Insights, Stories, And Life Lessons From Learning Professionals Across Industries.
The Next Chapter Of Learning
Introduction
One of the most frequent questions I’m asked is some form of: “What’s next?” As in “What is everyone else doing?” “What are the cuttingedge topics we need to focus on, or things we need to be doing?” Everyone is trying to look around corners and see what’s coming next. And it’s not just curiosity that’s driving these questions. The world is changing rapidly, technology is upending whole industries. Business and leaders are looking to stay relevant. And as L&D professionals…so are we…
The reality is, I don’t have the answer to “What’s next.” And I don’t think any one single person does. But if we put 30 L&D professionals in the same room and ask these same questions, we might just get somewhere. And we did.
It was wonderful to watch the magic unfold as these incredibly intelligent, insightful and creative leaders explored a single question: “What does the future of L&D look like.”
Discussions were fueled by a sense of curiosity as well as anticipation. One thought would lead to another, then another, and then another. And before long, the conversations were going in new directions nobody could have anticipated.
It’s from these conversations that we launched into writing this book! Contained within these pages you’ll find points of view from L&D professionals from a wide variety of industries, roles, and from all levels of organizations. We may not have solved everything, nor have we uncovered all there is to know about the future, but that’s the exciting part. The future is not yet written in full. But it is in small parts within these pages.
We hope you enjoy learning more about the Next Chapter of Learning from those who know it best. Those who are guiding, shaping, and yes, writing that next chapter.
Cody Rowland President Cegos US
Introducing: The Learning Coach
Aimee Raphaeli
Talent Leader
Angela Spears
Learning is Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
Arianna Magrini
Accessible, Intergenerational and Multimodal: The A.I.M of L&D’S Future
Blaire Deziel
The Next Chapter of Learning: The Power of Tiny Gains & Shrinking the Change
Doug Ellin
Infused Over Enthused: What L&D Still Needs to Be in Order to Be What It Wants to Be
Doug Peddle
The Work Behind the Learning
Gian Paolo Einaudi
A Simple Question that Can Lead to Idea Generation for Your Next Training Problem
Heather Golden
Learning Amid a War for Attention
Iain Smith, PhD
Passion Projects as Career Development
Ilana Weinstein
AI in L&D: Transforming Learning Journeys in the Digital Age
Joanna Giovanelli
Scaling with Soul: How AI is Transforming Learning & Development
John Gallagher, MSW
Adapting to the Learner or Expecting Them to Adapt to Us?
Joe Carlino
Where Do I Start? Activate Your Learning Curiosity with a Human Learning Coach
Anonymous
Performance Consulting Realized
Kathy LaMarr-Bines
L&D: The Ultimate Competitive Advantage
Moe Rizvi
Fostering a Culture of Creativity: We Are Not Robots
Lisa Pertoso
Towards a Horizon, Through Our Own Spectra
Monica Chan
Multiple Generations: One Winning Team?
Richa Malhotra
Trusting the Next Generation of Learning & Development
Riley Olsen
To Play is Human. To Reflect is Divine. To Build is the Future.
Saad Bin Tariq
Asking the Unasked Questions
Sally Bolig
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Artificial Intelligence
Sarah Fowler
Embracing Possibility in a World of Uncertainty
Talia Bender
Think Like a CEO, Act Like an Entrepreneur
Tim Shea
Multi-Generational Learners in the Workplace
Anonymous
Sally Bolig
Sarah
Courtney Mainwaring Senior L&D Consultant Cegos US
Lisa Pertoso
Iain
Saad
Introducing: The Learning Coach
Aimee Raphaeli
Global Learning Manager
Learning and development expert, Josh Bersin, coined the phrase ‘Learning in the Flow of Work’ by which he referred to employees being provided with learning opportunities within existing workflows rather than taking up time in separate training sessions. The question is, how do we actually achieve this?
Enter – The Learning Coach. Imagine a soccer coach showing her team members the plays they can make, while in the locker room, or cheering the players on while they maneuver their moves on the field. Or the basketball coach who huddles with his team during a time-out to review what they’ve learned so far on the courts and incorporating modifications to the strategy in real time. When the team wins, the coach celebrates with them. And when the team loses, the coach supports them in bouncing back by reflecting on where things went wrong and aligning on how to return even stronger the next time, based on those insights.
This is what is needed in the workplace. The future of learning is having a Learning Coach who is embedded into the business.
In the past, or even in the present, there was, or is, often a Learning Team working as a separate entity from the business. The future of learning is changing and there is now a need for the Learning Team to be integrated with other colleagues as a Learning Coach. It’s a chance to spend quality time with their colleagues and really observe what it is that they truly need. This means sitting with colleagues, observing how they listen, respond, and intervene. Being there when an individual or team reaches milestones, or faces failures, to acknowledge and ‘download’ the learnings from them. For a Learning Coach, rotating throughout the business will ensure they have a holistic understanding of their colleagues, what is important to the business, the challenges that are being faced, and where the roadblocks are from missing skills or leadership. The result is the Learning Coach can identify opportunities for support and intervention before challenges escalate therefore, enabling organizations, and learning and development, to move away from ‘reactive’ to become ‘proactive’.
Finally, the Learning Coach is able to address one of the other large challenges learning and development professionals face — a lack of understanding of the business they’re in (jargon, metrics, strategy) and the perception from their business colleagues reinforcing the same. This evolution of the role along with the responsibility of the learning and development professional solves these challenges, and truly brings to life the idea of learning in the flow of work.
While it doesn’t necessarily have to be someone yelling GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL every time there’s an achievement, when our colleagues know that someone “sees” them and their work and can help them integrate and advance their learnings as they go, everyone truly WINS.
“The Learning Coach can identify opportunities for support and intervention before challenges escalate.”
How Can We Provide Easily Accessible Ways for Leaders To Build Their Feedback Skills?
Angela Spears Talent Leader
Sharing real-time feedback is important for leaders to practice in order to drive the engagement, growth, and development of their employees, and ultimately, the growth of their organizations. For years, research has shown a strong correlation between giving regular, ongoing feedback, highly engaged employees, and high organizational growth.
Leaders, however, often lack the skill or confidence to provide effective, real-time, ‘in the moment’ feedback. In order for leaders to build the skills to provide effective feedback, they need to be able to practice. Unfortunately, increasing work demands often make it difficult for leaders to practice one of the most important parts of their job – giving feedback, and growing and developing their talent.
Luckily for them, the world of AI has taken learning to a new level and should be utilized to provide practical ways for leaders to grow and develop their skills of giving feedback.
Imagine a leader opening an AI tool on a phone or tablet and being prompted to share a situation where they must provide feedback to a specific employee.
By answering prompts and speaking into the application, the leader could describe the situation in terms of the behavior the see, the changes they want, what they have tried to do already, and the message they want to share.
Based on the information shared, the application could respond to the leader and ask clarifying questions to better assess the situation. The AI tool would provide high-level tips for giving feedback, for the leader to consider before going into practice mode through the application. After a few more rounds of conversation between the leader and the AI tool, a profile could be created to replicate the employee and the situation described, and an avatar would appear as it if were the employee.
