I forget what the other terms were so until I remember I’m going to take off and discuss a related topic … so there! If you won’t suggest topics you get to put up with my eccentricities.

One of the ways that learning content (or more correctly the tactics of delivery) can be classified is by the direction and nature of the communications.

For example, an event’s communications can be either:

1. one way (facilitator to student)
2. both ways (facilitator to student to facilitator)
3. Exploratory (facilitator starts discussion and keeps discussion going)
4. Practice (facilitator starts, students discuss in small teams, students report to all, discussion with all)

One typical terminology for this is:

1. Lecture
2. Seminar
3. Tutorial
4. Workshop

A lecture is what we traditionally think of when we think of teaching. One person stands at the front of a group and spouts their knowledge.

A seminar is closer to the Socratic ideal of mutual exploration. It is characterized by feedback and development of the information by the “student”. However, it is still very much a case of the facilitator dispensing information out to the student. In fact, there is a saying that until someone asks a question, a seminar is just a lecture.

A tutorial on the other hand is the Socratic method. By this point the information should have already been disseminated. Although the facilitator may spark discussion by repeating the information the focus is on the group expanding and questioning the information.

A workshop is a practice session.  The facilitator may start the process but the process occurs primarily inside the student. Break out sessions are a great example of this tactic.  In this tactic, students break apart for the practice then return to discuss and explore the results. The individual versions of this may include homework or software practice which may be discussed, may be self-evident or may be self-evaluated.

Now I have no idea why all this is important … but it seems to be and I’m short of something to talk about. So Friday, I’ll continue the discussion by looking at training media and it’s relationship to these tactics.

Tags: Creating Information Products, development, facilitator, homework, learning, lecture seminar, mutual exploration, practice session, process, s communications, Seminar, socratic method, tactic, training, Tutorial, Workshop

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Okay, so Friday I promised a short series on how to select the type of information products … or more correctly the format. On Monday I was bad and posted a video from Will Smith that I thought you might find interesting. My bad! Me Busy! Me Lazy! But I really did think it was interesting. And given its subject that’s saying something.

So what’s the point of this — besides a backhanded apology.

The point is that that blog entry was as much an information product as the book I spent 2 weeks working on (24 hours writing, the rest publishing). It just cost a LOT less to get out.

So how do you decide what form your information product should take? I mean besides “I need this in fifteen minutes and I have no clue what to write. I guess I better rip something off YouTube!”.

Now before I start lets get something straight. The boundaries. Information products is really a large group of products formats. “How to”s, which we call Learning Content, alone can take seven (or more) physical formats. And Learning Content is only one type of information product. Software is also an information product. Web services (e.g. article posting tools, web design tools) are also information products. So are databases.

However, software, services, and databases are – for most of us – beyond our skills and capability.  Most of us produce information products in the form of  learning content.

So I’m going to restrict this conversation to traditional learning content (LearningCreators.com, and LearningCreators.ca remember?) and exclude software, services and other types of stuff.

There are 6 questions you need to answer when deciding what form your information product needs to take:

1. What forms am I capable of doing?
2. What forms am I most comfortable with?
3. How much will this content cost (in time or money)?
4. Can I create multiple forms from one?
5. How important is this to my reputation?
6. How much will customers pay for (value) this form

Those questions basically bring out three characteristics of each of the formats:

1. The cost of the format (Questions 1 through 4).
2. The reputation value
3. The dollar value

Over the next few posts in this series we’ll address these questions and characteristics.

In the next post we’ll look at the various formats of information product that are possible.

Tags: apology, blog, blog entry, book, boundaries, capability, clue, conversation, cost, Creating, Creating Information Products, Creating Information Products, databases, design, dollar, fifteen minutes, group, information, information product, information products, large group, learning, LearningCreators, money, product software, product web, Publishing, reputation, software services, tools web, value, web design tools, will smith, Youtube

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It was James M Barrie through his character Peter Pan that said “I’ll never grow up”. (Well, actually I believe it was Disney that first paraphrased him).

But there comes a time when everyone needs to grow up. And a time when everyone needs to not grow up!

From an entrepreneur’s viewpoint growing up is a two edged sword. Well, make that a triple-edged sword!

An entrepreneur must grow up enough to recognize and accept his own mistakes. After all, risk is the name of the game being played. And sometimes the other half of the risk game (impact) is in the negative when the risk bill needs to be paid.

There are two parts to the risk equation. Unfortunately, most people don’t understand the equation. An entrepreneur must understand the equation because he’s going to be playing the risk game.

What’s the equation? Risk times impact equals exposure. In every day English, risk is this bad, bad thing. We expose ourselves to risk. We’re caught by risk. He risked everything!

But risk really only means a probability not equal to one.  In short, if it isn’t certain, it’s a risk.  Good, bad, doesn’t matter. (Webster’s defines it wrong btw it has a very precise mathematical/probabilistic meaning). The good or bad is part of the risk impact (which can be good or bad). So winning the lottery has a risk associated with it (about the same as being hit by lightning) plus a good impact. So it has a net good exposure … if nearing zero can be called good! Until you buy the ticket … then it has a bad net exposure. Why? The cost of the ticket is usually higher than the exposure.

The point is that if you are going to play the game, you better grow up quick and realize you aren’t going to win all the time! That’s the other half of the game, you see. Sometimes when the impact is good (or even great) the risk just doesn’t come through. And sometimes, when the impact is bad it does. The key is to learn how to manipulate the risk so that it happens more often when the impact is good and less often when the impact is bad.

And that just because you’ve failed doesn’t mean that you did it wrong, or you’re wrong or anything else. It just means you weren’t lucky this time.

Of course, you also need to learn from what you’ve done. Which takes maturity.

The other cutting edge is emotional maturity. Learning to accept others’ failings. Learning to accept your own failings. In short, growing up emotionally.

The final cutting edge is the back edge.

Learning to NOT grow up.

Keeping that sense of wonder that opens your mind to new experiences.

Keeping that sense of exploration that what happens if … that opens your mind to constant learning.

Keeping that sense of fun, that is its own reward.

It’s this last blade that is the true cutting edge of entrepreneurial thought. The edge that cuts through the calcification that seeks to stratify those who do not understand the true entrepreneurial spirit.

Tags: Building an eBiz, business, entrepreneur, learning, nearing zero, Peter Pan, probability, risk game, triple edged sword, winning the lottery

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