L&D disruption, and it why it might be the biggest gift of all this Christmas...

It’s that time of year again. When the retailers commence their shameless annual assault on our appetite for sentiment, in a poorly concealed ploy to separate us from our hard-earned income for a single day of indulgence and gluttony (AKA Christmas). OK - that sounds cynical - particularly for the religiously inclined. And even with agnostic beliefs, I actually love Christmas – the non-commercial aspects at least. But this year I have extra reason for festive cheer having recently been exposed to (and whole-heartedly convinced by) the most effective piece of product marketing I can recall in recent years. It feels like disruption, in the best possible way. And the concept really shouldn’t work, but it does.

For those of you that haven’t yet had the pleasure, I’d like to bring your attention to this masterful example of television advertising by Swedish furniture giants IKEA: https://www.complex.com/music/2019/11/d-double-e-ikea-christmas-advert

They have somehow managed to seamlessly combine the signature nostalgia of the traditional Christmas advert with the unexpected ingredient of East London’s finest and most credible Grime MC, D Double E, and in doing so have cooked up something that manages to feel uncontrived yet deliciously unique and memorable (more so than the instore meatballs at least…)

Granted, as a massive fan of the Grime genre (photo of me and D attached as evidence), I could be accused of being a soft target for this, but actually this makes me more skeptical that the integrity of something I love that ought to have no place in mainstream media could be exploited for commercial gain. What IKEA have managed to tap into though - which is quite brilliant - is utilising an icon of an underground genre to market a product with which it has no obvious association or commonality (aside from D Double E’s outstanding interior design critique), whilst retaining the personality and authenticity of both. It got me thinking about how effective disruption can be, and how we might apply some of this thinking within the L&D community.

It's a somewhat spurious connection, but bear with me. Advertising, much like the fundamental principles of learning, is designed to prompt it’s audience into behaving or thinking in a different way, or to empower them with new knowledge or insight. In advertising this is primarily for commercial means, in learning it’s for developmental outcomes. What if we chose to explore 2 geometrically opposed concepts (E.g. flat-pack furniture and Grime music) to deliver learning in a new way. Is the risk really that great? Could this be an opportunity to generate thinking, behaviour or knowledge in a completely different context?

I speak with dozens of L&D practitioners each week who crave innovation and disruption in their environments to create better learning experiences for their teams. But more often than not the safety of a workshop or an eLearning module prevails (the advertising equivalent of Coca-Cola’s red lorry and snowman). We know what to expect, but does it really challenge our thinking or behaviour? My challenge to those people is this – be brave, be creative, be experimental, and be different. Innovation can sometimes be achieved through bringing together seemingly disparate concepts to create something that has profound impact and engagement. But this does require risk, and it does demand discomfort. Not least for the learners themselves.

So give your people the gift of disruption this Christmas, it might just be the best present they receive!

Aidan is the Auckland Regional Manager for Inspire Group, an award winning learning and leadership design provider that supports organisations across New Zealand, Australia and South-East Asia. To learn more about how we are changing lives through better learning, contact Aidan on +64 (0) 27 204 8260 / [email protected]