The leader would then have the opportunity to practice giving interactive feedback through the AI tool. First, the leader gives the feedback by talking to the avatar, and based on the profile created, the employee would respond, and the leader and employee go back and forth until the feedback conversation ends, as guided by the leader.
The next phase of the practice might be for the leader to get feedback through the application on what they did well to help guide the feedback conversation, and what could make it better. Then the leader repeats as they desire to continue practicing.
While technologies likely exist that mirror this, there is a need for organizations to adopt technology and allow their leaders to practice the skills they need to develop.
The future of learning is about creating easily accessible ways for leaders to practice giving, real, timely feedback, allowing leaders to build their skills and confidence in not only giving effective feedback but ultimately growing and developing their talent, which in turn will improve engagement and drive organizational growth.
“There is a need for organizations to adopt technology and allow their leaders to practice the skills they need to develop.”
Learning is Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
Arianna Magrini
Learning & Development
Senior Associate
Learning is all around us all the time, whether we’re conscious of it or not. Traditional Learning & Development informs us that learning occurs from teacher to student in a structured, classroom setting. This misconception has led many to believe that adult learners require the same learning methods.
What if we released ourselves from this notion to recognize that learning can happen in any myriad of ways?
Learning is social. Many of us want to learn from the best and the brightest, but we can level the playing field and understand that we can all learn from each other. All members of an organization can be considered subject matter experts when we democratize the learning process. Allow space for junior staff to teach senior staff, allow space for different functions to educate each other, and allow space for those outside of your organization or field to enter. Growth occurs when we come together.
Learning is continuous. When is the last time you needed to fix a leaky faucet or learn a new macro in Excel? Learning not only happens in a traditional classroom, but also on demand. And with the proliferation of technological resources at our fingertips, we can tap into learning quickly, easily, and at any time. Learning doesn’t only happen when we’re seeking it. We encounter new or interesting ideas that challenge our beliefs; encourage your team to have open their hearts to these experiences to learn.
Learning is uncomfortable. We encounter failure when we learn. But, if we’re able to fail in a psychologically safe setting, our capacity to learn grows. Learning challenges our preconceived notions and strongly held beliefs. Allow your colleagues the space to fall down, and their ability to pick themselves back up will increase each time.
Learning is joyful.
Learning is rooted in survival, and our brains are wired to reward us when we learn something new. We receive a burst of dopamine (the “happy chemical”) to aid us in the process of creating memories. Celebrate your team and spread the joy of their moments of learning.
“What if we released ourselves from this notion to recognize that learning can happen in any myriad of ways?”
Accessible, Intergenerational and Multimodal: The
A.I.M of
L&D’S Future
Blaire Deziel
Learning and Development Associate (Citrin Cooperman)
“I don’t understand this generation.”
It’s a phrase we’ve all heard at some point—and one that often sparks thoughts of a particular age group or era. But as Learning & Development (L&D) professionals, we regularly work with individuals across different generations. The evolving landscape of our industry demands a shift in perspective. Our mission should be to create environments where learners not only feel motivated to learn but are also equipped to share knowledge across generational divides.
Accessibility: A Multifaceted Approach
In L&D, accessibility isn’t a one-size-fits-all concept—it encompasses a variety of factors. As we look toward the future, one key question arises: How accessible is our culture of learning? How accessible are our materials, our methods, and our environments for diverse learners? Consider this: as of July 2024, 37% of working-age disabled individuals (16-64) are employed, marking a 20% increase since 2015 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). This represents an increasingly diverse workforce with evolving needs.
The question we must ask ourselves as facilitators is simple: How can we create conditions that allow all learners to thrive? The
future of L&D hinges on our ability to adapt to these changes. It’s okay to not have all the answers, but the key is to act. As the face of learning within organizations, L&D professionals have the power to set the tone for how learning is approached. The first step in shaping the future of our field is to ensure that our practices reflect the needs of this growing, underrepresented workforce. This new generation of workers is coming, and we must rise to meet them—prepared and open to change.
The term ‘disability’ itself includes a broad scope of people. Closed captioning for visually impaired learners is a traditional example of an accessibility measure, but that is just one type of disability. Considering all types of learners-neurotypical, neurodivergent, physically abled or physically disabled--in our practice ensures its growth and engagement.
Intergenerational Learning: Bridging the Gap
As the L&D landscape evolves, fostering intergenerational learning becomes more critical than ever. Building an environment where learners—regardless of age—can see each other as equals is vital to sustaining growth. After all, we all age, and new, younger voices will always enter the conversation. Embracing this cycle creates a
culture of continuous growth. It’s essential to offer grace, not only to ourselves but to others, particularly the “new kids on the block.” By setting the culture of grace in learning & development, we become more flexible and allow learning to happen more organically. Encouraging mutual learning between generations allows everyone to contribute to the collective knowledge pool. Creating a culture where learning flows freely across generations makes us more adaptable as individuals and as a field. An example of this could be incorporating Lunch & Learns where people with different skill sets and of different ages, are given the opportunity to teach their colleagues something new.
Multimodal Learning: The Future of L&D
Multimodal learning is at the heart of L&D’s future. By combining accessibility with intergenerational and technological elements, we create a robust framework for learning that accommodates a variety of learners. Not everyone will be up to speed on every app, website, or AI model—it’s simply not possible given the rapid pace of technological advancement. However, relying too heavily on technology can stifle meaningful learning experiences.
The challenge is to strike a balance. Technology should complement interpersonal learning, not replace it. We cannot forsake the value of classroom learning, and the learning that happens as an interchange between two individuals. Moreover, overreliance on technology limits the ways that people learn best and may unintentionally limit the population we wish to serve. A multimodal approach allows learners to engage with content in a way that suits their preferences and strengths, promoting an environment of growth that doesn’t feel overwhelming or exclusive.
Strengthening Our Foundation
The future of L&D is like a tree— one that must have strong roots to support its branches. Our roots are grounded in accessibility, intergenerational collaboration, and multimodal learning, ensuring that our branches can extend wide and provide shade for all. By focusing on these pillars, we not only ensure that our reach is far, but that our foundation is solid, enabling us to adapt and grow as the needs of our learners evolve.
As we shape the future of L&D, let’s aim to retire the phrase, “I don’t understand this generation,” and replace it with, “We understand, and we are ready to grow together.”
The Next Chapter of Learning: The Power of Tiny Gains & Shrinking the Change
Doug Ellin Head of Learning & Development
Every time I start a long to-do list, I immediately need a snack and a nap; the problem with significant change is that it’s overwhelming. We love the idea of transformation, of levelling up overnight, of unlocking new skills like a video game character, but the reality is much slower and messier. Big change takes a long time. And in a world where teams are constantly stretched and the to-do lists are getting ever longer, finding time for learning becomes increasingly harder.
This is where the magic of tiny gains comes in. Instead of swinging for the fences, tiny gains are about bunting your way to success. Small, consistent improvements don’t seem that impressive initially, but they compound in ways that big, dramatic efforts don’t. This idea is popular in fitness (hello, Couch to 5k), finance (compound interest anyone?), and talent development. The British cycling team, for example, turned microimprovements such as tweaking seat positions, refining sleeping habits, and adjusting diets into Olympic gold.
They didn’t reinvent the wheel — pun very much intended — they just made the wheel 1% better every day.
In L&D, this concept is gold. People don’t need a six-month plan to become experts; they need a nudge. A tiny shift in behavior, a new habit, or a single skill practiced regularly is how learning truly sticks. Instead of expecting our team members to go from zero to a TED Talk speaker overnight, what if we just helped them improve their next presentation by 5%? That’s shrinking the change, making it manageable rather than intimidating.
Why does it work?
Because our brains are hardwired to hate massive change. It triggers resistance, fear, and procrastination. We often see change as negative, as something that happens to us, where we code positive chance as choice. By shrinking the change we’re looking for, it can fly under the radar. Imagine you’re terrible at giving feedback. If I tell you to ‘become radically candid,’ that’s terrifying. If I tell you, ‘Tomorrow just tell one person about how you’re feeling about their work,’ that’s easy. Small non-threatening shifts build confidence, and confidence builds momentum.
The same principle applies to organizational change. Want to revamp a company culture? Instead of a grand overhaul, start with just one tiny ritual, maybe a minute weekly check-in where leaders simply ask, “What’s one thing we could improve?” The change feels small, but over time, it rewrites habits and expectations.
The next chapter of learning: tiny but mighty.
The future of learning isn’t about more content, bigger workshops, or elaborate training programs. It’s about making learning bitesized, actionable, and habitual. We don’t need people to take in more information; we need them to take more action consistently. So what’s the takeaway? Stop aiming for overnight transformation. Shrink the problem. Make the next step easy and doable. Trust that tiny gains, repeated daily, turn into something remarkable.
“We don’t need people to take in more information; we need them to take more action consistently.”
Infused over Enthused: The Case for Being Honest About What
L&D Still Needs to Be in Order to Be What It Wants to Be
Doug Peddle Global Head - Learning & Development
It’s wonderful to have aspirational people development initiatives. It’s inspiring to have grandiose ideas on how to improve an organization’s capabilities, connect with the people, improve their employment experience, broaden horizons, and observe their growth. Our passion and enthusiasm are what connect many to L&D as a profession.
It can also be a hard lesson in futility if we, as L&D practitioners, lose sight of some of the fundamentals that afford us the opportunities to push forward these more innovative peopledriven engagements: serving the core needs of the business first. In volatile economic environments, we find ourselves justifying the investment in our initiatives, pushing back on the perception of our work being seen purely as a cost. Ultimately, tough business decisions are being made — with investments being scrutinized on all fronts — to preserve and grow the business.
I have seen various iterations of functional and dysfunctional states of a Human Resources function – and HR Leaders speaking of ‘partnering with the business’. There’s a better term — tougher but more precise, more
permanent – that reflects Learning & Development’s best self, and our responsibility to redefine our relationship with the business: Infused.
Are we infused in our business?
Do we truly understand the business model?
What are the key revenue drivers?
How do we manage processes and control costs for improved EBITDA?
What are the key KPIs being measured? Which ones are lagging or leading?
This is not revolutionary thinking. In the most difficult of times, it becomes even more apparent that to showcase the true value of L&D, using historical as well as the new tools available to us, we must be necessary — which means actively conversing with business leaders. We must be seen as consultative voices for solving business issues – not just a proverbial store from which one can choose to buy our services for creating the ‘thing’ predetermined to solve the problem.
Are we showcasing what’s possible for sustainable profitable growth through some basic, pressuretested examples? Such as:
Integrating role-specific onboarding programs for key roles in the organization.
Analyzing performance data from business KPIs to identify and address underperforming sub-groups for remedial support.
Continuing education opportunities for role progression.
Fast-strike intervention support for KPIs that are deviating from their targets.
In the end, business leaders are making decisions based on what they believe will balance short-term needs with long-term sustainable growth. The attention which L&D initiatives we see as next-level, cuttingedge or aspirational for what the organization needs receive from executives depends upon the existing brand credibility of the function with the business. When seen as a vital element in supporting business success, many other doors will open. We must be more than partners – we must be essential. We must be an infused business service.
“We must be more than partners — we must be essential.”
The Work Behind the Learning
Gian Paolo
Einaudi
Leadership and Teaming Coach
Change reigns large in this moment in history — and how we learn evolves as fast as what we learn! Learning used to start with instruction. Now, it’s becoming more about unlearning old ways of thinking, rewiring new patterns, and improving outcomes — financially, operationally, culturally, and environmentally.
These questions intend to guide organizations as they plan for new learning, especially during times of change.
Purpose…
• What makes this learning important here and now?
• How does this growth fit into the big picture?
• Who does this change impact in my team? - my organization? - my expternal stakeholders?
Elevated awareness of…
Self: How am I relating to the substance of the learning in my head, my heart, and my gut?
Other humans: How does this improve systems? - teams? - lives of stakeholders?
Outcomes: What’s the impact?
Reframe…
• What do I need to let go of to best apply this learning?
• How will I think differently?
• What becomes possible with this new approach?
Change…
Thought patterns: How will I think differently? See differently? What will I listen for differently?
Emotional patterns: What emotions am I experiencing with this growth? When applying this learning, how will others experience me differently?
Action plan: What will I do differently?
Relating…
Self: What will change in how I relate to the substance of this learning?
Others: How will this learning support me in elevating other people’s growth?
Outcome: How does this skill advance my organization economically, systematically and socially?
“Change reigns large in this moment in history — and how we learn evolves as fast as what we learn!”
A Simple Question that Can Lead to Idea Generation for Your Next Training Problem
Heather Golden
Instructional Designer & Facilitator
Are you looking for ways to create innovation that builds a desired future for your learners, clients, and organization? Are you focusing on learner needs and what will help them retain and retrieve information when you’re developing a training?
My approach to learning and development is framed from a human-centered design background. I have spent time formally studying Strategic Design and Management at Parsons School of Design, where I learned the immeasurable value of problem solving — looking at the perspectives and needs of the end user. Human-centered design focuses on the lived experiences of those we are serving. As the design consulting firm IDEO shares, human-centered design is “a process that starts with the people you’re designing with and ends with new solutions that are purpose-built to suit their needs.” (IDEO, n.d.)
In the L&D space, we have many stakeholders who depend on the success of our interventions. This includes our learners, our clients, our C-suite/leadership teams. All of these users have something to gain when training is solving a business problem.
One of the ways I like to explore the needs and impact of my stakeholders is to ask How Might We (HMW) questions. These help us come up with creative ideas to tackle issues for our learners. HMWs allow us “to reframe and open up their problem statements for efficient, targeted and innovative ideation sessions to help solve design challenges.” (Interaction Design Foundation, n.d.) This strategy technique is credited to have been to being developed by Proctor & Gamble in the 1970’s and later adopted by IDEO (Rosala, 2021).
