It all started when I went to get a coffee with Simeon, our founder at VIVIDA. We decided to head to one of the more high-end coffee shops rather than our regular place, especially since today there wasn’t as long a queue. Usually, people would wrap all the way around the building out onto the street on the premise of drinking a special filtered coffee that this small coffee shop is renowned for. I wondered how exactly their filtered coffee worked. Iโd had drank regular pressed coffee before, surely it couldnโt be much different… could it? The barista overheard us talking about this type of coffee and she was then kind enough to explain the method that went into making it. Even so, I still couldnโt quite grasp what the fuss was about. But what she said next, would completely shift all of my preconceived notions.
โHow about I just show you?โ The barista saidโฆ
โHow about I just show you?โ
Approaching the counter she started to grind some coffee beans, she then sifted them through a paper filter. When she added the boiling water, the paper filter stopped it from flowing too quickly into the cup. Ensuring the beans had ample time to fully marinate in the water; to distil into the perfect coffee.
โItโs a balancing act.โ She said whilst pouring a little more water very slowly. โPour too many times and youโll get a slightly metallic taste, too few and it wonโt be strong enough. Three pours tends to be just rightโฆ usually.โ
Using a French press would have been quicker, and would allow them to serve more people, but she explained to me that there is a distinct difference in the taste with drip filtered coffee. A taste that is much more subdued and evenly spread out than its intensively strong, French pressed counterpart.
We hadn’t asked her to show us how it was done; how to make this version of the perfectly balanced coffee. And yet if she hadnโt taken the time to literally show me, I would not have been able to fully visualise or understand the effort that goes into making each and every drip filtered coffee, making them taste so special and unique.
She then asked if I would like to taste the coffee she had kindly made. After just one sip, everything made sense. This is why the queues to this place always pour out onto the street. This is why it takes longer to get served. Itโs because the extra time it takes to have a drip filtered coffee was worth it.
I thought to myself, this is the VIVIDA difference.
How does this apply to us you might be thinking?
OK so stay with me, this isnโt just a random article about coffee, it all ties together, I promise!
This barista, as brilliant as she was, could never have found the right words (on their own) to make this coffee making method stick in my brain. Yes, she could have just told me all the ins and outs or explained every single step to me but without that visual aid of seeing her make a fresh coffee directly in front of me, it would have been just another conversation with another retail assistant that I probably wouldโve forgotten as I left the store.
Using visual learning
This methodology in teaching is the same way we try to use at VIVIDA. By seeing something done in practice, it suddenly becomes real. Thereโs no struggle to visualise it in your mind because, well, itโs literally there in front of you. Youโre seeing it with your own two eyes, you are engaging with it. Itโs this very commitment to visualisation and interactivity that makes VIVIDA unique.
Visual learning symbols we use
Using one of our group learning experiences as an example
Our online cyber escape room contains a phishing module where employees are shown a variety of phishing emails. We then layer this kind of social engineering attack by adding a vishing call and some smishing SMS messages. We show the participant step by step how these attacks take place and how they are all interconnected. This ensures the audience gets to see everything play out first-hand, it leads them to obtain a much clearer understanding that sticks in their minds much longer than any text-only explanation ever could.
Interactivity is key
We then take this further by allowing people to interact with the emails themselves, or to try the coffee as it were. In another module we encourage them to uncover information and passwords in a similar vein to the criminals who want to steal their important information. In doing so they now know where the password vulnerabilities are and how they can strengthen them in a calm and responsible way. Physically doing something and seeing it take place in front of your very eyes, breeds familiarity and ensures everyone is familiar with all of the ins and outs, so they are never caught off guard.
Taking the coffee analogy a step furtherโฆ
It could be said that our stories are similar to the drip filtered approach of making coffee. Pressing down hard to push information onto an employee isnโt our style. We let them sit and brew with the newfound information so they can really become familiar with it, thus teaching them how to apply it to their day to day lives, in a way that is natural so they donโt even realise theyโre being taught. Drip by drip, we gradually escalate the stakes until we know for certain theyโre ready. In much the same vein as the drip filter, our approach allows us to pour out the perfectly infused coffee; so employees can retain the information for a lifetime.
