Map It

Map It Plot Summary

Introduction

Have you ever sat through a training session filled with information that you promptly forgot when you returned to your desk? Or perhaps you've created training that participants seemed to enjoy, but didn't actually change how they performed their jobs? These scenarios are all too common in workplace learning, where the focus often falls on delivering content rather than improving performance. What if there was a more effective approach? A method that shifts the focus from what people need to know to what they need to do differently? This is the heart of action mapping—a revolutionary approach to designing learning experiences that actually change behavior and improve business results. By starting with clear performance goals, identifying critical behaviors, analyzing barriers, and creating practice-focused activities, you can transform training from information dumps into powerful catalysts for workplace improvement.

Chapter 1: Start with Clear Business Goals, Not Content

The foundation of effective training design isn't content—it's a clear, measurable business goal. Traditional training often begins with subject matter, asking "What do people need to know about this topic?" Action mapping flips this approach by starting with the question "What problem are we trying to solve?" Consider the story of Bob, a training designer working with a widget company. His initial goal was simply "Salespeople will know all the product features." When pressed by a skeptical executive about the business value of this training, Bob realized he needed to dig deeper. Through discussion, he discovered that salespeople were only selling the cheapest "micro" widgets, ignoring the more profitable "mega" and "monster" widgets, even when these would better serve customers' needs. Bob's revised goal became much more powerful: "Mega and monster widget sales will increase 5% by Q4 as salespeople identify the best widget for each customer." This goal was specific, measurable, and directly tied to business results. It justified the investment in training by showing how it would contribute to increased profits. With this clearer goal, Bob's approach to training changed dramatically. Instead of creating information-heavy presentations about product features, he worked with Luisa from sales to identify why salespeople weren't recommending the higher-end widgets. This analysis led to multiple solutions—some weren't training at all, like changing how sales results were reported and adjusting commission structures. When writing your own goals, follow this template: "A measure we already use will increase/decrease X% by [date] as people DO something on the job." This format ensures your goal is measurable, time-bound, and focused on behavior change. Avoid goals centered on knowledge, awareness, or course completion—these don't demonstrate business impact. Remember that your goal serves as the north star for your entire project. Every activity, every piece of content should directly contribute to achieving this goal. If something doesn't help reach the goal, it doesn't belong in your solution.

Chapter 2: Map Critical Behaviors That Drive Results

Once you have a clear business goal, the next step is identifying exactly what people need to do differently to achieve that goal. This means listing specific, observable behaviors—not knowledge, understanding, or awareness. In a project with a hospital aiming to reduce medication errors, the designer worked with nurses and pharmacists to identify key behaviors. Rather than listing vague actions like "be more careful with medications," they specified behaviors such as "Verify patient identity using two identifiers before administering medication" and "Cross-check high-alert medications with another nurse before administration." These behaviors are specific and observable—you could watch someone doing their job and clearly see whether they're performing these actions correctly. This specificity is crucial for designing effective learning experiences and measuring improvement. The hospital project team prioritized these behaviors based on their impact on patient safety and frequency of errors. They discovered that verification of patient identity and dosage calculation were the highest-priority behaviors to address, as these were involved in the most serious medication errors. This focus on specific behaviors completely changed the design approach. Instead of creating general information about medication safety, the designer created targeted practice activities for these high-priority behaviors. Nurses practiced calculating dosages for patients with different weights and medical conditions, and practiced the patient identification procedure in scenarios where they were interrupted or pressured for time—common factors in real-world errors. When identifying behaviors for your own projects, ask questions like: "What would I see people doing if they were performing well?" and "If I were observing someone doing this job correctly, what specific actions would I notice?" Avoid vague terms like "understand," "know," or "be aware of"—these describe what's happening in someone's head, not what they're doing on the job. Remember that not all behaviors require the same level of practice. Focus your design efforts on the behaviors that have the biggest impact on your business goal and that require judgment or decision-making that can't be fully supported by reference materials.