How Might We questions are a sensemaking and brainstorming tool that you use after you have identified a problem to solve for your learners. You can create the HMW questions with the goal to find opportunities for you to design your training.
When you first start using this tool, remember that we want to use the question to generate a lot of potential solutions. If the question is only able to be solved in one way, it is too narrow. When writing the question, ensure it is focused on a human-centered framing — helping to really solve the issue for stakeholders. You also want to keep the question focused on the
most desired outcomes, worded positively, and focused on how solutions can be reached. It’s a powerful framing tool because, even just in its wording, it gives us the hopefulness that a solution is possible.
I think some of my best ideas have come from when I formed a HMW question that felt like it could be a little bit wild and out there.
Here are some examples to get you thinking about writing your own HMW questions when it comes to focusing on the issues or concerns you are addressing at work.
How might we help the sales team learn our new POS with the enthusiasm of learning how to use a new social media network?
How might we use AI to help learners with on-the-job retrieval of knowledge?
How might we help early career talent leverage their unique skills and abilities to enhance a culture of learning at the company?
How might we future-proof learning and development so that our department is even more in demand in 2050 than we are right now?
“It’s a powerful framing tool because, even just in its wording, it gives us the hopefulness that a solution is possible.”
Sources:
1https://designthinking.ideo.com/faq/whats-the-difference-between-human-centered-designand-design-thinking; 2https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-might-we-questions/; 3 https://www. interaction-design.org/literature/topics/problem-statements
Learning Amid a War for Attention
Iain Smith, PhD Head of Behavioral Science
Try to count to 10 while rubbing your head and thinking of a giraffe.
It is pretty challenging, no?
We are living in an era where our attention is fought over more than ever before. Traditional L&D used to clamor to be heard against other organizational initiatives and the needs of coworkers; now, we’re also competing against Instagram and Netflix. Multi-tasking and context switching are on the rise. Adults spend an average of two and a half hours daily on social media alone. That time is not limited to non-work hours.
The fight for attention is degrading our ability to focus. In 2022, the share of Americans who reported
reading a book fell below half. The “Monitoring the Future” study asks 18-year-olds whether they have difficulty thinking, concentrating, or learning new things, and the answer “yes” has been rapidly increasing since the mid-2010s. This newest generation is also the loneliest, according to a 2024 study by the American Psychological Association, which makes them less likely to learn from their managers and peers. Fifty percent of Gen Z workers believe ChatGPT provides better career advice than their manager.
Attention is the most valuable commodity in the world right now. That is true of all fields but especially L&D.
This competition for attention can make us more effective, especially if we follow the rules we know all too well:
1. Design what people need, how they need it, and for when they need it.
After all, we know the annual compliance training people have to click through doesn’t make a difference to the number of ethical issues at our company. However, an open forum on how to have a good performance review conversation the week before it is happening?
There, you’ll find attentive learners.
2. Declutter organizational learning, focusing on quality curation and engaging UX rather than quantity and breadth of content. Have one good leadership program. Reduce competition between stakeholders vying for employee attention. And say goodbye to LinkedIn Learning: Sorry, but everyone is too overwhelmed to use you.
3. Enable learning from experience, play, and social teams. Agility will come from learning as we go, and nothing holds our attention better than our colleagues. At least, the interesting ones worth learning from…
4. Make learning smaller, smaller, smaller, smaller. When you need to change the filter in your fridge, do you call up the manufacturer to book a training session or watch a 2-minute YouTube video? Develop small, easily accessible materials and embed them into the workflow.
5. Dedicate time to skills, not knowledge.
If attention is limited and highly sought after, let’s dedicate that valuable time to developing the skills that make humans great, not the knowledge that will be allconsumed by AI.
Learning will be a competitive differentiator for individuals and organizations. The fight for attention can be the grindstone we use to hone our approaches, becoming leaner, meaner, and sharper as we help the learners of the future.
“The fight for attention is degrading our ability to focus.”
Passion Projects as Career Development
Ilana Weinstein Senior Manager, Learning & Development
What does writing a poetry book have to do with learning and development?
At first glance, it seems like there isn’t much. It’s theoretically not the same skillset and requires two very different kinds of abstract thinking.
Poetry is an art form I have loved all my life. My book, a collection of 10 years’ worth of poetry published in 2023, was a labor of love. I devoted time, energy, and money to the publication, knowing I was unlikely to permeate bookstore shelves with the same ferocity as Rupi Kaur, Sabrina Benaim, Mary Oliver, and other poets whom I admire so much. I wanted to do it because I wanted to check the item off my bucket list, and everything else after that was a bonus. What I didn’t know is that one of the best bonuses of the process would be all I would learn along the way.
I loved taking my words, turning them over, breaking them apart, and creating something entirely new and beautiful. When I began writing, I was so protective over the way I had always written, what my words meant to me, and how I thought I should be producing this body of work. Once I worked with an editor for the first time, I began to see the power of challenging my process and examining alternatives, and the way that this freedom made my poems so much more powerful.
Upon closer examination, I found that the same elements of organization, description, growth, and play that were present in the process of writing and editing my poetry book were the same ones I used to drive my career in Learning and Development forward.
Training not working the way I thought it should? Let’s break it apart, move it around, and try again. Someone isn’t sure how to wordsmith a piece of feedback or an email? I’m first in line to give editing it a shot. Explaining my career trajectory to another person? 8 years of Learning and Development experience is all well and good, but nothing grabs attention like mentioning I wrote a book, and it pulls the conversation in a completely different direction.
People are opening their businesses, launching things left and right, trying their hand at things that interest them, or maybe they are redirecting altogether — all of which are accomplishments worth celebrating. But those passion projects, unrealized dreams, businesses built out of necessity, or things that one might love even if they don’t make any money aren’t just side projects — they become places where skills are acquired, lessons are learned, and they make a person more professionally powerful. It is time we started seeing these projects as an equally important part of someone’s career story.
AI in L&D: Transforming Learning Journeys in the Digital Age
Joanna Giovanelli
Talent Leader
The time has come for AI to be integrated into the day to day lives of associates who are on a learning journey – and let’s be real – we are always on a learning journey.
As a Gen X Learning and Development professional who is working at designing and delivering learning solutions to engage and teach our new generation, the power of AI has been something that I have come to recently appreciate.
For most organizations our traditional approach to training will not vanish. There will always be the need for the human element of training – the cultural and foundational understanding of an organization - “how we get it done” or “I want to show you what good looks like”.
With that said – we, as passionate L&D champions, want learning to continue after our associates leave our classrooms, our workshops & our learning events. This is where the power of AI can really shine!
What if we had a magic app where these learning journeys come to life.
Whether we are new to an organization, starting a new experience or even upskilling what we know, every one of us is on a learning journey. AI allows L&D to create and curate sustainable resources such as practice scenarios, questions and quizzes to continue checking in on our learning knowledge. This customized approach to learning can access exercises to practice an individual skill. With that there is an element of instant feedback where support and clarification can be given and received in the moment which allows for effectiveness to embed what was learned without waiting for the human element. This allows our learners to improve skills on a continuous basis.
