Bespoke simulations & emerging tech
Lessons from practical, immersive learning.
5 minute read
Why simulation learning?
Astronauts rehearse before launch. Surgeons practise before operating. Formula One drivers train in simulators. They do so because the stakes are high, and there is often one moment to get it right.
Similarly, for leaders and managers in organisations, there are performance moments that carry real consequence. Making high-stakes decisions, influencing teams or delivering challenging feedback can all have a significant impact. Yet leaders and managers rarely get the chance to practise without the risk of failure.
Simulations create that opportunity. They allow people to try, receive feedback and adjust their approach in a safe, low-risk environment. The aim is to develop skills through deliberate, high-quality practise.
When the stakes are high, simulations are not just useful, they are necessary.
The trouble is, historically they have been very costly, until now.
Emerging technology
AI is changing what is possible with simulation-based learning. Simulations can now be more immersive, responsive and tailored to specific performance environments than ever before.
Interactive AI tools can simulate video or phone calls, automate email traffic and create detailed briefings, whilst participant decisions shape the response, feedback and consequences that follow in real time. Rather than applying a standard learner experience to every simulation, or building a complex algorithm that takes months to develop, tailored simulations that respond to the actions of individual participants can be created at pace.
This opens the door for learning experiences that feel real. Emerging technology allows us to design richer learning experiences at a level of quality, speed and cost that was previously not possible.
Eight lessons
What we’ve learned so far
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What are you trying to simulate? Is it a series of behaviours, a specific moment, or a whole performance environment? Once this is defined, you can then decide how to design the learning experience.
Whilst this sounds obvious, it can be tempting to build before the skills are clearly defined — and you might end up with a brilliant experience, targeting the wrong behaviours. There are options here: you can mirror the real context directly (e.g. mimicking the workplace) or create a radically different scenario (e.g. presenting a news show, or a hostage negotiation). Whatever you decide, stay precise to the skills you’re aiming to develop.
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AI makes bespoke simulation learning viable at scale. Simulations are faster to create and therefore cheaper. However, this is not the only benefit — leveraging the right technology can improve quality, contributing to the learning experience and impact.
Consider how AI tools could support the discovery, design, learning experience, reflection and learning application. The priority is: will this make the simulation experience better?
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This is about credibility, not just realism. Detail matters — from the language to the physical environment. Get it right, and participants fully engage with the experience and their role in it.
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Leadership decisions and actions rarely exist in isolation. This should be reflected in the simulation, building in complexity — tensions between current and future performance, such as process vs. innovation, delivery vs. wellbeing, and reward vs. risk.
A strong simulation surfaces these tensions and lets people work through them, seeing the consequences of their choices to enhance awareness and inform future decisions.
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Just as in the real world, high-impact simulations evolve with the context. Information lands, stakeholders react, priorities shift, and how participants engage should also have an impact. By doing so, it creates a sense of control and consequence.
This can build engagement and encourage greater opportunity for personal reflection and learning.
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Pressure builds challenge, and it’s an important part of simulation design. Used well, it increases focus, energy and engagement. Used poorly, it can create frustration, irritation or disengagement.
The level of pressure can be adjusted by increasing demands, such as volume of work or complexity, or by introducing constraints, such as reduced time or uncertainty. Understanding the audience and their typical performance environment is crucial to getting this right.
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People need space to take risks. If they feel like they are being judged or assessed, they may play it safe or disengage altogether. This is partly about simulation design, but also about how you position the purpose and expectation.
Development simulations should feel real enough to matter, yet contained enough to experiment.
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Simulation creates an experience. Reflection can turn that experience into learning and action. This typically happens at the end, but it could also happen during the simulation — consider how and when to build in moments to pause, review and adjust. This provides a chance to review outcomes and the role each person has played.
Questions to reflect on
What did you do that contributed to the outcome?
What could you have tried or done differently to affect the outcome?
What does this mean for your performance at work?
Interested in simulation learning?
Discover how Spinnaker can deliver immersive, high-impact learning experiences for your organisation.