Chapter 3: Analyze Why Performance Gaps Exist

Understanding why people aren't performing the desired behaviors is perhaps the most critical step in action mapping. This analysis prevents you from creating unnecessary training and helps identify the most effective solutions. When a manufacturing company was experiencing quality issues with their products, the initial request was for "quality awareness training" for all staff. The designer, Maria, used action mapping to dig deeper. For each high-priority behavior, she asked, "Why aren't people doing this correctly now?" Maria examined four possible categories of barriers: environment (tools, processes, culture), knowledge, skills, and motivation. For one critical behavior—"Calibrate measurement tools at the start of each shift"—she discovered that the calibration process was cumbersome and time-consuming. The tools were stored far from workstations, and the calibration procedure itself took nearly 15 minutes. Under production pressure, workers often skipped this step. This wasn't a knowledge problem at all—workers knew they should calibrate the tools and how to do it. The barriers were environmental: inconvenient tool storage and a time-consuming procedure. Based on this analysis, Maria recommended relocating the calibration equipment and simplifying the procedure. These changes reduced calibration time to three minutes and made it much more convenient. Compliance with the calibration requirement increased dramatically without any formal training. For another behavior—"Identify and flag potential quality issues during production"—Maria found multiple barriers. Workers lacked the confidence to make these judgments, weren't sure what criteria to use, and feared being blamed for production delays if they flagged problems. This led to a multi-faceted solution including simplified decision criteria, practice activities, and changes to how managers responded when workers flagged issues. When conducting your own analysis, be persistent in asking "why?" Don't accept the first answer. If someone says "They're just not motivated," ask why they're not motivated. Often, apparent motivation problems are actually caused by environmental barriers, knowledge gaps, or skill deficiencies. Remember that this analysis isn't about assigning blame—it's about understanding the real barriers to performance so you can design effective solutions. By thoroughly analyzing why people aren't performing desired behaviors, you'll create solutions that actually work, save time and money by avoiding unnecessary training, and demonstrate your value as a performance consultant.

Chapter 4: Create Practice Activities, Not Information Dumps

The heart of action mapping is designing practice activities that help people make better decisions on the job. These aren't knowledge checks or quizzes—they're realistic scenarios that simulate the decisions people face in their actual work. When a pharmaceutical company needed to help sales representatives comply with strict regulations while effectively promoting their products, the designer created a series of practice activities rather than an information dump about regulations. One activity placed learners in a scenario with a skeptical doctor who asked potentially problematic questions about off-label uses of a medication. The activity presented the scenario and asked, "What would you say next?" Options included responses that were compliant but ineffective, non-compliant but persuasive, and the ideal response that was both compliant and effective. After making their choice, learners saw what happened next in the conversation—the natural consequence of their decision—rather than just being told they were right or wrong. This approach forced learners to apply regulatory knowledge in realistic situations where they had to balance compliance with sales effectiveness. The feedback showed the real-world impact of their choices rather than preaching rules at them. The designer also created variations of this scenario with different types of healthcare providers and different challenging questions. Each scenario included optional links to relevant regulations and guidelines—the same references sales reps could access on the job. This helped them practice using these resources in context rather than trying to memorize everything. When creating your own practice activities, focus on decisions that require judgment. Ask yourself: "What decisions do people struggle with on this job?" Then design activities that help them practice making those specific decisions. Make sure each activity includes a realistic context that mirrors the actual job situation, options that represent common mistakes as well as best practices, and feedback that shows consequences rather than just correcting. These activities can be delivered in many formats—not just elearning. The pharmaceutical company used their scenarios in self-paced online modules, but also projected them during live training sessions to spark discussion, and printed them as cards for role-play activities during team meetings.

Chapter 5: Design for the Workflow, Not Just Events

Traditional training typically happens as an event—a course, workshop, or webinar that takes place separate from the actual work. Action mapping encourages us to think beyond events and design solutions that fit into people's actual workflow. A financial services company was struggling with customer service representatives making errors when processing loan applications. The traditional approach would have been to create a comprehensive course on loan processing. Instead, the designer, Carlos, looked at how the work actually happened and designed solutions that fit the workflow. Carlos discovered that representatives weren't processing loans continuously—they might handle just a few per week, with days or weeks between applications. This meant that information presented in a one-time course would likely be forgotten by the time it was needed. He also found that different types of loans had different requirements and common errors. Instead of creating a single course, Carlos designed multiple solutions that fit different points in the workflow. He created short, focused practice activities for each loan type that representatives could access right before processing that type of loan. These "just-in-time" activities helped them practice the specific decisions required for the loan they were about to process. Carlos also improved the existing reference materials, creating clearer job aids that were organized by loan type rather than by policy section. These redesigned references were embedded in both the practice activities and the loan processing software itself, so representatives could access them exactly when needed. For new representatives, Carlos did create an initial training experience, but it focused on practicing with the job aids and software rather than memorizing procedures. The goal was to help them become comfortable using the resources available to them rather than trying to remember everything. When designing your own solutions, consider workflow-based approaches: provide practice activities that can be accessed right before performing a task, create or improve job aids that support performance during the task, embed guidance within the tools people already use, and design spaced practice that delivers challenges over time rather than all at once. Remember that learning doesn't have to be an event. By designing for the workflow rather than defaulting to courses or events, you'll create solutions that are more effective, more efficient, and more respectful of people's time and intelligence.