“This is where the power of AI can really shine!”
Scaling with Soul: How AI is Transforming Learning & Development
John Gallagher, MSW Senior Customer Success Manager at Growthspace
AI provides us with an opportunity to scale and tailor content to be contextually relevant to the learner’s flow of work and unique development needs.
The increasing interconnectedness of our world necessitates a shift in how we frame our work and engage with learners. Traditional learning and development (L&D) models have often operated within a unidirectional power dynamic: the “truth holder”—tasked
with dispensing hard-earned knowledge—versus the “truth seeker”— eagerly awaiting answers. While this model has its merits, it frequently overlooks the lived experiences, resulting wisdom, and unique entry points of each learner.
With the advent of large language models (LLMs) and generative AI in the L&D toolkit, we’re collectively invited to rethink how we develop and deliver learning experiences.
These tools are not just about automation or scale — they’re about intentionality. They offer us a pathway to build dynamic, scalable, and bespoke learning ecosystems that adapt in real time to the needs, contexts, and aspirations of individual learners. Technological advances abound, but they are all for nothing if we lose sight of the human experience.
We are at the precipice of expanding what qualifies as learning and development. And let’s be honest: a good rebrand never hurts. Embracing an expansive learning model — one that integrates both the content off the shelf (deductive, empirically grounded, protocol-driven learning) and the content of the self (inductive, experience-driven, peer-informed learning) — allows us to unlock the brilliance already present within our organizations. This dual approach moves us from simply disseminating knowledge to cultivating wisdom.
AI can play a powerful role in this shift. For example, large organizations with bottom-heavy or frontline-heavy workforces can use AI-based listening tools to capture and analyze on-the-floor best practices. These tools can produce grassroots innovations that not only improve production output but also foster greater employee satisfaction. When these insights are elevated and fed back into the system as learning content, organizations benefit from a selfreinforcing cycle of growth and relevance.
Ultimately, AI allows us to democratize learning — not by replacing human insight, but by amplifying it. When used with care, curiosity, and intention, these tools can help us build more human-centered, adaptable, and responsive learning environments — where every learner is seen, and every lesson is shaped by those living it.
“Technological advances abound, but they are all for nothing if we lose sight of the human experience.”
Adapting to the Learner or Expecting Them to Adapt to Us?
Joe Carlino Talent Leader
It always amuses me when I think how far behind in thinking many L&D professionals are compared to the technology they have at their disposal. For example, many of us publish eLearning materials using SCORM, a file format that’s about to celebrate its 25th birthday.
As the husband of a teacher and a father, I’m also aware of the many changes that (some) schools
have made since I attended: not only embracing technology but understanding that there are significant differences between how I like to learn and preferences of the younger generations. It’s unfortunate that so much of the materials out there, whether they’re long-format ILT’s or unengaging eLearning’s, continue to expect a generation that grew up with YouTube and TikTok to
receive information in the same way that I did. Furthermore, I’ve observed that engagement can be challenging, especially when they are used to attending classes via Zoom rather than in-person. From my perspective, it’s vital not only to regularly refresh my content, but also to be intentional about how I present to them. That 2-hour class I offer is often better received when
I split it up into multiple classes, I also have the added benefit of built-in spaced repetition, which I’ve found to be very effective in making the content stick. Finally, adding in additional media (snippets from podcasts, videos, etc.) both into the class and in pre and post work activities can help make the content more digestible for a large group of learners.
Where Do I Start? Activate Your Learning Curiosity with a Human Learning Coach
In this world, there are a myriad of different ways to learn and absorb information. Every day, we, as humans, are bombarded with the newest ‘thing’ — how it can better us, inspire us, advise us, and propel us toward our greatest selves even better than that last ‘thing’. Can we trust the source? Is the way we are learning impacting our learning process?
In this dizzying frenzy of technology, apps, AI, and the natural hunger to stay ‘in the know’, how do we exhaust all available options, decide what we really want to learn and how this knowledge might even help us grow in our roles? How do we dial back the noise?
Quite simply, we must first understand some key components: how we have learned in the past, how we would like to learn, and how we might see this knowledge playing out in our organizations, creating a robust and flexible learning culture. As curious humans, some of us are more comfortable with an in-person, instructor-led environment. Others may align more closely with on-the-go, bite-size learning moments–the ‘Tik Tok’ learning experience. If an organization acknowledges and leans into this flexibility, providing program options available in varying formats, it will ultimately cater to employees’ unique learning styles, making the argument that ‘learning’
as an activity outside of one’s day job, could be a compelling reason to join an organization, stay at an organization and embrace professional soul-searching.
A possible solution: appoint a learning coach or ‘champion’ within an organization’s L&D team, or embed them within the business, so that employees can have access to real-time humans to help them navigate effective learning methodologies, explore new ways to dispel information, and role-play learning action plans. The purpose of the learning coach is to ensure that the learning process stays unique to the learner.
This practice is more likely to increase engagement among employees and teams, excite them about role-specific learning and, in turn, give them the tools to teach their colleagues and teammates about what they have learned and, just as importantly, how they have learned. If a learner is truly able to identify how they comprehend information and what their end learning goal is, their appetite for consuming information will increase and the experience can be contagious.
How can you integrate this learning philosophy into your own organization? Find those learning champions, create an internal buzz, and make learning accessible and exploratory for all.
Performance Consulting Realized
Kathy LaMarr-Bines VP Talent Development
The future of L&D will look very different than it has traditionally. Learning will be forced out of the classroom and into the workplace (wherever that might be) where AI “bots” or “agents” will work as employees, side by side with humans, in roles that are dual purposed. This will bring us closer to realizing the vision of performance consulting that we’ve been talking about for decades.
Firstly, the bots will be enabled to perform the repetitive, low value tasks they’ve been programmed to do. But the bots will also understand what the department is supposed to output or produce and will be on the lookout for performance gaps and inefficiencies amongst the humans that negatively impact output or production.
When learning opportunities are noted by the department bots, they will send feedback
data to the Learning Coach (LC), who will determine whether the performance gap requires training (skill is needed), coaching (practice is needed with some oversight) or some type of motivation/reward (the individual has the capability to complete the task but lacks the will or capacity). The LC will determine the proper intervention, depending on the type of gap that has been identified. If it’s a lack of skill, the LC will instruct the bot to train the employee on completing the task. If coaching is recommended, the LC will decide whether the bot can conduct the coaching solo or requires partnering with a human expert. The LC will intervene if the gap requires a motivational solution.
In short — investing in training is almost never a bad idea!
“Learning will be forced out of the classroom and into the workplace, where AI bots work side by side with humans to identify and close performance gaps.”
L&D: The Ultimate Competitive Advantage
Starting a business was once a monumental challenge requiring significant resources. A physical storefront, equipment, staff, and the recurring costs with each of these were necessary just to get started. However, in today’s digital era, these barriers have largely disappeared. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, since 2020, there has been an 85% increase in monthly new business applications compared to the previous 16 years. The rise of digital services, open-source tools, and affordable hosting solutions has made entrepreneurship more accessible than ever.
