The Mindtools L&D Podcast

Why is chronic stress, or burnout, on the rise? Who suffers the most? Is it an individual or an organisational problem?    In this week's episode of  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , author Jennifer Moss speaks to Gemma and Ross about the problem of burnout.  What burnout is What causes such chronic stress What does and doesn't help ease the problem? You can find out more about Jennifer's work, and he...

What is a digital mindset? Why is it important? And can non-technical people really contribute in digital roles? In this week's episode of  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross D and Ross G explore these questions with researcher, consultant and author of Digital Mindset , Dr Paul Leonardi. We discuss: How anyone can adopt a digital mindset The importance of collaboration, computation and change How...

Why is it so difficult to start something new and stick with it? How do we gain and maintain momentum? And why do we tire of what we're doing?  In this week's episode of  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross D and Ross G explore these questions with Smart Growth author and disruption theorist Whitney Johnson. We discuss: what we mean by 'smart growth' the 'S Curve of Learning' model what L&D teams ca...

Interactive checklists, immersive VR games, bitesized elearning and so many possibilities in between. Learning designers are spoilt for choice when it comes to interventions. How to choose the "right" one?  Gemma, along with Tracey, Sean and David  from the Mind Tools Custom team discuss: what we mean by interventions  who and what to take into account when making a decision examples of interventi...

What are your organisation's values? How were they shaped? And what impact do they have on your future? In this week's episode of  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross G and Ross D discuss these issues with speaker, consultant and author Nathalie Nahai. We discuss: the importance of values for retaining talent and attracting customers how an organisation's values are shaped whether 'values training'...

How and where have people been working over the past 12 months? What barriers to learning have they faced? And how have perceptions of workplace learning shifted? These are the kind of questions we're exploring on this weeks episode of  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , as we dig into this year's 'Learner Intelligence' report. Ross G, Owen and our own Dr Anna Barnett discuss: how work across industries...

In a first for The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , we are coming to you this week LIVE FROM THE METAVERSE. Gemma, Mike, Jonathan and Claire met in Horizon Workrooms to discuss: what it feels like to meet in VR applications of VR that go beyond health and safety training which VR experiences are meaningful, and which are still 'fluff'. The VR experiences discussed were: Richie's Plank ( oculus.com/experie...

In this podcast, you'll learn: what learning outcomes are how to write learning outcomes and why presenting outcomes as a bulleted list is boring at best, and ineffective at worst. But seriously, this week join Ross D, Ross G, Tracey and Sean as they explore the characteristics of good learning outcomes and their connection to business objectives. For more on this topic, see Dr Will Thalheimer's b...

What are L&D practitioners excited about in 2022? Will we be drawn to bright, shiny objects like skills-based talent management? Or will we continue to focus on the lasting impact of Covid-19? This week on  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross D and Owen are joined by Donald Taylor to discuss the results of this year's Global Sentiment Survey. We cover: the headline takeaways from the report regional...

Is curiosity a trait that we have, or a muscle we can build? To find out, Owen and Ross G are joined this week on  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast  by Stefaan van Hooydonk of the Global Curiosity Institute. We discuss: What curiosity is What stops us being curious at work How we can develop our curiosity. For more from Stefaan, including access to his free diagnostic, visit: globalcuriosityinstitute.co...

Why do learning professionals tell stories? How do we tell them to greatest effect? And where can we find them? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross G and Ross D find answers to these questions with the help of instructional designer, learning strategist and author Hadiya Nurridin. We discuss: Where stories are more effective than 'telling it straight' How to identify the stories that yo...

Today is International Women's Day and we're celebrating it in partnership with Working Chance, a UK-based charity set up to help women with criminal convictions to find jobs. Today on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Gemma and Nahdia talk to Helen Sweet, Head of Employability at Working Chance. We discuss: Employability barriers facing women with convictions What the Employability Programme comprises...

