For 15 years I’ve taught trainers and leaders and instructional designers the importance of making any learning event more fun. I’ve given them reasons and ways to do it. I’ve written about it many times including
All of the things I have taught and techniques I have used are valuable and helpful.
And they aren’t enough.
The training techniques and ideas all focus on the learning process. And while the process is important; when we focus too closely on a process we can lose sight of the result.
It is like when you tell someone their form is wrong and ignore that they still out bowl you by 30 pins. Or when you tell someone they hold the pen wrong when they write, but they still have pretty handwriting. Or they seem to do something in an unconventional but successful way.
In all of these cases, the focus on process keeps our sight away from the desired result.
So it is with fun and learning.
Will our learning be deeper and more lasting (as well as more enjoyable) if we do things to make the process fun? Of course.
But as I already said, that isn’t enough.
If the person leading the training doesn’t understand why those techniques work, or believe that they will work, they will just be “using techniques” and it will feel just like that to both the teacher and the student. It will be like putting a band-aid over a wound far too big – helpful perhaps, but not really a solution.
So what is the deeper connection?
The Deeper Connection Between Fun and Learning
It is simple. The result of learning is: