challengedriven

Challengedriven is a term used to describe an approach in which a clearly defined challenge or problem acts as the central driver of activities, learning, and decision making. The aim is to align processes with tangible outcomes by focusing efforts on addressing real-world constraints.

Origin and usage: The word is a portmanteau of challenge and driven, used across sectors such as education, business, and government to signal that progress arises from engaging with a substantive difficulty rather than following predefined tasks.

Key characteristics: framing problems around authentic challenges; iterative experimentation and feedback loops; cross-disciplinary collaboration; stakeholder involvement; data-informed evaluation of progress; and a bias toward learning from failure and adapting strategy.

Applications: in education through challenge-based or problem-based learning; in industry for challenge-driven innovation and product development; in public policy for tackling complex societal issues; in community projects to mobilize resources around a pressing need.

Benefits and limitations: benefits include faster learning, stronger relevance to user needs, and improved accountability; criticisms include potential scope creep, measurement challenges, resource intensity, and the need for skilled facilitation.

See also: design thinking; problem-based learning; agile development; challenge-based learning.