Building Bridges

EnVision at 27: Part 6 of 9

Posted on by Irene Stern Frielich

WHAT I WISH I KNEW #3: Putting Myself Out There

This is the third of 3 things I Wish I Knew when I first started out. I am writing this series in celebration of EnVision’s 27 years.

I wish I had embraced speaking and writing about instructional design much sooner than I did. Now I can see why I avoided these activities, and what I wish I would have done differently.

  1. EMBRACE THE DISCOMFORT: It’s easy to follow the path of least resistance. That’s what I did for years, declining invitations to speak or write about a successful project or approach. I didn’t start my blog until 2009, a solid ten years after founding EnVision. My first conference presentation was in 2013. I had interesting case studies and tips to share, but preferred to spend my non-consulting time networking and project managing, both more comfortable to me. Once I started writing and speaking, I saw the benefits of getting my name out there and the value of helping others by sharing my experiences. I even started enjoying it!
  2. SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES: In 2013, a client approached me about delivering a workshop on writing assessment questions—something EnVision had never done before. I could have said, “no, we don’t do that,” but I knew the topic well. I seized the opportunity. From that original, three-hour workshop, a new series of WEL (Writing Effective Learning) workshops was born. EnVision now offers workshops on writing learning objectives, creating and managing project plans, and developing activities. By choosing to take on new work, I created a new service—and more to offer my clients. While not every opportunity will be a worthwhile one, sometimes you won’t know that until you explore it.
  3. PRESENT YOUR EXPERTISE IN A NEW WAY: In 2020, I wrote an article for Training Magazine entitled Supporting SMEs—with Pizza. When the programming director of the Hawkeye, IA ATD chapter read it, she asked me to deliver a virtual workshop on the same topic. It didn’t hurt that I used a food analogy in the article and workshop! People also related to it — who doesn’t like pizza?!

What is one work-related activity that you’re not comfortable doing? What might happen if you tried it?

Coming next: A series of posts on looking to the future.