How We Work
Our approach to learning design
At Make Happy, we design workshops and training that lead to practical change, not just good conversations.
Across all our work—creative problem solving, LEGO® Serious Play®, entrepreneurship, and facilitation training—we use a simple, evidence-informed approach to ensure that learning translates into action.
From learning to action
Insight only matters if it changes what people do.
That is why our sessions follow a consistent Learning-to-Action Cycle, designed to help participants think clearly, apply ideas quickly, and take ownership of what happens next.
Each session moves through five stages.
The Learning-to-Action Cycle
- Retrieve: We begin by reconnecting participants to prior learning and experience. This reinforces the idea that learning is cumulative, not episodic.
- Experience: Participants work on real challenges through structured activities—building, mapping, deciding, and testing. Thinking is made visible and open to exploration and challenge.
- Name: Together, we extract a small number of clear principles from the experience, turning activity into shared insight.
- Apply: Participants explicitly map those insights to their own context, identifying where and how they will use them in practice.
- Commit: Each session ends with a concrete action. This ensures learning carries forward into day-to-day behaviour.
The cycle is deliberately simple. It allows us to work flexibly across topics and contexts while maintaining a clear line from learning to action.
What this means in practice
In our workshops, you can expect:
- Less presentation, more participation
- Clear structure that supports creative thinking
- Real business challenges, not abstract exercises
- Space to experiment, reflect, and decide
- A strong emphasis on application and follow-through
The result is learning that sticks because it is grounded in experience and tied to real decisions.
Why this approach works
The Learning-to-Action Cycle draws on well-established research in adult learning, experiential education, and behaviour change. It reflects a simple belief: creativity and problem-solving improve when people are given the right structure, not more content.
By balancing exploration with decision-making, and insight with commitment, we help teams move from good ideas to meaningful progress.