However, as starting a business becomes easier, sustaining and winning in a rapidly growing competitive landscape becomes exponentially more difficult. In a world where new digital entrants appear daily, how does one ensure their product remains relevant? The unlikely key to lasting success lies in Learning and Development (L&D). If digital products and platforms are easy to create, then sustainability depends on adoption and engagement—fundamental principles of any successful L&D initiative. Let’s not mince words about it; any company that wins the engagement game will win the market.
Moe Rizvi Director of Client Experience
manufacturer, often compared with Android-based devices which offer more customization and features at a significantly lower price-point. Yet, Apple dominates the market. Why? Because of its focus on user education and engagement. Apple ensures that consumers fully understand and utilize their products, fostering long-term loyalty. A competitor may offer more features but, if users struggle to engage with them, those advantages disappear.
In today’s digital business landscape, success is not solely about having the best product— it’s about creating engagement and adoption that insulates a brand from competitors. More and more, business leadership is recognizing that L&D is not an internal expense; it is a critical, clientfacing, competitive advantage. By investing in education and user engagement, businesses can cultivate deeper customer relationships and drive retention.
Modern consumers are not looking for a sales pitch; they seek guidance, expertise, and solutions. They want an ally who helps them maximize the value of a product, not just someone selling it. As we advance further into the digital age, businesses that prioritize L&D will gain and retain.
Apple serves as a prime example. It was neither the first nor the most affordable mobile phone
Fostering a Culture of Creativity: We Are Not Robots
On my way to this book hack, I listened to Conan O’Brien’s podcast.
Walking 20 minutes in fresh air, I listened, I observed the alive city, listened, and laughed out loud a lot. Comedy is my creative outlet. It opens my mind to learning new things about myself, my work, and the world around me.
When I think about the future of work and learning, I think the only way to solve our biggest challenges inside and outside of work, is to tap into our most human skills, like creativity.
Creativity is about making unexpected connections and seeing things in new ways. To be creative, humans need safe spaces to move away from perfection, to fail, to follow their fears and curiosities.
Research has shown that organizations that foster creative and innovative cultures are more successful. This doesn’t mean they operate in chaos. In fact, it’s the opposite – creativity thrives with guidelines and constraints.
Trust me, I’m an improv comedian and even though we make up creative stories and characters on the spot, we follow rules.
Humans are creative animals, I mean, hey, we invented robots! As kids we were inherently creative, but some of that gets lost as we grow up.
So, when we are learning and development nerds think about how to foster more creativity within our organizations how about asking our people:
What brings you joy? What do you care about?
Where do you feel your most creative? What are you doing?
What’s your biggest challenge right now?
What do you want to learn to help you with this challenge?
How can you find out more about that?
What will you do after learning about this? What actions will you try?
How will you report back to your manager / team / colleagues?
I learn through laughter and play. Others have different outlets. Let’s let learners create their own solutions to the problems they face everyday. That’s building a culture of creativity.
We don’t need to have all the answers. We just need to provide the space for our people to be more human, walk outside more, and maybe be the weirdos that LOL on NYC sidewalks.
“We don’t need to have all the answers. We just need to provide the space for our people to be more human.”
Lisa Pertoso Follow the Fear, A Leadership Development Studio Founder / Learning Design / Facilitator / Comedian
Towards a Horizon, Through Our Own Spectra
Monica Chan
Visiting Assistant Professor, UX Design
Continuous.Technology-enhanced. Multi-directional.
I always go back to my childhood memory of the first time I really saw the ocean. I mean, immersed myself in the vastness of the ocean. At 10 years old, I stood at the tip of a beach in Phuket and stared into the horizon of the Andaman Sea, feeling the salty breeze surround me, listening to the ebbs and flows of waves, discerning quick chatter amongst the locals in a tongue I do not understand, but in awe of the profound marine grandeur, wondering what is beyond what I cannot see, feel, hear, or taste. I reflect on my personal and professional learning journeys thus far as my meandering pathway towards that faraway horizon. The process is continuous, neverending, sometimes challenging but always interesting.
My perception of L&D is similar — whether it’s setting a new professional goal, mastering a new tool, developing a team culture, or handling an organizational shift, I’m constantly taking in something unfamiliar, interpreting this information with my unique perspective, and adapting this data to my environment. L&D is a continuous process that I engage in, inching closer to a horizon that I have not yet attained.
As we persist in our own continuous learning spectra, technology evolves rapidly every day. Generative AI may be the most recent hotshot in town, but with every decade, new technologies emerge. Over time, as our behavior transforms with our use of technology, so do our experiences in our continuous learning spectra. We embrace, we adapt, we fear. These are all valid feelings when we come into contact with change, but we take it in stride, and we find ways to use technology to augment our learning.
I draw from my most recent experience piloting a major LLM-powered software engineering workflow at a large technology firm, where this topdown refashioning culminated in hesitance, frustration, lack of control, and distrust amongst software engineers. I saw this as an immense opportunity for L&D to take the lead, not just in training the software engineers in unfamiliar territory but xsetting the stage in developing a culture of continuous learning. L&D will be increasingly enhanced and driven by technology, but L&D will bear the torch in navigating natural human emotions in times of change.
Finally, L&D is and will remain inclusive of all professional levels - it is not a one-way street. A fresh graduate with new eyes to legacy processes, a senior associate with a few years under their belt and a strong grasp on fundamental skills, a director managing an organization with hundreds of employees - each figure has something to offer to the other. L&D has the power to open the door to an environment where mentors can be mentees and vice versa.
When each individual is continuously learning in the spectrum they have defined for themselves, adapting to technologies that emerge, and recognizing the strengths of those more tenured and less tenured than they are, this would be the fabric that underlies an innovative organization.
“When each individual is continuously learning in the spectrum they have defined for themselves, adapting to technologies that emerge, and recognizing the strengths of those more tenured and less tenured than they are, this would be the fabric that underlies an innovative organization.”
Multiple Generations: One Winning Team?
Intergenerational Learning: The Future of Work
The workplace is becoming more and more of a mix of generations working together—each generation is bringing something different to the table. As these changes are happening, they are transforming Learning & Development from a traditional, top-down process into a dynamic, two-way exchange of knowledge.
L&D isn’t just about senior people teaching younger employees anymore. Now, learning is happening in every direction— across all experience levels—and it is shaping not just job skills, but how we communicate, interact, and show up at work every day.
Here’s where the impact is unfolding...
Digital Skills Meet Human Skills
Younger employees are helping older generations with digital tools, new work styles, and tech trends. Meanwhile, more experienced employees are sharing wisdom on things like resilience, leadership, and workplace culture.
Fueling Innovation
This two-way learning is also helping spark innovation.
As people from different generations are working together, they are bringing fresh ideas and new ways of thinking. This is helping teams stay agile, come up with creative solutions, and push companies forward.
