Crafting Content: 5 Frequent Frustrations for L&D* Pros

The most frustrating moments I’ve experienced when working with the Eight Steps of Design in Dialogue Education as an L&D Pro have involved developing all the skills, concepts, and perspectives—the content—that will go into a learning event.

It’s easy to believe that content is the most straightforward aspect of a learning-centered design—but it isn’t! Researching, curating, summarizing, “chunking,” and sequencing content is hard work with many false starts, dead ends, and high hills to climb.

Being aware of all these pitfalls can be a first step in overcoming them or avoiding them altogether. Here are five common frustrations I’ve experienced when working with course content.

1. Having Too Much “What” for the “When”

There are good reasons why the phrase don’t have too much ‘what’ for the ‘when’ has become a popular axiom for many L&D Pros. Knowledge is interconnected, sprawling, and ever-growing, and as designers, we’re often tempted to cram one more skill, one more concept, or one more perspective into a learning event that is already over-stuffed with content. But the more content we put in, the less room we leave for the dialogue and the “doing” that constitute real learning. Curating content involves using elemental instructional design principles to intentionally choose what goes into a curriculum—a process that often takes more time and focus than many clients realize.

2. Working with Content that Isn’t “Chunked”

Much of the content I work with as an L&D pro comes to me in bigger formats that need to be broken down, or “chunked,” before I can weave it into a course design. I’ve heard clients say they want a course to “cover” an entire book or article, or email me a link to a video or a podcast and say, “this is important, we need to include it in the workshop.” But no single learning task can grapple with the entirety of a book or article. Even a brief video can contain a mountain of different skills, concepts, and perspectives. Chunking content takes time, energy, and some know-how to synthesize big ideas into manageable bits of knowledge that learners can work with one thoughtful step at a time.

3. Getting Content that Isn’t Sorted or Sequenced

Content that has been appropriately “chunked” still needs to be sorted and sequenced. Some topics have an obvious sequence to them, like needing to learn basic arithmetic before progressing to algebra. Other forms of knowledge are less linear, and deciding what comes first, second, and third in a course design can be a matter of debate and deliberation. Subject matter experts can offer insights into appropriate sorting and sequencing, but they aren’t always on hand—and they may not always agree. Sometimes, getting the order right is just a matter of trial and error.

4. Receiving Content in a Slide Deck

A slide deck is a powerful medium for pitching an argument, but it’s a lousy repository for storing complex or nuanced knowledge. The best slide decks are short on text and big on graphics or images that support the words coming out of a presenter’s mouth in real time. Decks, by design, carry very little useful information. So, whenever I receive content from a client in the form of a slide deck, I know I’ll be spending a lot of time researching the actual skills, concepts, and perspectives that will go into my course design. The decks rarely have all the detail I need to get the job done.

5. Making Tacit Knowledge Explicit

The philosopher Michael Polanyi said, “We know more than we can tell.” Think about it: some of the most important skills you’ve learned didn’t come with an instruction manual, like riding a bike or cooking a family recipe. Some tacit knowledge simply hasn’t been explicated, or put into words, yet. In cases like these, I’ve worked with subject matter experts to get their tacit knowledge “on paper.” But just as often, useful knowledge resists being put directly into words, which is often the case for knowledge that lives in all kinds of social practices and routines. The only way to make that kind of knowledge accessible is through metaphors and stories, which take time and skill to craft.

*Learning & Development

© 2025 Philip Silva