Running a company is difficult in the best of economies. But in the recent macroeconomic environment, companies see more and more obstacles in their way. They are asking their employees to deliver results with fewer resources and are having to make the tough decisions to do that.

It’s easy to get stuck in that “it’s worked before” box if there just aren’t enough resources to expend on new and innovative ideas. This is especially true when we think about how companies are developing and supporting their employees. Sticking to traditional methods is easy and safe. But, these methods won’t cut it anymore. Employees expect more. Learning and career development are more important to most employees now than ever before. Our employees are craving experiences that allow them to learn something new and have a little fun along the way. That’s what keeps employees motivated and engaged.

Unfortunately, most companies choose efficiency over creativity. But not all companies. Startups uniquely tend to do the opposite and choose a creative solution over one that’s process-oriented and tried-and-true.

Now, we aren’t saying that the size of your company or the number of years you’ve been in business will automatically put you in a box. But, we do recognize that as companies mature, so do their processes. As we grow and change as people, how we think changes too. Processes make things more efficient. Maturity brings more consistent and confident communication. But, it can also bring rigidity.

What Makes Learning at a Startup Different?

Startup companies are known for their agility, innovative thinking and risk-taking characteristics. They are constantly experimenting, iterating and adapting to changes in their industry to stay ahead of the game. In the same way, we as learning professionals should approach learning design with a similar mindset.

To do this, we recommend following three concepts as you design your next learning and development (L&D) program.

1. Get creative.

Startups thrive on innovation. Fail and fail fast. It’s about taking a risk, maybe a calculated one, but taking it anyway. Now, being creative doesn’t mean it has to be completely off the charts. Creative is a subjective term that can be applied to any context, situation and company. Find the creative stretch for you and your organization.

One way to get creative is to really focus on getting your employees to feel and experience something. Our five senses and our emotions are powerful tools that we often forget about in building learning programs. Instead of focusing on questions like, “What are the learning objectives?” or “What behaviors will change?” — why not ask questions like, “How do you want your employees to feel after they’ve taken your course?” Content is content and it’s easily forgotten (I mean… we all learned a lot in school we for sure don’t remember). But feelings? Feelings we remember.

Another way of fostering creativity is to start brainstorming the wildest and most out-of-the-box idea that you can. Get the far-reaching idea on paper and have fun with it. From there, you can pull back and get more realistic about what you achieve, taking into account your budget and resources. Instead of rolling out a compliance program using the top-down method, try adding a gimmick to it. Can’t get employees to finish their benefits on time? Give them another kind of incentive and show them “It’s easy as pie.” A little creativity can go a long way.

2. Good enough is good enough.

We live in a world of perfectionism. Social media has convinced us that we can have the perfect everything if we just try hard enough. And, that perfection is the goal. Employees in the workplace are no different. We want to see the perfect solution that’s beautifully planned and manicured to achieve results. But, that’s unrealistic in any company. Startups get this.

Resources are finite in a startup. You don’t necessarily have time to have multiple versions, reviews, or iterations on a project, especially when you need to move fast. You do need to set expectations about what “good enough” means. For you and your learning team, you need to be clear that they are empowered to make corrections and updates if they are needed without waiting for layers of approvals. For your employees, you invite them to ask questions, provide feedback and get comfortable with a typo every now and then.

If you work at a big company, you have experienced the waiting game because your boss, their boss and two other people from different departments have to approve the content. If you have to wait this long for approval at a startup, the teams that are executing will move on without you.

Startups know that if they aim for perfection, they’ll never get anything done. The company could cease to exist if we waited for every pitch deck to be perfect or for every customer implementation to have a clean process. Don’t wait for it to be perfect. Good enough is good enough.

3. Be ready to change.

It’s cliché, but we’re going to say it anyway: The only thing that’s constant is change. Smaller companies naturally have to be more agile. Business processes aren’t fully developed and that’s because the core business needs to be able to shift as needed to industry, client, or even economy changes. Instead of getting stuck in trying to understand why something has changed, put your focus on what the new outcome should look like and how you can drive the change.

Every learning professional has it in them. It may be buried behind some learning objectives and implementation plans, but it’s there. We all got into this profession because we wanted to help people and we had a knack for organizing information in a creative way. Lean on your roots and let go a little. The world is full of awe, wonder and really challenging things. It’s okay to have some fun and learn more like a startup.