Breaking Down Hierarchies
As collaboration increases, we are seeing less focus on strict hierarchies. Knowledge is flowing between all levels, creating a culture of respect and shared
learning. People—from interns to CEOs—are feeling encouraged to experiment and challenge the way things are done. This is helping companies become flatter and more flexible.
More Trust & Openness
A few years ago, managers often expected their employees to check in on even the smallest tasks. Today, many companies are adjusting to having teams work remotely, even across different countries—a huge change! Instead of micromanaging, the focus is shifting to building trust and flexibility. Things like unlimited PTO are showing this shift, giving employees more freedom to manage their own schedules.
More Accessibility
Senior leaders can’t just work in isolation anymore. If they want their company to grow and
succeed, they need to be in open conversations with their junior employees, listen to their ideas, and understand what’s needed to move forward. The old “top-down control” approach is making way for more collaboration, where everyone, no matter their role, is getting a say.
The Future is Intergenerational
As workplaces are becoming more diverse in age and experience, learning from each other is becoming key. The future of L&D is all about creating environments where knowledge is flowing both ways—helping teams grow, collaborate, and innovate across generations. It’s about evolving together and making sure every voice, no matter where you’re at in your career, is being heard and valued.
Richa Malhotra Executive and Team Coach, Trainer, Facilitator
Trusting the Next Generation of Learning & Development
Riley Olsen Learning and Engagement Coordinator
I basically tripped and fell into the learning space; it was a complete accident. In college I studied Psychology and as I started my junior year, somewhat on a whim I decided to apply to an internship in Human Resources. That’s it, just a general “HR” internship. When I eventually got the role and learned that I would be working on the Learning & Development team I remember thinking “that’s a thing?” but then being filled with excitement for my new adventure.
It was during that internship that an amazing mentor introduced me to the world of instructional design, and I was afforded some incredible
opportunities in the space. At 19 years old I was individually creating leadership development courses that were made available to the entire company.
Having an opportunity like this, as a then-college student, set me up for success very early on in my career, but it set me up for something else too… imposter syndrome.
Recently, I started a new role in the learning space, and we sat down for a planning meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, we all shared our hopes and our fears for the session.
My fear, of course, was feeling like an imposter in the group. Feeling like I was too young, too new, to provide any real value. After I shared this fear, my manager looked me in the eyes and said, “you are no imposter, you are a valuable member of this team.” She wasn’t just saying that. I was just as valuable in that planning meeting as everyone else with a seat at the table. And I continue to show, and be reminded of my value, daily.
It’s hard to be a young professional surrounded by people who have been in the industry for much
longer or have twice as many degrees. It has been hard for me to value myself, but what the people around me have helped me come to terms with is that I have my own unique value, which is just as important as the value that a longtime L&D expert brings to the table.
This is the future of learning; young people recognizing and being assured of their value. Young people trusting themselves and being trusted to change the space as we know it.
To Play is Human. To Reflect is Divine. To Build is the Future.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how we learn and not just what we learn, but how. And more importantly, what kind of learning actually sticks. The kind that stays with us, changes how we show up at work, in our relationships, and in the decisions, we make every day.
I keep coming back to one thing: play.
and helps them take action. They want to feel something. That’s why I always come back to this:
Build to think and reflect to grow.
Saad Bin Tariq Chief Learning Experience Officer
Not just the kind of play you remember from childhood, but the kind that lets us explore, try things out, make sense of messy thoughts, and connect with others in real ways while being competitive. They call it purposeful play because it’s not random. It’s designed to help us understand ourselves, our work, and our world a little better. It’s playful, yes, but it’s also thoughtful.
Play shows up in many forms. Sometimes it’s LEGO bricks. Other times it’s drawing, storytelling, building a quick model, playing one of those classic tabletop games or acting out a scenario. What matters is that it helps people feel safe enough to share, stretch, and be seen not just as learners, but as beings with limited but unique capacities.
I’ve learned that adults don’t want to be “taught” as much as they want to experience. They want to explore ideas on their own terms. They want learning that feels real
When people build something i.e. an idea, a metaphor, even a little model they’re not just making something out of nothing. They’re processing. They’re learning by doing. And when they pause and reflect on what they’ve made or what they’ve seen, they begin to connect the dots. That’s when learning becomes real. That’s when it starts to grow within.
The learner of the future isn’t just looking for facts. They want meaning. They want experiences that lead to clarity or confidence. They want learning that moves them forward not just in their career, but as people (hopefully). And I believe purposeful play is one of the strongest ways to design that kind of experience.
We don’t always need more slides or more content. Sometimes we need space. Space to play, to make, to talk, and to think out loud. Because when we make space for play, we often discover things we didn’t even know we were carrying.
That’s the kind of learning I want to create. And I believe that’s the kind of learning the future will demand.
Asking the Unasked Questions
Sally Bolig Director of Talent Acquisition & Development
Before we go about solving for the opportunity we think needs addressing, why not first question what’s causing this opportunity in the first place?
So many of us have been tasked with developing the same sampling of trainings addressing the same umbrella of topics: think ‘manager effectiveness,’ ‘communication,’ ‘efficiency.’
How many of us first stop to ask ourselves – and more importantly, the people we’re tasked with teaching – why this has become an opportunity for learning?
Examples that may feel relatable:
Opportunity: Manager Effectiveness
Proposed Solution: Teach managers to run effective 1:1s.
Commonly Unexplored Questions:
• ●What competing priorities impact 1:1 availability or effectiveness?
• ●What common 1:1 topics do managers themselves not have clarity around and answers for?
Opportunity: Communication
Proposed Solution: Educating employees on how to demonstrate empathy.
Commonly Unexplored Questions:
• ●Why aren’t employees inclined to demonstrate empathy?
• How has remote work influenced interactions?
• What cross-functional misalignment might be leading to frustration?
Opportunity: Efficiency
Proposed Solution: Piloting project management best practices.
More Commonly Unexplored Questions:
• Have we yet defined each stakeholder’s role in each project?
• ●In which capacities do, and don’t people feel empowered to contribute?
As Learning & Development professionals, we’re inclined to ask questions because it leads to more meaningful group engagement. But we’re also naturally curious. Our natural talents support this recommended approach: always gather insights from learners themselves before developing solutions.
Before we jump into solving, lead a session with the sole purpose of identifying the true root cause of this theoretical opportunity. Whether the session results into a coaching session that yields the results we hoped for,
or the fuel to feed the fire of the training you ultimately develop, your learners will feel heard and the energy you put into solutioning will be informed.
So often we’re building the learner’s muscle to overcome the barrier. What becomes possible if we demolish the barrier itself?
With lean teams, competing priorities, and ample empathy, little feels more rewarding to a L&D professional than knowing that the training you provided was aligned with a genuine need and tailored to your learners’ lived experiences.
“So often we’re building the learner’s muscle to overcome the barrier. What becomes possible if we demolish the barrier itself?”
