What a Difference a Day Makes: A Case Study

“Are you sure you’ve never done this before?” a manager recently said to her trainee upon seeing her execute a 17-step lab procedure using the Larabee platform.

Recently, we collaborated with an industry leader in medical research to assist in refining their training program for laboratory procedures. Specialized though this organization was, their problems were not unique. Part of their daily operations involved intricate, complex, multi-step processes requiring precision and accuracy. However, these were difficult to document and train for with high fidelity and at scale. Onboarding and upskilling times were slow, avoidable mistakes and downstream impacts were costly, and critical IP possessed by a disproportionately low number of experts was hard to share.

(Whether you’re in biotech, manufacturing, hospitality, or any industry reliant on hands-on skills, this should sound familiar.)

After spending eight hours of active time with Larabee (I’ll break this down further below), we created a training module for them that resulted in a novice scientist being able to execute a new procedure with precision, asynchronous of the expert, the first time. Time saved? Approximately one month of training. Read on below to see how we did it.

The Problem: The resources and tools you’re using for training are failing you.

America thrives on efficiency and productivity. We’re all about getting things done fast and well. Yet, when it comes to training and upskilling, we’ve resigned ourselves to methods that are anything but efficient. The three prevailing options seem to be:

1. Dense written instructions that are skimmed and forgotten, if not completely ignored or disregarded.

2. A library of passive videos with an expert (or actor pretending to be an expert) talking at an audience that’s most likely sitting at a desk.

3. Expensive VR/AR experiences that promise to immerse the learner in their given environment.

And we’re here to tell you: 

You’re doing it wrong.

It’s costing you time and money.

It’s not your fault.

Here’s the issue: No amount of rigorous documentation or high-tech training tools will upskill or train your audience well if the underlying framework for learning is wrong. If you’re reading this blog, you’ve likely witnessed how existing methods of teaching can result in employees who are unprepared or disengaged, leading to high error rates, safety risks, a loss of productivity, low retention, and worst of all: low self-esteem. When these methods fail to deliver knowledge that sticks, you face frequent mistakes, re-training, and high costs with minimal ROI. What your employees lack in their learning options is true competence, real-world practice, and/or immediate feedback.

The Solution: A Modernized Approach to Timeless Learning

The solution is not a radical reimagination of learning. Nor is it an investment of millions of dollars in mixed reality learning environments. It isn’t even a neural chip that’s implanted into the brain. It is something much simpler – a paradigm shift of sorts. Rather than attempt to document the information itself, focus on the exchange of knowledge that occurs between experts and novices. 

For the majority of human history, we have learned actions and skills while physically adjacent to our teachers, experts, and guides. From the simplest of tasks like using eating utensils to the most complex endeavors such as manufacturing vehicles of transport, knowledge has been transmitted to us through a continuous cycle of demonstration, repetition, and dialogue. Only once we internalize knowledge can we iterate and expand on it.

Any human-to-human exchange is intersubjective, meaning it’s an experience between two or more conscious minds. This makes it dynamic but also unpredictable. Yet, we at Larabee have long operated from the belief that there is a certain method to human-to-human learning that is observable, and therefore repeatable. Our focus has been on modernizing this timeless and cross-cultural approach to sharing knowledge, thereby making it easier and faster to capture and gain expert know-how. The Larabee platform is a scalable and digital interpretation of how human beings have been learning from others since the dawn of the age. 

Our Process: Deconstruction + Reconstruction

Because human-to-human interaction is our primary area of focus, the work we conduct with our clients centers on how to get what’s in the expert’s brain into the novice’s brain. Experts have an absolute wealth of knowledge that’s both explicit (easily documentable and shared with others) as well as tacit (internalized, not as obvious to themselves or others, amassed over years of experience, mistakes, and dialogue with others). Learners (and especially novices), on the other hand, lack the ability to absorb information if they’re missing a place to stick it.

Action-based skills are generally things that are tactical and hands-on, like tying your shoes or using a pipette. In order for learners to gain these types of skills, they need five things:

1. Visualization: the ability to see it clearly

2. Repetition: the ability to see it again and again

3. Self-paced learning: guidance that goes at their pace

4. Context: opportunities to ask questions for clarity, engage in dialogue, learn the culture, etc.

5. Lack of interruption: the removal of needless distractions

Deconstruction: Two Hours of Client Time

On a weekday morning from 10AM to 12PM, we sat down with our client in a sun-drenched conference room. After discussions amongst themselves, they had decided on which lab procedure they wanted to focus on and had sent us their existing documentation in advance so that we had context going in. In collaboration with their expert and proficient scientists, we deconstructed the entire process from the lens of person-to-person learning. Distinguishing between explicit and tacit information, we examined and investigated each sequence of instruction to best understand: 1) what is the benchmark of excellence for this particular step; and 2) what are the learner’s needs? (For more on our process, check out our Purpose & Process page.)

We (Larabee) then took all of this information back with us and created a lesson storyboard, production schedule, and shot list for our production team.

Reconstruction: Six Hours of Client Time

The following week, the client designated the majority of the workday to filming, starting with a 9AM arrival and set-up time and 3PM wrap time. With our astoundingly talented production partner Townsend Visual, we spent three hours filming the laboratory environment and procedure, and 1.5 hours in a separate location filming what we call insight videos: supportive information with tips, techniques, and stories that the learner can opt into for deepening their understanding of specific steps and procedures.

Lesson Delivery: Larabee’s Active Time

Within days, we were able to begin validating content and media with the client and asynchronously engaging in rounds of edits. Shortly thereafter, we delivered a polished, immersive, non-linear lesson to the client for trainee testing. The learner is able to go completely at their own pace, with absolute clarity and opportunities for depth, without degloving or regloving thanks to touchless navigation via voice commands.

The result? Guidance with enough clarity and depth that enable learners to succeed the first time; a high-fidelity preservation of expert knowledge that is engaged with when it’s needed; an estimated month’s worth of training time saved.

Granted, this is one such example, with a number of variables – not the least of which is the learner’s inherent aptitude. Yet even with those considerations, Larabee’s immersive training solution demonstrates the high yield potential of one small investment. What are the benefits beyond a month of saved time? A reduction of revenue loss from costly mistakes, greater employee retention when they’re set up to succeed, and the avoidance of disruption if and when an expert leaves. 

So tell us, because we’d love to know: What would it mean for your organization if the people you depended on (and who depend on you) were set up for success at scale?