A Value Proposition & Outcomes Focus

• Apr 29, 2025
• Educational Technology, Higher Education, Leadership, Planning, Reflection, Work, & Learning Design
• 6 minutes reading time

Well, the countdown is on for our proposed restructure. They've put out the call for the senior director-level roles, and while it would be nice to think I could do them, I know that in the world of hierarchy that is the modern university – there's not much hope I'd be successful.

What comes from the reorganisation, I can only guess, but I am trying to see things positively and that this might be an opportunity for me to make a move (hopefully in an upwards direction).

So in that vein I've been trying to work on "selling" myself a little more, and in essence, trying to capture what I have done and am capable of doing. Having spent 5 years (6 in August!) in this organisation there are a lot of runs on the board – but if I'm honest not a lot of recognition. I joined the University of Adelaide the week the first online course was due to be finalised and go out - so I jumped straight into a quality assurance role... and very quickly had to define what "quality" meant. Since then, I've signed off on every online course the university has in its fully online degree programs - spanning five postgraduate qualifications and two undergrads. There's also the six MOOC bridging program which was done during COVID lockdown. In all around 100 courses. I've built an amazing team and culture around me and strove to embed truly collaborative process and move beyond the tired templates and transactions that plagues the typical course development approach.

So there's achievements yes... but what is the value I bring? I made things, and I made things happen. Most of my actual work is intangible – working on people's problems, communicating, listening and making plans. I was lucky to come across this toot from Paul Hibbitts^[1], and his framing really helped me focus in on a few things.

1. Articulating your value proposition
   Of course, I was aware of the concept of a value proposition, but I never really considered one for myself. Maybe it's part of the system – the organisation only sees your value as a line item in a spreadsheet – but I hadn't thought much about the actual value I create. What is it that I do that is valuable? Not having a lot of positive feedback over the last few years has been challenging for me. The lack of recognition despite the results of my, and my teams efforts, stems from a change in leadership - those that are around simply inherited a project running well and have no understanding of the effort that went into making it that way.
2. Focussing on outcomes, not outputs
   This was something new for me. For most of my career, I've been focussed on the output – an artefact that at least represents the effort that went in. But outcomes... that was new. It moves a bit into the intangible space, but at the same time, that's what my work has become – being in a more senior role has been less about contributing directly and more about leading and navigating a way through the process.

Crafting a first version

I really struggled to do this by myself. I sat and stared blankly at the screen, looked up formulas and examples and out of a bit of frustration I opened up an AI tool. The generative tools provide some hints but no real direction, they also claimed to not be able to write about me. Perplexity AI on the other hand had no problem, despite my clear Terms of Service, and was happy to spit back some suggestions - referencing my old and new blog, LinkedIn and a few of the websites I've crafted. I didn't hate it – I wasn't a huge fan of the 3rd person and some of the terminology. So I dug in a little, made some amendments.

A Value Proposition

I deliver transformative change to educational practice by seamlessly bridging innovation, pedagogy, and technology to create exceptional learning experiences. As Manager of Educational Design at the University of Adelaide, I led the establishment of the university's online programs. I oversaw the development of all online courses and developed a comprehensive Learning Design System and Quality Assurance Framework that has streamlined development processes while enhancing course quality across multiple disciplines.

Through my leadership, I embedded collaborative learning design practice, enabling the university to move beyond templated development towards adaptable, learner-centred solutions that increase student engagement and success. I consistently lead complex educational projects from inception to successful completion, meticulously planning resource requirements and delivering results on time and within budget. I employ design thinking methodologies to drive sustainable innovation and professionalisation of learning design at scale – empowering learning designers and educators with creative approaches that improve student outcomes while maintaining institutional consistency and efficiency.

I'm not sure if it's quite "there" just yet, and I'm happy to receive feedback, but it is a start.

Outcomes of my work

This was another space where Perplexity did a good job of pulling together a draft. As outcomes, these hold up pretty well and align strongly with some of the feedback I've got recently from team members, past and present.

The outcomes of my work are seen in the professionalisation, scalability, and agility of learning design practices, the empowerment of educators, the enhancement of student experiences, and the fostering of a collaborative, innovative culture within educational institutions.

• Professionalisation and Scaling of Learning Design: My initiatives have helped move learning design from artisanal, one-off projects to a scalable, professional practice. This shift enables the university to deliver high-quality, consistent learning experiences at scale while allowing for adaptation, customisation and innovation.
• Enhanced Collaboration and Multidisciplinary Integration: My approach unites pedagogy, student experience, and development processes, fostering stronger collaboration between educators, designers, media, and technologists. This multidisciplinary integration leads to more holistic and effective practices and courses.
• Empowerment of Educators and Subject Experts: The systems and patterns I have developed provide scaffolding and support for course authors, allowing them to focus on their expertise without being burdened by foundational design and structure. This empowerment results in more authentic and engaging learning experiences.
• Improved Student Experience and Engagement: By focusing on the design of the entire learning experience rather than just content delivery, my work ensures that students benefit from thoughtfully sequenced, visually mapped, and contextually relevant learning journeys and constructively aligned courses.
• Agility and Continuous Improvement: Leading the implementation of agile methodologies and a design system has enabled significant changes to course development that can now focus on rapid iteration, responsiveness to feedback, and continuous improvement. This outcome ensures that learning design remains adaptive and forward-looking and applies to both processes and learning experiences.
• Culture of Innovation: My leadership and emphasis on integrating technology with educational practice have cultivated a culture of innovation within the institution. This culture supports ongoing experimentation, adoption of new pedagogical approaches and development of new technologies and practices.

This little activity has felt worthwhile, just changing perspectives and seeing what it is I bring to the table, especially for recruitment and future roles. I probably need to back to my resume and the other accoutrement required for a few rounds of Expressions of Interest and job applications and align them to these bigger picture concepts.

• Tim Klapdor
• Adelaide, Australia
• & posts