It all started back in 2001

We had this feeling that the training space was ripe for a little excitement. Everywhere we went, we asked people about their training and learning experiences.

We heard things like …
- Great venue, it was my first time at xyz hotel.
- I completely over ate.
- Every time we looked around their was more food.
- The facilitator was a hoot. Such an entertaining person.
- Strangely though no one was saying I learnt so much … it changed my life!

WHY NOT?
We pondered and asked more people more questions. In the end our simple assessment was this: Some training was overwhelming. Too much information, too many slides, too fast. It left people spinning and disengaged. Some training was underwhelming. A slow process to cover information already known by most. It left people feeling bored and disengaged.

SO WHAT TO DO?
At about this time we were experimenting with mind-maps which were starting to evolve into learning maps. We tried to see whether we could load a text book onto a page … literally. Our first experiment was to tackle the retail industry and specifically the topic of FMCG sales in a supermarket environment. We illustrated the content looking at everything from rate of sale, market share, stock levels, stock rotation, promotions, returns, planograms, displays, out of stocks, breakages, returns and basically everything that food retailers would like their people to know.

Well the project was a roaring success. We had created our first learning map, coupled it with a super engaging instructional methodology and tested it with some big players in the FMCG space including Pick ‘n Pay, AC Nielsen, Clover, Vital Health Foods and a couple of others.