🗣️ Transcript
Hello there and welcome back. I’m wrapping this module up with a lesson called: Going Deeper on Doing vs Learning.
And I just want to make sure you can draw a clear distinction between the doing and the learning work that goes in that third level of your cascade.
So here’s what you’ll learn:
- Examples and characteristics of doing work
- Examples and characteristics of learning work
- Understanding the relationship between achievements and doing/learning
So, ready to go deeper? Excellent!
Because while you should have a good sense of the difference between doing and learning by now, you still might be a little fuzzy around the edges.
So let’s drill down a bit, starting with doing work. And I’ll give you some examples and share common characteristics to help bring this type of work into sharper relief.
But first a quick definition.
Doing work usually involves taking action that creates some positive (usually external) change which gets you demonstrably closer to the end result.
And to give you some examples, these are all chunks of doing work you might find in the cascades for different courses:
- Writing the first draft of a new resume
- Buying the tools and materials you need to make a piece of furniture
- Getting professional headshots taken for your website
- Pitching article ideas to 10 magazines
Doing work also tends to share certain characteristics. For instance:
- It’s typically a combination of planning and action-taking
- There’s usually some kind of definite “output” (even if it’s something intangible like a decision)
- The work happens “outside” of the course – so students leave the confines of your course platform do go do the work
- Any description of the work usually starts with a verb (e.g., write, create, contact)
- Even experts need to do this work, meaning even if someone is totally familiar with every step of getting a specific result, they still need to do the work to actually get it.
Switching to learning, let’s start again with a simple definition.
Learning work usually involves acquiring know-how that creates an internal change, like an improved understanding or ability or motivation.
And here are some chunks of learning work you might find in the cascades for different courses:
- Learning the fundamentals of video editing
- Learning the four stages of the sleep cycle
- Learning the most common varieties of edible mushrooms (and how to identify them)
- Learning the reasons for creating a strong personal brand
And here are some common characteristics of learning work:
- It’s typically a combination of study (for knowledge) and practice (for skills)
- There may not always be an obvious “output” or deliverable
- Work usually happens inside the course via the lessons and resources provided
- Experts don’t need to do this work (they know it all already!)
Hopefully you can see how these contrast with the characteristics for doing work.
As a quick reminder, there are two main reasons for including learning work in your cascade.
One, because it equips students with the knowledge (or skill or motivation) to do something they need to do
Or two, because the knowledge (or skill) itself is part of the result (e.g., for an Ability result)
Remember: we’re trying to avoid teaching anything that doesn’t directly support the achievement and result.
And here’s a quick warning too: Don’t get into the weeds at this point in the process.
You’re not trying to capture every little detail of what students need to do.
You’re just trying to create a relatively high-level breakdown that’ll help you design your curriculum without overwhelming you with low-level detail.
To revisit the “trip of a lifetime” example from earlier, if we treated Visit The Taj Mahal as an essential achievements on the bigger journey, you could break it down into doing and learning chunks like these:
- DO: Arrange travel to Agra and book a hotel
- LEARN: How to make the most of your visit
- DO: Enjoy a full day exploring the Taj Mahal
On the other hand, this would be too much detail:
- DO: Fly to New Delhi
- LEARN: Agra train schedule
- DO: Get train to Agra
- DO: Get rickshaw to hotel
- and so on.
To help you find the right level of granularity, here are a few tips:
Firstly, try to apply the three to seven rule again, i.e., three to seven doing or learning chunks per achievement, and certainly no more than 10.
Secondly, ask yourself: is this chunk of work “substantial” enough to dedicate one or more lessons or assignments to it in my future course? If not, it’s probably too small a detail to capture in your cascade.
And thirdly, don’t worry that important information isn’t being captured – we’ll drill down into the details when you plan your content in a later module.
I just want to clarify one more thing before we wrap up, and that’s the difference between Do/Learn work and an achievement. Because they may seem a little similar.
The most obvious difference is that achievements sit above the other work in the cascade. But there are other differences between them too…
Do/Learn work tends to be more tactical, whereas achievements are more strategic.
Do/Learn work tends to have an obvious logical order, which isn’t always true for achievements.
And do/learn work puts the students in the driving seat – they’re in full control of their efforts.
But sometimes achievements are at least partly under someone else’s control.
Like getting a job offer for instance. The student can do work to make that more likely to happen, but they can’t control it directly.
Okay. That’s it. End of the lesson and end of the module. Good luck with your cascade!