Music
What Brian Eno knows about learning (that we've forgotten)
The ambient music pioneer's new theory about art as "adult play" reveals why case studies don't stick - and what does.
Workshop Design
Practical guides on workshop design, facilitation, and learning experience design. From session structure to engagement psychology - everything you need to run sessions that work.
I've spent over a decade designing workshops, training programs, and learning experiences for companies like EY, Publicis, WeTransfer and The New York Times. These posts cover everything I've learned about what actually makes people learn - from session design and facilitation to the psychology of engagement.
Whether you're running your first workshop or your five-hundredth, there's something here for you.
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The essential reads on workshop design
Best of...
I struggle horribly as a student. So I rebuilt the class. Here's how.
I had a horrible experience in a class recently. So I tried to figure out why - and what I could do to remedy it.
Best of...
Fitness and Education: from IRL to URL
8 lessons for the new era of learning
Give your social media timelines a cursory scroll and it probably won’
How-To Guides
How I do Morning Pages
The theme of my most recent newsletter was New Wine, Old Oak
[https://howardgray.substack.com/p/adventures-49-new-wine-old-oak];
encouraging readers
Resources
How to create an interactive workshop in Zoom
A step-by-step guide to setting up and running an interactive 90-minute workshop
in Zoom.
Note: This is part 1 of
Learning, Education & Growth
Why the future of learning is in the middle
Become a workshop creator and magical things can happen
The view was spectacular and the light poured in.
In a
How-To Guides
Step-by-step playbooks for better workshops
Creative Business
How to run a retrospective that actually works
Six months after a project you can barely remember what you learned. Here's a one-hour framework that fixes that - using conversation, transcription, and AI to capture the insights that usually vanish.
A.I.
Pascal's Wager for AI (and why you should bet on Scenario 2)
Dan Hockenmaier just cut through all the AI noise with a simple framework. Here's why his "scenario 2" bet makes perfect sense.
A.I.
The 80-hour reality check: What actually happens when you build with AI
Everyone's talking about AI magic, but what's the messy reality behind actually building something? Here's my 6-week journey through format fails, bad vibes coding, and the breakthrough moments that made it all worth it.
Creative Business
Two ways to define 'Good Enough'
Ever found yourself endlessly tweaking a project, chasing that elusive perfection? Yeah, me too. But here's a thought.
Future Of Work
Soft Skills are dead. Let’s talk Character Skills.
Forget buzzwords—how do we build environments that make developing Character skills exciting, impactful, and irresistible?
Learning Innovation
Why Learning Beats Education (and Why It Matters to You)
Education mandates; learning invites. Discover the key differences and why flipping education into learning unlocks serious growth and fun.
Resources
Tools and templates
Learning, Education & Growth
Worksheets and Worksheets
Dealing with the tension of using physical and digital assets in learning environments
Learning Innovation
Always do a run-through. No exceptions.
24 hours before our big workshop, we spotted a problem that could've killed the room. One case study had to go. Here's why the final check saved us from disaster.
Storytelling
Live at CMX Summit 2021
Here's the recording of the workshop I ran on storytelling at CMX Summit
[https://cmxhub.com/summit/] a
Learning Innovation
8 shifts in the future of learning & education
Over the past few weeks (ok, months) I’ve been working on a big article on how
fitness and learning
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All Posts
Everything on workshop and learning design
Future Of Work
Two Pilates studios - and the great capability divide
One teaches craft, one delivers product. In an AI-driven world, the gap between human expertise and scalable systems is widening fast.
Learning Innovation
Why great event design doesn't need to be complicated
Simple conversation cards and a glass of milk turned a networking event into an adventure worth remembering.
Learning Innovation
MSCHF's secret weapon isn't what you think
The viral collective behind Satan Shoes has something unexpected: a curriculum that turns everyone into creators.
Culture & Insights
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: Going beyond the book
What if books didn’t just tell stories but let you live them? From audio companions to VR club nights, here’s how we can remix the reading experience.
Creative Business
The Hidden Curriculum of First Jobs
Why your first job probably taught you a lot more than you realised.
Learning Innovation
What Matthew McConaughey Can Teach Us About How Work - and Education - Really Gets Done
You probably know Matthew McConaughey from Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club, or a bunch of 90s rom coms. But here's something wild: he also teaches one of the most interesting classes you're likely to find.
Learning Innovation
What Hot Ones, Masterclass, and Liquid Death have in common
They all won by breaking the rules of format. The best formats feel obvious after the fact, but they're hard to get right.
Creative Business
Two ways to define 'Good Enough'
Ever found yourself endlessly tweaking a project, chasing that elusive perfection? Yeah, me too. But here's a thought.
Future Of Work
Soft Skills are dead. Let’s talk Character Skills.
Forget buzzwords—how do we build environments that make developing Character skills exciting, impactful, and irresistible?
Learning Innovation
“Imagine if we taught baseball the way we teach science…"
Why are so many people disengaged in classrooms and workplaces - places where they've often invested so much of themselves?
Learning Innovation
Why Learning Beats Education (and Why It Matters to You)
Education mandates; learning invites. Discover the key differences and why flipping education into learning unlocks serious growth and fun.
Creative Business
Steve Albini's letter to Nirvana (No business lessons required)
The legendary producer who died this week wrote one of the best professional letters ever. You'll see why without me explaining it.
Entrepreneurial Endeavours
Deep in the hole at SXSW
“Even now, no one’s willing to talk about failure”.
I heard this from a few people at SXSW this
NYC
Monday night storytelling
You know that event you kept meaning to go to, then realise it’s 4 years later and you’ve
Portfolio Career
Full Stackers
I've long believed in the value of cultivating "Lowercase Skills" - being a an uppercase Strategist
Future Of Work
Gamified Career Accelerants
Could your career and skill set be accelerated through multiplayer games?
I reckon so.
The future of learning won’t
Future Of Work
Multiplayer games for career design
Could your career and skill set be accelerated through multiplayer games?
I reckon so.
The future of learning won’t
Creative Business
#SceneRemix
It's only February, but this is the coolest thing I’ve seen so far this year. It blends