
The Learning Experience Ops Show Episode 6: The Marginally Irresponsible Path- Jen Briselli on Risky Play, Systems Thinking & Redefining What It Means to Learn
Jan 6, 2026
Jen Briselli, a strategist and educator focused on risky play and transdisciplinary collaboration, shares insights on creating conditions for self-defined learning. She emphasizes the significance of flexible scaffolding and the distinction between teaching and facilitating. Jen reflects on her journey from physics to design strategy and the value of trusting instincts. They discuss the role of AI in enhancing learning experiences and the importance of sensing and responding to learners' needs in today's changing landscape.
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Episode notes
Enable People To Define 'Living Well'
- Facilitation means arranging conditions for others to define and pursue what 'living well' means for them.
- Jen Briselli prioritizes enabling learners rather than prescribing outcomes for them.
Design To Facilitate, Not Dictate
- Distinguish teaching (doing for) from facilitating learning (enabling learners to make meaning).
- Design experiences that place tools and scaffolds in learners' hands instead of delivering fixed outcomes.
The 'Marginally Irresponsible' Lesson
- Jen recounts her father's lesson: “sometimes you have to be marginally irresponsible.”
- That idea guided her to take small calculated risks in career shifts like leaving teaching and returning to grad school.

