DiSSS and the Art of Course Creation

I recently watched a talk that Tim Ferriss gave about his DiSSS method of learning. In it, he claims that:

If you've never heard of Tim, he's the name behind the 4 Hour Work Week and the 4 Hour Chef. Bold promises that I have yet to know anyone else to achieve, but his tactics can still make a huge impact.

In DISS, Tim's method bears all the hallmarks of good instructional design. However, he's boiled it down to something that's easy to understand without having to study for 4 years and get a Master's degree.

The bird's eye view of DiSSS is:

• Deconstruction

• Selection

• Sequencing

• Stakes

Sorry, there's no ‘I'.

In my own attempt to boil things down to the essentials, I'm going to go through each one and give a few tips for how you can apply them in your own courses, webinars, and other training for clients.

Deconstruction:

“What are the minimal learning units, the Lego blocks, I should be starting with?”

In traditional instructional design, the Lego blocks are your learning objectives. You'll see those in each of our training programs here at Content Sparks.

There's nothing particularly eye-opening or new here, but most people have trouble with identifying those learning units – especially if you already know a topic. It's easy to skip over something you take for granted.

It helps to observe someone else and/or ask them questions as they do whatever you're trying to teach.

Otherwise, try working backwards and keep saying to yourself, ‘ok, what do I need to know to do that?'

Now, list all those Legos in a nice, logical order.

Selection:

“Which 20% of the blocks should I focus on for 80% or more of the outcome I want?”

The Selection step is where Tim says you need to apply the 80/20 rule. Ask yourself:

What are the 20% key skills or activities that people need to be able to do in order to achieve the goal of your course?

Make a big list of everything you can think of, starting with the deconstruction you did in the first step. Then remove as much as possible. The goal, of course, is to remove 80% of those blocks while still being able to achieve your end goal!

Sequencing:

“In what order should I learn the blocks?”

The logical ‘step-by-step' of your course is the central part of any instructional design.

And it all follows from the deconstruction and selection you've already done.

If you're having trouble figuring out what order you need to follow to teach your content, try creating a visual flowchart or mind map.

A lot of people like to use post-its and just put them on the wall and reorder. That's how I used to do it when I worked with fellow consultants designing training programs. We put all the main learning blocks on post-its, put them on the wall, and stood back to look. Then we kept moving things around until it made sense.

When you have what you think is a logical sequence for your course, test it with people who don't know the topic well.

Stakes:

“How do I set up stakes to create real consequences and guarantee I follow the program?”

How will you get people to actually implement your training?

Tim says they need real consequences – positive and/or painful.

This is where accountability partners or groups can help.
Also, it's where coaching can be a huge differentiating factor.

I'm not big on the avoidance of pain as a motivation, though I understand. It just reeks too much of childhood ‘time-outs'. ‘Do what I say young man, or you'll be getting a time out!' That didn't work with my children and it definitely won't work for me.

However, when you make a commitment out loud to an accountability partner or coach, there's the pain and embarrassment of potentially telling them you didn't follow through.

Even better, how about a special treat for the incentive? Chocolate, anyone? Trip to Hawaii? I'd work pretty hard to learn something if I knew that was waiting for me ?

Kidding aside, there always has to be a clear incentive for someone to follow through. If each of your learners can visualize exactly what they'll be like and the benefits they'll reap if they achieve your course's objectives, then you can keep directing them back to that visual.

TIP: Use the DISS method and the tips here when you're customizing any content from Content Sparks. Everybody's market will be starting with a different set of skills and knowledge. Take out the parts that they already know, or cut those down. Add in things that are missing.

 And definitely try the post-it method if you're not sure how you want your course to flow. It's time-tested, proven, and colorful!

Want a more visual representation? Here's an infographic ‘cheat sheet' I put together: