Tackling the TINA Protocol

TACKLING THE TINA PROTOCOL The Regressor Demon: Part 3

Before you read this, you’ll want to make sure you’ve checked out Enter the Regressor, and Dealing with the Shadow Stakeholder, to have a better understanding of the demon we’re hunting this month…

Just as our hero, Dee, is gearing up for a Mortal Kombat-style finishing move on the Regressor demon, it breaks out one of its most loathsome, last-ditch weapons. Last time, we dealt with the Shadow Stakeholder, that lurking menace who ruins a project at the eleventh hour. But this week, the Regressor has called in the big guns. It’s initiated the TINA Protocol, and it’s coming for your creative course design.

A brief history of TINA

For those of you who weren't around in 1980s Britain (I was, but probably too busy playing with He-Man to remember this), the TINA Protocol is named after a political mantra popularised by then-Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

TINA stands for "There Is No Alternative." A divisive figure to say the least (politicians are so much better these days…), Thatcher argued that the global market, privatisation, and strict fiscal discipline were the way forward. For her, it wasn't a choice; it was the only way to get things done. Whether you liked her or not, the "TINA" message was designed to end the conversation before it even started. It was a verbal "Talk to the hand" that shut down any nonsense about alternative social or economic models.

It worked because it made people feel like fighting back was a waste of energy - the boss had spoken and it made the status quo feel inevitable.

But enough with the history lesson. In the Hell and D universe, the Regressor Demon has snatched up the disembodied spirit of that Command and Control era. It finds an L&D Manager - someone who’s a bit tired, a bit cynical, and just really likes a quiet life - and it possesses them. Suddenly, that manager isn't looking for the best way to deliver great learning, they're looking to double-down on a 1984-inspired management style.

Thatcher argued that her solution was the only solution, and anything else was just inefficient fluff. A TINA-possessed L&D manager argues that multiple choice is the only way to deliver an online learning experience, and any suggestion otherwise will be loudly shouted down.

In their TINA mind, a 30-slide deck followed by a five-question quiz is sensible training that will deliver the only results that matter - a massive indemnifying tick in the employee’s file. Anything else - branching narratives, VR simulations, or point-of-need learning - is treated like a time-wasting socialist uprising that needs to be crushed.

TINA kills the freedom to fail. It strangles the flow state. It turns a potential corporate espionage learning adventure into a 15 minute video lecture about the importance of switching off your laptop screen when you go for a wee. When you tell a learner "There is no alternative to this boring module," you’re teaching them to switch their brains off and conditioning them to expect more of the same in the future.

The "TINA" Objection List

When the Regressor is in charge, and TINA is in the driving seat, your stakeholder will throw out objections that sound like they're reading from a Downing Street briefing you'd hear on ITV's News at Ten, (back when the evening news would interrupt Beverley Hills Cop 2, or whatever film you had convinced your parents to stay up late and watch). Here are the ones to look out for:

• "We need something 'Robust'." In 80’s politics, 'robust' meant something solid that could survive a union strike. In L&D, it means 'solid and boring.'
• "Our LMS can't handle anything fancy." This is a lie. Most Learning Management Systems still love SCORM files, and these can be generated by most modern course authoring tools, and that’s if the LMS genuinely can’t use other formats. The Regressor just wants you to stay in the Safe Zone.
• "We don't have time for 'Immersive' stories." They’ll spend six months arguing about the shade of blue in the logo but claim they don't have ten minutes for a narrative that might actually help someone remember the training.
• "That looks like a game, and we are a serious organisation." This is the ultimate TINA shut-down. It ignores the fact that 80% of learners say they’d be more productive if their work-learning was more like a game [TalentLMS Gamification at Work (2014 & 2019)]. 

Exorcising TINA

Like a thick-skinned politician, you can’t reason with the TINA spirit - you have to use the Regressor’s own logic against it. You have to prove that there is an alternative, and that the alternative is actually safer and cheaper in the long run.

Data dump.

TINA loves a spreadsheet. Don't argue about "engagement" or "learner joy." That’s hippy-talk to her. Talk about Knowledge Retention Decay. Show them that people forget 70% of a slide-deck within 24 hours [Hermann Ebbinghaus, Über das Gedächtnis (Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology) / Forgetting Curve ]. Then show them that 360° environments or branching scenarios increase retention by up to 300% [PwC, The VR Advantage: How Virtual Reality is Redefining Soft Skills Training (2020)].

TINA won't go for creativity in learning, so instead, opt for blindsiding her by calling it economically viable learning.

Just do it.

It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, so just whip up a quick proof-of-concept and hit them with it. Use your preferred software stack to build a sneak peak - H5P, Photoshop and InDesign are my old-man go-to tools for concepts but I hear the kids love a bit of XD these days. 

It all comes back to” show don’t tell”. Put a VR headset on them. Give them a screen where they have to make a choice that has a consequence. You have to show them the future before they’ll believe it’s possible. Once they get caught up in your gamified feedback loop, TINA’s grip starts to loosen.

Throw their fear back at them.

The Regressor’s biggest fear is risk. Reinterpret your project as a way to avoid a Single Point of Failure. If the training is boring, nobody learns. If nobody learns, Sharon in Logistics makes a mistake. If Sharon makes a mistake, the company gets sued. Therefore, the "Interactive" version is a Risk Mitigation Strategy. Tell them that Boeing implemented VR training and saw a 94% reduction in errors [National Safety Council (NSC), 2021], or that in 2023/24, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued fines totalling £44.4 million for health and safety breaches, with one of the most common causes cited as inadequate training.

Getting RACI (again).

Remember the RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) matrix from our session on Shadow Stakeholders? Use it here too. If the TINA spirit is trying to stick their oar into the scripting or storyboarding, point to the RACI. Remind them that they are "Informed" on the creative execution, but you are "Responsible" for the outcome.

1980s toys and cartoons were awesome. Politics and Management? Maybe not so much.

The 80s gave us Transformers, Masters of the Universe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But it also gave us a management style that views people as cogs in a machine.

The TINA Protocol is the Regressor’s attempt to bring that cog mentality into 2026. It wants to convince you that the "Standard" way is the only way. But to defeat this demon, all we need to do is convince the client that there is an alternative. It’s called good design - and now we have the stats to prove it works.

Mark Gash is a creative content lead for elearning, who believes there has to be more to training content than just clicking a next button.
Connect with him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markgash