Hey ,

In my family, I do most of the cooking and baking. It doesn't bother me. Heck, I even enjoy it! My favorite thing about cooking is trying out new, interesting recipes.

However, I've noticed that many of these recipes are frontloaded with "fluff".

It's those three pages of backstory where the author talks about their grandmother, the components of the ingredients, why the recipe means so much to them, etc.

It's the stuff you scroll past so you can get to what you need, the recipe.

Please understand that I'm not trying to diminish anyone's story, I just want to know how to bake the freaking recipe. I understand why these authors have to do it. Since recipes are often very similar, these backstories allow them to keep their content original for SEO purposes.

Nonetheless, I save the recipe and delete the fluff.

I think the same is true for our learning programs.

The majority of courses and learning programs contain a lot of "fluff". It includes facts and learning bloatware that our learners don't need to tackle their specific challenges, nor want.

To put it another way, they don't give a damn. If they do care, they just want to get to the good stuff, how to complete the actual task at hand.

Learning programs are notorious for this. Often in an effort to keep it compliant or just to make everything feel comprehensive.

But have you ever asked if the content is actually needed?

Or if your learners just want or need to know the ingredients and steps?

Here's my suggestion. If your learners already care about the things you're helping them do, cut the fluff. Just get straight to the recipe.

This can take the form of a variety of resources, such as:

• A checklist
• Step-by-step instructions
• A list of dos and don'ts
• A list of lessons learned from others
• A visual flow chart

If they don't care but should, show them why. Then again, give them the dang recipe.

As learning professionals, we need to stop gatekeeping the good stuff. It's often like finding a needle in a "next module" haystack.

What do you think, ? Do you agree that our learning is often filled with fluff?

Let's talk about it so please reply and let me know! 👋

Best,

Brandon

Co-Founder of EDU Fellowship

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