I recently got hooked on Project Runway, the reality show in which aspiring fashion designers compete to create new designs within significant restrictions on time, materials, and theme. I’m not a fan of reality shows nor am I a fashionista, but I find it fascinating to watch the participants’ responses to working creatively under intense pressure. I see some application to training and instructional design.
1. Mind the scope
The Project Runway participants perform under grueling time constraints. They hear about the theme of the week, make some quick sketches, go shopping with specified budget and time limits, start fabricating, fit their models, and polish the garments into readiness for the runway—all within a 15-hour day, followed by a 4-hour stint. It is critically important for them to gauge their designs to what can effectively be accomplished in that relentless schedule. Awareness of the realistic scope of a project is essential. In episode 6 of this season, Amy launched into an ambitious effort to create a pair of pants out of multi-layered, overlapping petals of fabric. She miscalculated the scope of the effort needed to pull it off successfully and she ended up being smacked down by the judges. Instructional designers and trainers also need to be mindful of scope. Although they may have more time to create training modules, the time constraint is in the delivery of the learning. It is tempting to cram too much into a lesson, to overload the learner and defeat the learning. Know your parameters and design accordingly.
2. Failure is okay …to a point
On Project Runway, designers are encouraged to take risks. Those who play it safe or stick to reliable formulas are not likely to arouse the judges’ admiration and votes. In many organizations, there is increasing attention to the productive aspects of risk-taking and failure. All this is good. However, there should be self-check points along the path of risk. When Jonathan’s colleagues were referring to one of his dresses as an explosion in a toilet paper factory, it was time for him to stop and seriously appraise his direction instead of plunging blindly ahead (episode 6). When Amy worried about the unruliness of her hair-filled, cowl-necked dress, it would have been a good move to just cut it off and rethink her expression of the concept (episode 8). Risk-taking stretches designers and trainers in new directions, but if those directions are not productive, know when it’s time to pull out and start over.
3. Limitation is liberating
In my favorite episode of this season (#7), the crew headed to the hardware store to buy all of their materials. As usual, they had a limited budget and time in which to make purchases. This combination of constraints produced some of the most impressive fashion creations I’ve seen on the show. Jay fabricated a stunning haute couture outfit out of black plastic garbage bags and blue painters tape. Mila sliced up black and white plastic paint tray liners into an amazing dress that totally belied the humble materials. By contrast, a later design challenge that was conceptually wide open, asking for fashions evoking earth, air, fire, or earth, yielded the least interesting garments. It’s tempting to seek out ever more sophisticated design tools to deliver effective training, but it’s a good exercise to see what you can accomplish with humble materials and simple techniques.
4. No prima donnas
Episode 9 paired the remaining eight designers in teams, forcing these highly individualist design sensibilities to work collaboratively. Jay, who has displayed superstar qualities in design and craftsmanahip, bombed seriously when he had to work with Mila. The animosity between the two of them was right on the surface. Mila was able to keep cool and focused but Jay stumbled badly. He was not able to manage his emotions and concentrate on the outcomes. Not only was his design poorly conceived, it was poorly crafted—a setback for the man who had produced that brilliant garbage bag outfit. There’s more room for prima donna behavior in the fashion world than there is in the training world. In training, collaboration is common. Even for those trainers who work solo, there is always team-building with your learners. Excellent training design and delivery is underwritten by those soft skills that enable good communication and teamwork.
5. Be unruffled
I am always impressed at the calm and confidence of the designers as they watch the models walk the runway in their creations. They speak with assurance about the concept and the technical effort they had put into the fashions, even if they are about to be cast out of the competition. In training, it’s the learners who are the ultimate judges. Go before them with confidence, take critiques in stride, and take your lessons learned back to the drawing board for the next round.
Thanks for sharing this Betha. What I love about your observations is what it says about you, and your curiosity about life and orientation towards learning. To some, Project Runway is just another silly reality show, and I guess that’s one way of looking at it.
But you suggest another way of looking at it (and isn’t looking at things in a different way a key to learning? — not to mention a key to emotional intelligence.) You look at Project Runway as a study in how creative people operate under pressure, and then you start seeing connections—another key to learning!
I love all of your observations, particularly that limitation is liberating. So true, and yet anti-intuitive and easy (for me) to forget. We’ve probably all experienced that moment when we’ve received some broad, general instruction and just froze–because we didn’t know where to even begin. A little structure and limitation goes a long way!
I’ve just started reading “Switch” the new Heath Brothers book on Change Management, and the make a similar point: That often people fail to change (or engage in a new desired behavior) because they don’t know specifically what it is they are supposed to be doing. Giving people a little specificity, gets them into action more quickly.
Thanks again for sharing this engaging post. It’s woken me up and gotten my gears turning, and I haven’t even had my first cuppa coffee yet!
Peter, I never thought I would be watching any reality TV show on a regular basis, especially one about the superficial world of fashion. Maybe it’s because I am so skeptical about the show’s atmosphere that I can cut through the fluff and see the underlying challenges. It reminds me often of art school, where the assignments are intended to confront any comfortable notions about how to make art in order to stimulate new thinking. The “limitation” exercise is a common one: painting with just three colors or drawing the figure with just sticks and ink. It’s those strictures that force students to see new possibilities.
I have a hold on Switch at my library, with only 80 people ahead of me. It’s a popular book. I look forward to reading more insights from the Heath brothers. I’ll start looking at Project Runway from the change management point of view.
I hope you’ve found a good cup of coffee by now.