The Mindtools L&D Podcast

Learning design work is often accompanied by various forms of uncertainty — ambiguous performance needs, vaguely defined scope, shifting stakeholder expectations... In his book The Instructional Designer's Guide to Project Management , Dr Guieswende Rouamba describes this condition as 'the fog of instructional design'. And he believes project management is the key to navigating it. In this week's...

Since its first release in 1978, A Manager's Guide to Self-Development has been one of the go-to texts for new and aspiring managers. Now in its seventh edition, authors Mike Pedler and Joan Keevil join Gemma and Ross G to discuss: why self-development is so key to a manager's capabilities what has changed since the first edition of the book as published (hat tip to Michelle Ockers for this questi...

Yippee-ki-yay, Christmas Turkeys! In our final episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast for 2025, the gang are climbing to the top of Nakatomi Plaza: foiling a criminal plot and solving L&D challenges as we go. We answer: What rule exists at work that, if broken, would have the biggest impact on performance? (Tony) What should L&D pros be stealing to maximise their impact this Christmas? (Heinrich) Wh...

The promise of self-directed learning is that employees will take charge of their own development, if we only create the environment for them to do so. But does this actually happen? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast , Mindtools Kineo Head of Product Daniel Potter joins Ross G and Gemma to discuss self-directed learning, with a focus on: what self-directed learning journeys look...

What a year it was! In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast , HowNow's Nelson Sivalingam joins Ross G and Ross D to reflect on 2025 and look to emerging trends in 2026. We discuss: AI (obviously) and how it's evolving the rise of instructor-led training how market consolidation is changing the choice of suppliers for L&D leaders. During the discussion, Ross G referenced a number of new...

How do you run an organization-wide learning function with just two people? At LV=, that's the main focus for Talent, Learning and Development Partner Rob Foster. This week on The Mindtools L&D Podcast , Rob joins Claire and Ross G to discuss: how building relationships throughout the organization helps support induction, mentoring and reverse mentoring programs how internal champions expand the i...

The L&D industry has always talked about 'business value' as an elusive concept. Now, a new book from Laura Overton and Michelle Ockers, The L&D Leader: Principles and Practice for Delivering Business Value, articulates what that looks like in practice. This week on The Mindtools L&D Podcast , they join Ross D and Dr Anna to discuss: how L&D teams can transition through different stages of maturit...

In many organizations, not least within L&D, urgent and important short-term challenges often crowd out the bigger picture. So, how do we step back and take the long view? In this week's episode, Ross D and Claire are joined by Nina Bressler, founder of Reimagined Value, to discuss: Nina's background and what she means by the term 'societal learning' How to work with business stakeholders to help...

Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, Donald Taylor and Eglė Vinauskaitė have released four reports exploring L&D's use of AI. In this week's episode, Don joins Ross D to discuss the latest report — AI in L&D: The Race for Impact . We cover: What's changed over the last three years, and why we're at an inflection point How L&D's use of AI has slowly matured over time, evolving into more so...

In his book Targeting Turnover , Dick Finnegan argues that, as the global population ages and more people enter retirement, it is imperative for organizations to retain the talent they already have. In this week's episode, Dick joins Claire and Cammy to discuss: Why turnover is a problem for businesses  The strategies organizations can deploy to reduce turnover  The impact this might have on the L...

Hello listeners! No new episode this week, but we wanted to take the opportunity to revisit our 2021 'documentary special' on product management.  It took a lot more work than our usual roundtable format, but we think it paid off. ;) To make this episode, we spoke to Myles Runham, Sukh Pabial, Danny Seals, and Gemma Paterson, discussing: what product management is what L&D can learn from product m...

When Dr Anna Barnett, Ross Garner and Ross Dickie discussed the role of empathy in decision-making in Episode 463, they started to ponder the role that AI plays in our decisions.  In this week's episode, Ross Garner, Anna and Gemma return to the topic of smart decisions to continue that conversation. We discuss: The impact AI is having on our decisions and decision-making processes The pros and co...

