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Optional extras: Time & Scale

  • See a worked example of Time & Scale in a business context
  • Try using Time & Scale for yourself on an everyday challenge
  • Learn more about Time & Scale in a short online module.

Worked example

Here is an example of how Time & Scale can be used in practice.

A Learning & Development (L&D) team wants a clearer view of what using AI could mean for training design and delivery in their organisation. Instead of jumping straight into tools or policies, they use Time & Scale to map the wider challenge context. This helps them explore what is changing, what pressures are shaping the situation, and where the most important opportunities and risks exist. 

Here is the team’s completed Time & Scale grid. You can also read an accessible text version of the same worksheet below.

Read an accessible text version of the worked example grid

Time & Scale example: use of AI in training design and delivery for L&D team

This is a text version of the completed Time & Scale grid used in the worked example.

The example explores how an L&D team might use Time & Scale to understand the wider challenge context around AI in training design and delivery.

The grid is organised across three periods of time and three levels of scale.

Time periods

  • Before — Before mainstream AI use
  • Now — Current situation
  • Future — Next 1–2 years

Levels of scale

  • Super-system — Wider context, including internal and external expectations and pressures.
  • System — L&D function and team, including goals, capacity, roles and ways of working.
  • Sub-system — Tasks and workflow, including drafting, review and approvals.

Super-system

Before

  • Learning content expected to take time
  • Digital learning demand rising
  • Accelerated by COVID
  • Capacity limited by people and budget
  • Need for specialist expertise
  • Governance and accessibility developing
  • Trend towards shorter formats

Now

  • AI tools widely available
  • Senior leaders expect productivity gains
  • Pressure to deliver more learning faster
  • Cost pressure still high
  • Accuracy and trust under scrutiny
  • Data protection concerns increasing
  • Accessibility risks more visible
  • Even greater need for AI-literate specialists to shape the future

Future

  • AI becoming normal in digital work
  • Expectations of speed likely to rise
  • Faster turnaround becoming standard
  • Clearer organisational rules needed
  • Human judgement still critical
  • Rapid evolution of L&D in age of AI

System

Before

  • L&D work mainly done by people
  • Digital learning roles evolving
  • SMEs central to content development
  • Production cycles often slow
  • Review loops could be lengthy
  • Team capacity constrained

Now

  • Demand for learning increasing
  • Pressure to produce more at speed
  • Team already experimenting with AI
  • Confidence levels vary across the team
  • No shared approach yet
  • Concerns about accuracy, quality control, confidentiality

Future

  • More blended human and AI workflow
  • AI supporting parts of production
  • Human judgement and quality control
  • New team standards likely to be needed
  • Roles may shift over time
  • Capability building becoming essential
  • Need to adapt in era of rapid change

Sub-system

Before

  • Research, storyboarding and drafting done manually
  • Design work done by humans
  • Editing and formatting labour-intensive
  • Multiple handovers slowed progress

Now

  • AI useful for summarising source material, producing first drafts, structuring content
  • Prompt quality affecting output quality
  • Inaccurate outputs creating risk
  • Tone can become inconsistent
  • Quality variable
  • Strong review still needed

Future

  • Routine tasks becoming faster
  • Some steps becoming more streamlined
  • Prompting becoming a practical skill
  • Checking and validating becoming more important
  • Workflow redesign affecting overall performance
  • Small task changes creating wider system change

What did the team learn from this exercise?

Time & Scale helped the team capture ideas quickly in a structured format. The grid revealed several useful insights. Expand the points below to explore them.

Try it out

Try Time & Scale for yourself on one of the everyday challenges below. This is a simple way to get familiar with the tool and notice how it helps you step back, widen the view and see the situation more clearly.

Personal organisation

Many of us feel that our weeks fill up too quickly. There is a lot to juggle, and it can be hard to stay on top of everything or feel properly in control of your time. 

Map your time management challenges in nine boxes and see what patterns and insights are revealed. 

Try this exercise

Food and nutrition

Eating well can be harder than it looks. It is not always easy to plan ahead, have the right food available, or find the time and energy to prepare something healthy to eat.

Use Time & Scale to better understand your meal planning, shopping and food preparation habits.  

Try this exercise

Health and wellbeing

Most of us know the kinds of things that help us feel well, but fitting them into everyday life can be difficult. Sleep, movement, rest and healthy routines often get pushed aside by other demands.

Use Time & Scale to map past present and future routines for sleep, exercise and wellbeing.

Try this exercise

Social connection

It's easy for social connection to slip when life gets busy. Work, tiredness and daily routines can make it harder to stay in touch or make time for meaningful contact with other people.

Map your social interactions in Time & Scale to understand the barriers and opportunities to connect meaningfully with others. 

Try this exercise

 Learn more about Time & Scale

HIT is derived from Oxford TRIZ and translates some of its most useful ideas into practical innovation tools for teams. If you would like a more detailed explanation of Time & Scale, with extra examples and further practice, explore this short Oxford TRIZ learning module. It takes around 20 minutes to complete.

Time & Scale online learning