What we won’t build (and why)
Simulated case. Brightline Health Services and all names and figures are fictional — constructed for portfolio purposes.
The requested 2-hour course is the headline, but it’s not the only thing we’re saying no to. Each of these was considered; each fails the evidence test from discovery. Saying no to these is what protects the budget and manager time for the things that will move turnover.
1. The 2-hour e-learning course on giving feedback
Why it was requested: it’s the familiar shape for a survey finding. Why no: the largest gaps are structural — only 31% of managers hold fortnightly one-on-ones, spans have crept to 12–18, and the scorecard pays 0% attention to team development. A course cannot edit a form, book a meeting, or re-weight a scorecard. The skill gap that does exist is narrow and specific, and 15 minutes of consequential practice targets it better than 120 minutes of content. Two hours × 70 managers of clinical backfill is the single most expensive line item in the whole engagement, spent on the smallest cause.
2. A knowledge quiz or “feedback styles” assessment
Why it’s tempting: LMS-friendly, easily reported, makes completion dashboards look busy. Why no: managers can already describe good feedback (the interviews show it); knowledge isn’t the deficit. And completion rates are not outcomes — the measurement plan tracks cadence, behavior and turnover instead.
3. A communication-styles / personality module for all staff
Why it’s tempting: broad, popular, feels like culture change. Why no: no evidence points to staff-side knowledge or manager-staff style mismatch; the same survey shows structure and incentives, not interpersonal compatibility. It would spend goodwill and budget on a cause the data doesn’t support.
4. A manager “training week” or offsite
Why it’s tempting: immersive, signals seriousness. Why no: 12 regional clinics cannot lose their managers for a week without patient-flow impact (the constraint is in the intake), and an event doesn’t survive contact with a scorecard that rewards throughput and a calendar with no meeting time. Habits are built by the 30-day challenge, not by an offsite.
5. An LMS deployment, SCORM packaging, completion tracking
Why it’s tempting: “if it’s not in the LMS, did it happen?” Why no: the scenario is 15 minutes and runs in any browser; the job aid is a page. Wrapping them in an LMS adds weeks of packaging for compliance-style reporting that measures the wrong thing. (If the organization later requires LMS hosting for access reasons, the scenario exports cleanly — but the measurement plan never depends on it.)
6. Sending the feedback email series again
Why it’s tempting: it already exists from 2024. Why no: the 2024 series had a ~30% open rate and no measurable effect (HR1). Re-running an intervention that failed without changing the system around it is the definition of hope-based design.
What we will build is the blend: the cadence and template, the form change, the span review, the job aid, the scenario, the challenge, and the measurement plan. Less training. More performance.