Defining actionable content

So far I've made it clear that actionable content is NOT inert, hypocritical, excessive, abstract, expert, trivial, or pseudo actionable. I've defined it negatively to shake up your preconceptions about how content always has to be conceived of and delivered free of confusion. We need to visualize a chasm between familiar forms of content and actionable content. With a sense of "we cannot get here from here", we can make the leap to a different set of preconceptions.

Here's the place we cannot get to when we're thinking about content in conventional terms. We've learned some actionable content whenever we can:

1. get the job done and achieve the intended results. -- Like getting the new furniture completely assembled when you've only been provided with the printed instructions, web address, fasteners and tools.
2. know what to do in an actual situation that is not the same as what you were taught -- Like knowing to learn from the students when you've only been shown to cover the material.
3. do something on purpose and be clear about your intentions. -- Like giving other's the feeling of being accepted, validated and understood when you want to be trusted and respected.
4. do something that needs to be done without being told to do it. -- Like taking the initiative to discover what's missing or misconstrued when people are acting like something is wrong.
5. do something differently than you would have from following a bad example. -- Like solving problems creatively when you've been rewarded for thinking inside the box.
6. make a better decision, trade-off or value judgment than those who react out of fear -- Like choosing to experiment with a different approach when everyone says our hare-brained scheme will never work.
7. approach a situation with more insight and perspective than the superficial facts make evident . -- Like recognizing a growth process to trust as it goes through stages while others are upset with their discomfort.

Making the switch to actionable content is a second order change. It's not trying harder to get it right, it's trying smarter to make it right. It's not playing by the rules, it's playing with the rules.