After months of banging my head against a wall, today a realization...

Instructional designers need to learn to both think outside of the box and do as they are told. But there are three tricks:

1. Timing

Analysis and design is all about problem-solving, innovation and solutioning. It's done best when the status quo with all of its assumptions are questioned.

Successfully bringing any project to completion, however also requires development. It's best done best when a strong process to manage variation is developed and followed again and again.

The real problem however is that the best solutions become evident about 3/4 of the way through development (when we fully understand the content and have learned a thing or two). No matter the size of the project, the trick is to resist the urge to improve what's been started, put on blinders and simply get it done - Thank goodness for deadlines!

2. Knowing when to to put the blinders on, and when to take them off.

When do you have enough information to move forward? Maybe one more question, SME meeting or document will offer that extra bit that seems to be missing... You often really don't knw if you have enough until  you dive into development. When do the problems you are experiencing in development merit another significant crack at design? The trick is to resist the urge to keep the blinders on and hope someone else is paying attention at another switch - Darn deadlines!

3. How to teach the two tricks above - Any suggestions? I'd love to hear them :)