Chapter 6: Test Prototypes Before Full Development

Creating prototypes early in your design process is a powerful way to test your ideas, get meaningful feedback, and save time and resources. In action mapping, prototyping means creating a working model of a typical activity before investing in full development. When a telecommunications company needed to help field technicians troubleshoot a new generation of equipment, the designer, Priya, created a simple prototype of one troubleshooting scenario. Rather than spending weeks developing a polished, media-rich simulation, she created a text-based scenario with simple images showing the equipment readings. Priya showed this prototype to both the subject matter expert (an experienced technician) and several target learners. The SME confirmed that the scenario was realistic and the decision points accurately reflected the troubleshooting process. The learners, however, identified several issues: some of the terminology was inconsistent with what they used in the field, the readings weren't displayed in the same format as their diagnostic tools, and one of the decision points felt artificial. Based on this feedback, Priya revised the prototype before creating more scenarios. She adjusted the terminology, redesigned how the readings were displayed to match the actual tools, and restructured the artificial decision point to better reflect the real troubleshooting process. When she presented the revised prototype, both the SME and learners were enthusiastic. They could see how the final product would help technicians develop troubleshooting skills, and they had confidence that it would reflect their actual work context. The prototype approach saved significant time and resources. If Priya had fully developed all the planned scenarios before getting feedback, she would have had to make the same corrections across multiple scenarios—a much more time-consuming and expensive process. By identifying and fixing issues with one prototype, she ensured that all subsequent scenarios would avoid those problems. When creating your own prototypes, keep it simple—focus on content and structure, not visual design or media. Make it functional so people can interact with it as they would the final product. Test it with both SMEs and target learners, as they'll notice different issues. Be open to feedback—the purpose is to identify problems early. And iterate quickly—revise and test again if necessary. Prototypes don't have to be digital. For face-to-face training, you might prototype an activity by running it with a small group. For a job aid, you might create a rough draft and have people try to use it for a real task. The key is to create something concrete that people can react to, rather than just describing your ideas.

Chapter 7: Measure Impact on Performance, Not Completion

The true test of any training is whether it actually improves performance and achieves the business goal. Action mapping includes a deliberate focus on implementation and evaluation to ensure real-world impact. For the hospital sharps safety project, Anna worked with Harold to create an implementation plan that went beyond simply making the training available. They scheduled the training to coincide with other safety initiatives, ensured managers understood the importance of reinforcing the key behaviors, and coordinated with facilities management on environmental changes like relocating sharps containers. The evaluation plan focused on the original goal: reducing needlestick injuries by 50% within six months. They tracked this metric monthly to monitor progress. But they also tracked leading indicators that would show whether the training was changing behavior, such as the percentage of sharps containers found to be overfilled during safety audits, observations of proper sharps handling during routine procedures, and staff confidence in handling sharps safely in emergency situations. Three months after implementation, needlestick injuries had decreased by 35%. By the six-month mark, they had achieved their goal of a 50% reduction. The training, combined with the environmental changes, had made a measurable difference in workplace safety. Beyond the numbers, Anna collected success stories from staff about how the training had helped them make better decisions. One emergency room nurse described how, during a particularly chaotic shift, she remembered the scenario from the training and made a different choice than she might have previously, avoiding a potential injury. These stories helped reinforce the value of the training and built momentum for continued improvement. They also provided powerful examples that Anna could use when designing future training programs. The evaluation wasn't just about proving success—it was also about identifying opportunities for further improvement. Anna discovered that needlestick injuries were still occurring more frequently during night shifts, which led to additional targeted interventions for that specific context. When planning your own evaluation strategy, focus on the business metrics that matter, not just learning metrics like completion rates or test scores. Collect both quantitative data (the numbers) and qualitative data (the stories) to build a complete picture of your impact. And use what you learn to continuously improve your approach.

Summary

Action mapping transforms training from information-centered to performance-centered design. By starting with a clear business goal, identifying the critical behaviors that drive that goal, analyzing performance barriers, and designing practice-focused activities, you create learning experiences that actually change what people do. As Cathy Moore writes, "We're not going to 'spice up' conventional training. We're going to completely overhaul how you were probably taught to do instructional design." This transformation isn't just about creating better training—it's about becoming a true performance consultant who helps organizations solve real problems and achieve meaningful results. The next time someone asks you to "create a course," respond with "What goal are we trying to achieve?" This one question can start you on the path to becoming a performance consultant rather than just a training provider.

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Cathy Moore

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