Reflections on: Work out Loud Week

Last week I made some efforts to participate in Work out Loud Week, which I think is a really great initiative. I think the thing I learned the most is that I need to get better at articulating what I’m doing and why.  Focusing on how to share what I’m working on is a great way to do that!

Welcome to Work Out Loud week! Kicking off Monday: working on French listings for our new custom developed online course catalogue #wolweek

— Jenny Hill, CPLP (@jennyrhill) June 5, 2017

I’m also in the initial stages of a project, during which so much of the work doesn’t always have a clear output- there’s a lot of learning and strategic thinking that happens at that point that I found hard to capture.

Today: prototyping for interactive simulations (what’s your fave tool for this? I’m trying a few! No Flash!) #wolweek #simulation #learning

— Jenny Hill, CPLP (@jennyrhill) June 9, 2017

I did do a bit of prototyping for some potential simulations based on a project team request. After noodling around with a few different tools but not quite getting at all the things I wanted, I wound up using Captivate, which was a great experience. I haven’t used Captivate much in a while, the last time would have been Captivate 8 or 9 for a small project, but not for anything bigger than a couple little tutorial videos since Captivate 5. It was way easier and smoother than I remember, and I found it really pleasant to use.  The output didn’t rely on flash, overall, I was pretty impressed with it for that application.

I think working out loud is a great way to both capture some of the tacit knowledge that people carry around in their heads, and demonstrate the value in the day-to-day things people do.  Especially in HR and L&D, this is something that’s so sorely needed.  Overall, the experience was good, and I’m hoping to do a lot more working out loud in general.  I recommend you try it out as well! Here are some additional resources to get you started:

• TEDx talk– Working Out Loud: The making of a movement
• Book–  Jane Bozarth: Show Your Work
• Website— Working out Loud