Creativity requires failure

In order to be creative (or innovative), you must be allowed to have bad ideas.

I recently encountered a situation where I felt that I had to be good at everything I did. When I did something different, and it didn't work out, I was made to feel bad. In addition, that experiment was later interpreted as a lack of competence. The people doing the judging, really didn't understand the need to fail when you are being creative.

If you aren't allowed to fail, then you wont risk anything. Suddenly, every idea become a "safe" idea, and you are no longer creating, you are simply doing it the way it has always been done.

So, the next time you approach someone who appears to have a "stupid idea", remember not to judge. A creative person needs the opportunity to do stupid things now and then in order to develop that brilliant idea.

Can instructional design be taught?

Let's start by looking at a few definitions (source wikipedia):
Artist: Artist is a subjective term which describes a person creative in, innovative in, or adept at, their endeavors.
Artisan: An artisan, also called a craftsman, is a skilled manual worker who uses tools and machinery in a particular craft. ...

How does this apply to instructional systems design (ISD). Again, here is an excerpt from wikipedia on Instructional Systems Design: "Instructional Design and Instructional Systems Design are scientifically derived processes which are intended to optimize learning gains in knowledge and performance from precisely engineered (and designed) instruction. "

Instructional Systems Design provides a process that allows artisans to develop effective instructional material. However, I'd like to propose that there is actually an element of "art" necessary to develop good instructional material. In my experience, where the ISD process was strictly followed, the results were mediocre. You can do an OK job with ISD, but to do a great job, you need to deviate from the "recipe" and actually create. To do this successfully, you need some level of innate talent.

So, a great instructional designer is actually an artist: somebody that can take the ISD "recipe" and made the necessary modifications to create training material that is not only effective, but also inspiring.

I think that is where I'd like to be. I want to break out of the box that is ISD and create training material that inspires.