For decades, Bisk has been one of the country’s preeminent providers of online program management, creating educational products alongside some of academia’s most acclaimed universities. These products have helped improve the lives of students all over the world.
But recently, we have evolved our approach. We’ve expanded the types of collaborators we partner with and the types of solutions we offer. Our university partnerships are still the foundation of everything we do but in 2021, we took a huge step outside of the academic space and partnered with top corporations in the restaurant industry, the RV industry and others.
Our product offerings changed to fit the needs of these new partners — we started creating gamified simulations, cloud-based learning experiences, simulative scenario-based training and more. It was a significant shift in thinking for our Learning Experience Design (LXD) department. The transition was guided by four key pillars. These were the cornerstones of our strategy and while they’re not easy, they are certainly replicable for others who are looking to grow their product portfolio in a more dynamic direction.
- Hire Remarkable People.
Bisk LXD consists of forty+ instructional designers, graphic artists, developers, technologists and more — all who have hundreds of successful projects and dozens of industry awards to their names.
They’re diverse in their background, skillsets and experience but all of them bring superlative skills and problem-solving ability to their positions. So, what’s the unifying factor? What makes these people remarkable?
Hint: it’s not their creativity or their knowhow (although both of those attributes are important).
How do you find remarkable people?
It’s about curiosity.
When you’re vetting candidates, the most important attribute (unsurprisingly) is functional competency — can the candidates do the job? But once they’ve met the competence threshold, look for signs of a curious mind.
Is their portfolio full of ambitious and experimental ideas? Do they describe past failures as “learning experiences?” Do they draw inspiration from diverse sources? Are they eager for feedback — both positive and negative?
Curiosity is the secret sauce. Someone who’s inquisitive about their craft is always eager to learn and improve. And if they’re not remarkable yet, they will be — with the right support.
- Invest in the Right Tools.
Over the years, LXD has invested heavily in its departmental infrastructure. We wanted a workspace and a toolset that emphasized originality, resourcefulness and innovation — and we collaborated directly with our team members to realize those goals.
Our department provides employees with a dynamic and open office space, a full-service audio and video studio, the latest in graphic design and video editing software, innovative development tools and more. And we’re constantly evaluating new methods and mechanisms to improve our projects and help our people grow.
Which tools are the right tools?
Remarkable people can’t be successful if they don’t feel supported, so you’ll want to invest in infrastructure that empowers your teammates to do their best work. But at the same time, you don’t want to blow next month’s payroll on new laptops if they’re not necessary.
So, the “right” tool is somewhere at the intersection of…
- Affordability
- Accessibility
- Practicality
It must fit your budget. Your team must understand how to use it. And it must meaningfully improve their relationships to their work (e.g., work gets done faster, or better, or cheaper, or, ideally, all the above).
What’s the easiest way to hit this target? Simple. Have conversations with your teammates. Listen to them describe points of friction, frustration or aspiration. And, if the budget supports it, ask for their recommendation on new tools and infrastructure.
- Cultivate an Empowering Atmosphere.
Remarkable people — who are equipped with the right tools — will always create meaningful outcomes… if they’re in the right environment.
That’s why culture and atmosphere are two of LXD’s top priorities. We’ve cultivated a culture of boldness and experimentation, where innovative ideas and innovative people are challenged, refined and reforged to maximize their potential.
How do you cultivate an empowering atmosphere?
Empowerment is built on a foundation of opportunity. You’ve got to give your teammates a chance to stretch, grow, fail and learn.
Here’s an example:
In late 2021, every LXD employee — regardless of role or position — was given the opportunity to design of his or her own full-length interactive course. Technologists, multimedia specialists, project administrators and instructional design interns had total creative autonomy over these projects. With the support and mentorship of senior-level employees, they designed twenty new products.
There were false starts. Missteps. Rework. But these opportunities helped empower the department and they reinforced one of our foundational principles: when you work in LXD, your voice and creativity matter.
- Encourage Empathy Toward Your Client Partners.
Fulfilling partnerships has been the foundation of LXD’s work for years. We’ve iterated, honed and sharpened our collaborations with university partners, and we usually know the best and most efficient way to address their needs.
But as we’ve branched out into the corporate training world, many of our foundational models and frameworks don’t hold up as well as they used to. Clients present us with unfamiliar problems. Unique requests. Atypical situations. And in response, we’ve had to be more flexible and openminded.
In short, every member of LXD has had to become a consultant — a role that’s predicated on empathy.
How do you encourage empathetic consultation?
This one is tricky.
You’ve hired a legion of curious overachievers. You’ve given them the tools and the environment necessary to create amazing and dynamic products. You’ve empowered them to pursue that curiosity and challenge themselves. But now you need to rein in their ambition and convince them to focus that creative energy. Why? Because building the biggest, shiniest, most intricate solutions isn’t always the best approach.
Instead, coach your team to listen to your clients. Encourage them to ask good questions, reserve their judgment and channel their curiosity into finding the best solution for a client — instead of the biggest or the flashiest.
It takes work, and for many creative and ambitious people, this approach feels counterintuitive. But it has led LXD to the most dynamic product portfolio (and some of the most meaningful client relationships) it has ever had.
If you’d like to learn more about what we do or how we do it, head here for more information.
