cultivated notes

The Learning Structure Behind Every Great Workshop

Many workshops fail not because the content is weak, but because the learning structure isn’t doing its job. This article explores two learning approaches — and why great workshops build understanding carefully, from solid foundations.

Image sourced from the Public Domain Image Archive / Library of Congress

I’ve delivered a lot of workshops over the years.

I enjoy running them. I enjoy attending them. And I care deeply about what happens after the day is over — what people actually take with them, remember, and use.

One thing I’ve noticed, again and again, is this:

Many workshops fail not because the content is poor,
but because the learning structure isn’t doing its job.

People leave feeling busy, inspired, even entertained — but not grounded. Not quite sure what the core idea was, or how everything connected.

That’s what this Cultivated Notes video explores – the approach taken straight out of my book Workshop Mastery.

Video below the article.

👉 Workshop Mastery is your essential guide to designing and running engaging workshops that inspire lasting impact. Packed with proven facilitation techniques, practical strategies, and real-world insights.

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Workshops Are Not About the Facilitator

It’s easy to forget this.

When you’re designing or delivering a workshop, there’s a temptation to share everything you know. Interesting ideas. Clever frameworks. Stories you enjoy telling.

But a workshop isn’t about the facilitator.

It’s about whether the people in the room leave with:

a clear understanding of the core principles
a sense of how those principles connect
the confidence to apply them in the real world

Without a deliberate learning structure, even good content becomes fragmented.

Two Ways to Structure Learning

In the video, I explore two common learning approaches.

Inductive learning

This is the method I use in all of my workshops.

It starts simple. Grounded. Close to the truth of the subject.

From there, complexity is layered carefully — always checking understanding, always building on solid foundations. The thread remains visible throughout the day.

People can feel where they are in the journey.

Deductive learning

This works in the opposite direction.

It starts broad — with applications, complexity, or the “big picture” — and gradually narrows toward the underlying principles.

This approach can work in some contexts. But it carries a risk: if time runs out, or understanding doesn’t land, people may never reach the grounding ideas that everything else depends on.

And without those foundations, future learning has nothing solid to build on.

Why Structure Matters More Than Style

Many workshops don’t follow either approach.

They become a loose collection of ideas the facilitator finds interesting. The result is energy without coherence.

From the learner’s perspective, this feels confusing rather than empowering.

Good learning structure does something subtle but important:

it reduces cognitive load
it builds confidence
it creates momentum rather than overwhelm

People don’t just hear ideas — they understand how they fit together.

Learning That Lasts

The goal of a workshop isn’t applause at the end of the day.

It’s what happens afterwards:

when people test ideas
apply principles
build on what they’ve learned through experience

That only works when learning rests on solid ground.

Structure isn’t restrictive.
It’s generous.

It’s how we take responsibility for the people in the room.

Watch the Video

In the video below, I walk through these two learning methods in more detail, explain why I default to an inductive approach, and share how this structure has shaped every workshop I’ve designed over the past 15 years.