that makes sense and helps you build your qualifications. At the same time, be sure that you keep learning and growing and credentialing yourself. The more you can demonstrate that you have the required  knowledge and skills, the better.
• Formative Evaluation – talk with several professionals to get their feedback on your plan. Be sure to interview or follow others who have done what you want to do - they will be able to give you pointers on where you can go and what to do.
• Implement – Do it. Start moving down the path. Keep doing things that will prepare you. You should be sure to work hard so that you can be fully prepared and qualified to take the position you desire.
• Evaluation – Identify what is working and want isn’t. Keep trying new things and stick to the things that are working. 

The most important thing is to keep moving forward – we all get into that phase of life where it seems like things are not going the way we planned. But if you keep working and moving toward our goals and dreams, you will eventually arrive.

Remember, if you want to be successful, you will need to do it on purpose. Work toward your dreams in a purposeful, determined manner, and you will be surprised at the rapid transformation that comes into your life.

Related Post: Creating Results in Life

I hope this approach is helpful to you. I have used this process in my own career and have been thoroughly surprised at some of the things I have accomplished in a short period of time. Best of luck!