According to Donald Taylor and Egle Vinauskaitė's recent AI in L&D: The Race for Impact report, 'creating learning content' and 'learning design tasks' remain the primary use cases for AI in learning and development. But should they be? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast , L&D consultant Heidi Kirby joins Ross D and Claire to discuss: the obvious appeal of using AI to scale learni...

All children play but, over time, that instinct goes away. We don't lose it, we don't forget. Instead, we get taught to stop. For author and toy designer Cas Holman, that's a problem. With a very real impact on business performance. In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast , Cas joins Ross G and Gemma to discuss: how traditional workplaces surpress play the business benefits of play at...

Why does L&D so often feel like the drive-thru window of requests—'one leadership program, hold the ROI please'? As L&D professionals, it's not who we understand ourselves to be. So how can we flip the script so that we're seen and treated as strategic business partners? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast , we're joined by Jess Almlie, author of "Order taker no more!" We discuss:...

Decision-making is a key aspect of being a manager, and a complex mix of skills, experiences, judgments and instincts. So how do you help your managers make smarter decisions at work? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast , our own Dr Anna Barnett reveals insights from our new report 'The empathy problem: Balancing emotion in decision-making', part of our Building Better Managers ser...

Last week on The Mindtools L&D Podcast , L&D Detective Kevin M Yates joined Ross D and Dr Anna to talk about isolating the impact of training at work. When listening back, Ross G took umbrage at some of the claims made by his Mindtools colleagues and so, this week, we re-litigate! We discuss: Are control groups really worth it? How else can you measure impact? Why Dr Anna thinks learning NEVER lea...

Is it up to the humble L&D pro to change people's behavior at work? Or is it up to everyone? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast , return guest Kevin M. Yates (aka The L&D Detective) speaks to Anna and Ross D about: How to isolate the impact of training at work What other factors influence performance How L&D pros can demonstrate the value of their roles. You can find out more abou...

As learning and development professionals, we spend most of our days thinking about how we help others build their skills. But how many of us neglect our own development while doing so? It's what L&D advisor, writer and speaker David Kelly calls 'The Irony of L&D', and in this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast , David joins Ross G and Claire to discuss: how to make time for personal deve...

Objectives and Key Results have long been a staple of the working world. You set a stretch objective, define the results that will tell you if the objective has been met, and scaffold throughout the organization. Then what? Often, nothing happens. The OKRs were too vague. In extreme cases, the worst happens: people bend the rules to hit aggressive targets. For author Radhika Dutt, there is another...

Here at Mindtools Towers, we're no strangers to benchmarking in L&D. We've regularly mentioned our Learning Performance Benchmark over the years, and we dedicated an entire episode to 'The value of benchmarking' back in 2021.  So, naturally, we were intrigued when David James released the 'L&D Maturity Model', and wanted to invite him onto the show to discuss it. This week on  The Mindtools L&D Po...

Now for something completely different! A couple of weeks ago, Carl Akintola wrote a provocative guest post for The L&D Dispatch , challenging L&D practitioners to interogate their motives for measuring learning impact. Are they in it purely for the sake of evaluation and continuous improvement? Or are they merely trying to justify their own existence? This week on  The Mindtools L&D Podcast , Car...

We know that surrounding ourselves with diverse people at work brings variety in expertise, opinions and ways of working, which can boost creativity and productivity. Sometimes those differences however, can be challenging. How can we make the most of difference?   This week on The Mindtools L&D Podcast ,  Liggy Webb, author of Tolerance: How to respect and accept differences  joins Ross G and Gem...

In their new book,  In Praise of the Office , Wharton professor Peter Cappelli and workplace strategist Ranya Nehmeh argue that 'the case for in-office work has never been stronger'. This week on  The Mindtools L&D Podcast , Peter and Ranya join Ross D and Claire to explain why they believe this to be true. We discuss:  The benefits and downsides to in-office work, both from an employer and employ...

If we want to motivate learners to engage with an experience, it stands to reason that we need to present that experience in a way feels authentic and relatable to them. But what are the limits to authenticity in the workplace? And are some of the conventions of learning design at odds with authentic communication? This week on  The Mindtools L&D Podcast , Kineo's Matt Mella joins Ross D and Clair...