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.
Start Here
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
Want more on workshop design?
Join Groove Theory for weekly insights on learning, creativity, and building things that matter.
All Posts
Everything on workshop and learning design
Entrepreneurial Endeavours
5 x Why, 5 x Who
You may have heard about the 5 Whys [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys].
It was originally developed at
Learning, Education & Growth
“You had to be there”
When we’re told a joke or a tale that falls a little flat we may hear a sheepish
response
Stage Left
6 lessons from going live with Oprah
I was sitting at my computer willing the words to come.
I’m creating a workbook/guide for independent professionals
Coaching
Finding mentors & advisors: 1:1 or a roster?
A couple of weeks ago I attended a really interesting seminar at Orbital here in
NYC.
The hosts Gary and
Podcast
Tickets podcast: Marc Lewis on running the world's most awarded advertising school
Listen now:
Apple Podcasts
[https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tickets/id1336642615?mt=2&uo=4]|Castbox
[https://castbox.
Resources
Workshop Slide Deck (guided): Lifecycles in products, companies, and careers
Introduction
This is a workshop session I designed and facilitated in Summer 2018 (annotated
and abbreviated version, with some classroom
How-To Guides
My Podcast Gear: recording, editing, and publishing
I’ve learned a lot from creating a podcast series
[https://www.howardgray.net/podcast/]: from asking good questions and
Storytelling
It’s hard to tell other people’s stories
You’ve probably heard that person at the bar, telling a story that isn’t theirs.
It’s still funny,
Podcast
Tickets Podcast: Adobe's Andrea Rosen on creativity and the future of work
Listen now:
Apple Podcasts
[https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tickets/id1336642615?mt=2&uo=4]|Castbox
[https://castbox.
Resources
Trend Spotting: How to identify what's coming next
A workshop session I designed and facilitated in Summer 2018 (annotated and
abbreviated version, with some classroom exercises and notes
Stage Left
Concealing the Clues: Lessons from TV & film writers
The British crime drama series Broadchurch
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadchurch] is one of the most
critically-acclaimed TV shows
Mindsets & Growth
Be the person you needed when you were younger
Brad Montague of Montague Workshop.A couple of months after we moved to New York
it was time for our
Podcast
Tickets Podcast: Rob Fitzpatrick on how to create compelling workshops, programs and products
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Listen now:
Apple Podcasts
[https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tickets/id1336642615?mt=2&uo=4] | Castbox
[https:
Future Of Work
Build, Buy, Borrow, or...
A few weeks ago I was teaching a course at the HQ of one of the biggest and
well-storied companies
Podcast
Tickets Podcast: Duolingo's Laura Nestler on growing global communities
Listen now:
Apple Podcasts
[https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tickets/id1336642615?mt=2&uo=4] | Castbox
[https://castbox.
Podcast
From Code School to Podcast School
Think back a decade or so.
How many kids did you see coding computers or hardware devices for fun?
Maybe
Mindsets & Growth
Why you should say less than necessary
In Robert Greene’s best-selling, controversial book ‘The 48 Laws of Power’ is
the law ‘Always say less than necessary’
Learning Innovation
The rise of Edutainment
Education as business development (and beyond), teachers becoming more than just
the new DJs, and the foundations of a big