Mar 14 2022

Screening for Extraneous Details and Sorting the Necessary Details

Last week someone on LinkedIn made a comment and asked whether or not some Seductive Details were necessary – as – “shouldn’t necessary Instructional Content be seductive?”

Good point.

I replied that I typically used the word Extraneous to describe the unnecessary details that an SME/Expert might give a Developer – as they dump everything that they know thinking that’s what everyone else needs to know – in order to be able to do.

They dump, for they know not what is needed or not – and when – in the Learning Curve of a Novice Performer.

Experts have automated way too much (up to 70%) and haven’t thought about it for a long time, if ever.

We ask – they give.

So We Work at Sorting Wheat from Chaff

I use a Performance Model to generate the Enabling Knowledge and Skills during Analysis with a team of experts, Master Performers, and Other Subject Matter Experts. Those experts generated the Performance Model as a team – and so they are clear about Doing before Knowing. Sneaky Trick #7.

And then in Design – when it’s likely that even more details might come out from my Design Team – I asked all to screen as to the Necessary versus the Extraneous.

And once we’ve screened the Chaff – the Extraneous – we need to then sort and sequence the Necessary – in a logical progression, in a logical Instructional Flow. For that, I use the Lesson Map.

I created the Lesson Map back in 1990 for a client project when my client wanted me to facilitate some of their tough customers, who were already complaining about the Instruction that hadn’t been developed yet, using my Facilitated Group Process that they had witnessed in 2 Curriculum Architecture Design efforts (which I am now going to call Instructional Architecture).

First, we did a Performance Model and then derived the Enabling Knowledge/Skills.

Then we Mapped the Lessons using both sets of data.

I’ve used this many times in consulting engagements and have trained hundreds of others in both my Analysis and Design methods.

When you get into Development – it’s the same thing – the sources have all sort of details that must be processed – out or in – and if in, where, and when.

The Lesson Mapping exercise guides those where and when and the Performance Model guides if needed at all.

I’ve done videos and written about these Instructional processes.