Build or Boxed

June 2024

In my operational roles in the 90’s, the big tech decision was build or boxed? Invest in creating a bespoke solution to meet your every need or choose the best fit solution out of the box? 

Later, I found myself having pretty similar discussions with clients about development programmes. Having a discovery and design phase that uncovers and directly targets what is going on in your organization can be hugely powerful and shift the dial in a sustainable way, but well-researched, targeted, out of the box solutions can provide high quality impactful learning experiences at high scale/low cost. 

The answer of course depends entirely on context, and I’ve often found it’s a combination of both. Retro-fitting a solution onto a challenge is rarely helpful, but neither is reinventing the wheel.

That’s why when it comes to development programmes, I start with the challenge and then build, box or blend.