Training as a Serial

I really liked this article . . . see HERE or HERE. It's about some Microsoft training. It's built around the idea that training doesn't have to be boring. 

This training is for Microsoft employees, and it's built around the idea that training can be provided in the form of a thriller television series. 

It's an interesting idea. From a training perspective, it's an amazing idea. Not really earth-shattering in terms of ideas, but if it's carried out well . . . which it sounds like this one is, . . . then it can be something awesome. 

We've played around with video, sure. We have intro videos, we have scripted terrific "good guy vs bad guy" training videos. We even added some humor. It turned out well. We've gotten some good reviews from the course owners. 

I've seen this before in our industry, BTW. And I've seen it done well. One of my favorites takes the idea of Bill Murray's Groundhog Day and mixes it with an operator who has to deal with H2S. He and his co-workers keep dying and then each morning he wakes up and tries again. 

The challenge? It has to be well-produced and takes a TON of time. That's the challenge we have. We have a backlog of courses. We have too many courses than we do developers now. Plus, developing the courses takes longer now because of all the engagement tools we are building in. 

Still, good to see what Microsoft is doing.