In 2008, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein published Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness . Since then, nudges have been applied to public policy, healthcare, business and tech. Today on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Gemma, Ross G, Ross D and Sean look at how nudge theory can be applied to workplace learning. We discuss: What nudge theory is How understanding learner context...

Is 'education' a liberating force that prepares children for a rapidly changing world? Or a system of control that kills their enthusiasm for learning. On this week's  Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross G and Ross D are joined by Patrick Cootes, Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer of Mindstone, to debate. We discuss: Traditional perspectives on education The purpose of education How systems reinforce...

What is a 'brand'? Why is it important? And how can your team 'build their brand'? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross G and Nahdia are joined by branding expert Professor Doctor Jonathan Wilson to explore these questions. We discuss: personal branding the benefits of building a brand the effort required to connect with your audience. For more from Jonathan, see: drjonwilson.com Jonatha...

Emerging tech will shape the future of how we work. It's just a question of when! This week on  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ger Driesen joins Ross G and Owen to explore what's possible. We discuss: what the metaverse(s) is(are) how blockchain and NFTs can shape the metaverse economy whether your digital avatar needs to look like your physical body. See Facebook's announcement about their rebrand...

In  The Business of Race , authors Gina Greenlee and Margaret Greenberg argue that the workplace is the ideal place to talk about race, racism, and anti-racism. This week on  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , they join Ross G and Nahdia to explain why. We discuss: opportunities for teachable moments the moral case vs business case for racial equity the reasons to separate conversations about racial div...

What is it about writing that fires up our souls? And, for those who hate it, is there any hope? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross G, Ross D and Gemma are joined by friend-of-the-show Julie Drybrough to answer these questions. We discuss: writing for work, fun and reflection techniques to spark creativity how writing in groups can give you more freedom. Show notes Details of Julie's 'W...

By some measures, the last two years have seen a surge in demand for consumer learning platforms like Masterclass, CreativeLive and Skillshare. Often, these platforms position themselves as an alternative to streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Is this part of a broader trend towards learning as entertainment? If so, what does that mean for learning in the workplace?  In this week's e...

Owen was miserable, to begin with. There is no doubt about that. Oh! But he was a long-suffering, data driven, learning-style hating, old L&D practitioner. Five years of this podcast, listening to his co-hosts ramble enthusiastically about the same tired old topics, had left him jaded and disillusioned with the industry he once loved. And so I say again, that Owen was miserable to begin with. This...

Recent announcements from Facebook and Microsoft have brought the 'metaverse' into the mainstream. But what actually is the metaverse, and what are its implications for the way we live, work, and learn? In this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross D, Owen and Ross G discuss: what 'metaverse' means, and how it's different from VR or AR how it might change the world of work, both posit...

To solve a complex problem, should we ask a single genius or tap into our networks? It's a question that's answered by Matthew Syed in his book Rebel Ideas: The power of diverse thinking.  In this episode, Nahdia, Owen, Ross G and Gemma gather to contemplate the book. We discuss: what rebel ideas are diversity and its benefits (and what we lose when we don't have it) practical ways to harness coll...

What are the challenges of managing a team who are sometimes present and sometimes not? How do we make sure hybrid working is inclusive? Is a hybrid meeting - that's effective for everyone - actually possible? In this week's episode of  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , speaker and writer Gary Cookson joins Ross G and Owen to share insights from his research. We discuss: what hybrid working is the hybr...

We're used to dilemmas: Do I take path A or path B? But in this episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , we rally against binary thinking with the 'tetralemma'. This 3,000-year-old model for decision making has real-world applications today, and author, coach and TEDx speaker Lior Locher joins us to explain why. Lior, Ross G and Owen discuss: the difference between binary and non-binary thinking ex...

How can we make our jobs 1% - or even 2% - better? According to Rob Baker, the answer is 'job crafting'. Stemming from his work in positive psychology, Rob suggests individuals and teams improve their working lives by taking ownership of their roles and making small changes that have an impact. He joins Ross G and Owen to discuss: the emerging field of positive psychology what job crafting looks l...