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A Socratic tool for L&D

What 3?

Start with the change, not the course. Choose the set closest to your situation and use the examples to make each answer more specific before deciding what to build.

Better questions lead to better choices about the response.

Every set follows the same path

  1. 01What needs to change?
  2. 02What is getting in the way?
  3. 03What will help the change take hold?
OutcomeObstacleReinforcement

Stay curious a little longer

Ask the three. Then question the answer.

Use one of these prompts when an answer is broad or assumed:

  • “What makes you say that?”
  • “Can you give me a specific example?”
  • “What would we observe if this improved?”

Useful for intake conversations, project kickoffs, stakeholder interviews, design reviews, and program refreshes.

Choose a starting point

Seven starting points for common L&D decisions.

Open the situation closest to yours. The examples are possibilities, not a checklist. Use them to make the conversation more concrete.

01
Frame the need

Start a learning project

Use this when the request begins with a format: “We need a course, workshop, video, or platform.”

  1. 01

    What must people do differently when this is working?

    For example:

    • Make a better decision
    • Follow a process consistently
    • Handle a difficult conversation with more skill
  2. 02

    What is preventing that today?

    For example:

    • They do not yet know how
    • The process or tool makes it difficult
    • Expectations or incentives point elsewhere
  3. 03

    What will help them practice, apply, and keep using it?

    For example:

    • Realistic decisions and scenarios
    • A tool available during the work
    • Feedback and reinforcement from managers

This set helps produce: A behavior-first project brief.

02
Diagnose the gap

Decide whether learning is the answer

Use this when a solution has been named before the cause of the performance gap is clear.

  1. 01

    What can people already do when the conditions are right?

    For example:

    • They succeed when an expert is nearby
    • They can explain it but do not consistently do it
    • Experienced employees succeed while newer employees struggle
  2. 02

    What besides knowledge or skill is creating the gap?

    For example:

    • Priorities or ownership are unclear
    • Time, access, tools, or the process get in the way
    • Measures and consequences reward a different behavior
  3. 03

    What needs to change in the learning and in the work?

    For example:

    • Practice paired with access to the right system
    • Manager coaching paired with clearer expectations
    • A workflow fix instead of another course

This set helps produce: A right-sized mix of learning and workplace changes.

03
Improve the experience

Modernize existing learning

Use this when a program feels outdated, overloaded, passive, or disconnected from current work.

  1. 01

    What was this experience built to change, and is that still the need?

    For example:

    • A role or system has changed
    • The audience is different now
    • The original goal was completion rather than performance
  2. 02

    Where does it stop being relevant or useful?

    For example:

    • Examples no longer resemble the work
    • Content arrives long before anyone needs it
    • The experience explains but never lets people practice
  3. 03

    What should be kept, removed, or rebuilt?

    For example:

    • Keep a useful model or story
    • Move reference content into a job aid
    • Rebuild passive content as decisions, practice, and feedback

This set helps produce: Clear priorities for what to keep, remove, and rebuild.

04
Make thinking visible

Turn expertise into learning

Use this when experts know what to do but have difficulty explaining how they know.

  1. 01

    What do experts notice, decide, or do that novices miss?

    For example:

    • Signals that indicate risk or opportunity
    • Tradeoffs between two reasonable options
    • Exceptions that change the usual approach
  2. 02

    What has become automatic and is therefore hard to explain?

    For example:

    • A rapid judgment made from several small cues
    • An unspoken sequence or rule of thumb
    • A shortcut that works only under certain conditions
  3. 03

    What will let learners see, try, and receive feedback on that thinking?

    For example:

    • A think-aloud demonstration
    • Contrasting cases and edge cases
    • Guided practice with an expert or a decision checklist

This set helps produce: The cues, choices, and judgment behind expert performance.

05
Use live time well

Design a live experience that earns the room

Use this when people will gather in person or virtually and the session needs a clear purpose.

  1. 01

    What can people accomplish together that they cannot do alone?

    For example:

    • Compare perspectives and reach alignment
    • Practice a conversation and receive feedback
    • Make a decision that requires several roles
  2. 02

    What can be learned before or after the live time?

    For example:

    • Background information or definitions
    • A demonstration people can replay
    • Reference material and follow-up practice
  3. 03

    What should each person leave ready to do next?

    For example:

    • Use a tool in a real situation
    • Take one agreed action
    • Continue a practice with a manager or peer

This set helps produce: A live agenda built around participation, practice, and decisions.

06
Activate participation

Activate learning and reinforce culture

Use this when useful learning, a strategy, a value, or an expectation exists but is not visible, valued, or reinforced in everyday work.

  1. 01

    What should people notice, value, or do differently?

    For example:

    • Employees discover development that is relevant to them
    • Teams use the values to make a difficult decision
    • Managers make learning part of regular team conversations
  2. 02

    What is creating the perception or participation gap?

    For example:

    • Development is marketed as a course list or compliance task
    • The portfolio is difficult to navigate or connect to career goals
    • Leaders promote the message but recognition rewards something else
  3. 03

    What will create attention now and reinforcement over time?

    For example:

    • A learning activation week or employee event
    • Drip content, nudges, manager tools, and peer stories
    • Values-aligned recognition and visible leadership advocacy

This set helps produce: An activation and reinforcement plan that builds participation and keeps development present.

07
Plan the evidence

Define what success looks like

Use this before launch so the team can look beyond attendance, completion, and satisfaction.

  1. 01

    What evidence would show that behavior has changed?

    For example:

    • A decision is made with fewer errors
    • A process is followed without workarounds
    • A manager handles a recurring situation more effectively
  2. 02

    What should improve in the work if that behavior changes?

    For example:

    • Quality, speed, safety, or consistency
    • Customer or employee experience
    • Adoption, retention, or reduced rework
  3. 03

    When, how, and by whom will the change be noticed?

    For example:

    • A manager observation after 30 days
    • A work sample or system measure
    • A short reflection from the learner and a stakeholder

This set helps produce: A practical measurement plan connected to the work.

Carry the thinking forward

Connect the answers to process and proof.

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