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Artificial Intelligence
For most of my life, I have been a late adopter. I was late to Facebook, Instagram, Venmo, and all the other millennial technology milestones. Honestly, I still have an iPhone 13 mini that I am not looking to give up any time soon. But strangely enough, I was quick to jump on board with AI. I would not have expected this of myself.
As a former social worker, I strongly believe in the power of mutual aid and social learning. However, when used properly, AI can make the impersonal personal. It can take content that might otherwise feel rote or boring and make it engaging, learner-centered, and easy to scale.
For me, it all started in late 2021 when I attended a webinar hosted by the AI video platform, Synthesia. At the time I was an eLearning specialist at the second largest law firm in the United States, desperately trying to get learners to find eLearning cool and exciting. PowerPoint-based click-through modules were not cutting it anymore (if they ever were) and Synthesia’s lifelike AI avatars gave me a way to create bespoke job aids and instructional content at scale.
Then came ChatGPT, and with that, the ability to create custom GPTs.
Sarah Fowler Instructional Designer & Facilitator
As much as I’d love to believe learners were clamoring to attend my instructor-led trainings on how to craft the perfect Out of Office Reply (a bigger deal in law firms than you might think), I decided to try out building a custom GPT that would help learners write better emails, while providing actionable feedback on revisions to their original drafts.
“MailPolish” is still in beta, but I would have loved something like this as an early career professional, who simply did not know what I did not know. As a mid-career professional working with a highly distributed workforce, I have been particularly excited about coaching platforms such as Skillsoft and Coach Hub. These platforms allow learners to interact with chatbots in a low-stakes environment that gives them real-time feedback on skills practices.
Okay, so I started off saying how much I love peer to peer learning and then wrote a couple of hundred words on how much I love to instruct and learn through artificial intelligence. These two concepts are not as disparate as they may seem. The fact of the matter is, it is a lot easier and faster to deploy personalized learning content at scale when we use this technology. But it should not be used by itself or as a total replacement for practicing these skills with other people.
Learning facilitators must give learners opportunities to practice with peers in learning cohorts after they have first learned through artificial intelligence. These classic learning approaches are more important than ever because human to human interaction is the one thing AI will never be able to replace. As practitioners, we must leverage this blended learning to not only meet learners where they are but also take them to the next level.
“It should not be used by itself or as a total replacement for practicing these skills with other people.”
Embracing Possibility in a World of Uncertainty
Talia Bender
Executive Coach & Facilitator (Stepping Stones Coaching LLC)
The world is changing, the workplace is changing, and organizational learning is changing. For some L&D professionals, the change is welcomed and exciting. I’ve heard many folks say things like:
“Look at what we might be able to accomplish if we don’t have to spend all our time creating power point decks!”
“With AI we can actually reach more niche skill gaps and learning needs that we couldn’t before”
“With blended and self-directed learning we can free up our team to focus on learning application”
And in the same breath out come all the fears…
“What will happen to my job if the business sees learning and development, instructional designers, and facilitators as obsolete?”
“But the in-person magic of group learning is the magic sauce, I don’t want to lose that!”
The fear of change and uncertainty is loud. It comes from the business leaders we partner with, in our internal meeting with each other, and in loud whispers within our minds. And that makes sense, because there’s a lot we can’t predict.
Sure, we can brainstorm and ideate, but there are many things outside of our control and beyond our imagination.
As much as we might try, we are not fortune tellers - we couldn’t have predicted the rapid change to remote learning during the pandemic and we can’t predict the full impact of AI and technology today.
So what do we do in a profession with rapid unpredictable change?
As L&D professionals who pride ourselves on knowledge of frameworks and best practices it’s tempting to look to the past. However, the past doesn’t have answers to the challenges and uncertainty the future will bring us.
As L&D professionals, we’ll need to embrace uncertainty and possibility:
• What could be possible if we leverage AI and technology to its fullest capacity?
• What could be possible if we are able to create content in minutes instead of weeks or months?
• What could be possible if learning solutions were tailored to each individual learner?
• What could be possible if we allow our jobs to turn into something completely unimaginable?
Learning the skill of embracing possibility isn’t just for L&D professionals, but for all leaders working in this ever changing and uncertain environment. It’s a complete paradigm shift from: “How should this be done?” to “What could be possible if…?”
Embracing possibility requires…
• Embracing possibility requires dreaming, exploring, and experimenting.
• Embracing possibility requires questioning assumptions and abandoning the status quo.
• Embracing possibility requires a beginners’ mindset of exploration and an abandonment of perfection.
• Embracing possibility requires acknowledging our fears, but not letting them rule our decision making.
• Embracing possibility requires abandoning our roles as experts and leaning into our skills as facilitators.
So how do we start?
1. Identify the fears. Write them down & notice when they pop up so they don’t unconsciously rule decision making.
2. Set aside dedicated time to regularly dream and ideate as a team without committing to implementing any of the ideas.
3. Identify underlying assumptions for existing processes and approaches. Consider: What becomes impossible if we always do things this way?
4. Build capacity for experimentation and risk by trying something new each week.
This skill of embracing possibility will be critical in navigating the uncertainty of our times and it will be a differentiator in our ability to impact organizational learning and change.
Bonus: we’ll also be more fulfilled if we’re dreaming and creating than if we’re clinging to the past afraid of what’s to come.
“Embracing possibility requires abandoning our roles as experts and leaning into our skills as facilitators.”
Think Like a CEO, Act Like an Entrepreneur
Shea Leadership & Organizational Development Consultant
The world is changing faster than ever and as a consequence, there is a need for learning and development to also evolve just as quickly.
There are all kinds of emerging dimensions in learning: AI tools supporting employees with skill development; an increase in bitesize action learning that apply to real life challenges; integrating Learning Coaches into organizations; developing strong a feedback culture; and giving employees the opportunity to teach each other rather than sitting through training from an external vendor. How people learn in organizations is constantly changing, and there is a need to be even more strategic by experimenting with autonomy.
Some of the most engaging learning experiences I have been able to create have been working with groups of people within organizations – whether those groups are established teams, mixed teams, or just individuals who have been with the organization for a long time.
But within these learning experiences, the focus was on creating an environment where the participants felt encouraged to experiment, rethink, or develop new approaches to improve their own productivity or creativity at work.
There is genius in organizations that is often untapped. When I suggest to groups of people within organizations to imagine what they
would do if they ran the place, they start to perk up. When I suggest to them that they are the ones with the capacity to solve the problems that are holding them back, they get very excited. This experience is not about chaos or unbounded autonomy, it is about having them think like a CEO and act like an entrepreneur – taking ownership and building upon their creativity.
Encouraging employees to think about how they can ‘surprise and delight the customer’ and implement their own ideas can enhance efficiency and drive breakthroughs in products or services. By conducting research to better understand what customers truly want, employees can recognize opportunities that they can deliver value in ways that bring
“There is genius in organizations that is often untapped.”
both professional fulfilment and customer satisfaction – creating joy in the process.
This type of experimentation with autonomy and ownership can drive learning and will hopefully be a key driver of growth, evolutions, and breakthroughs in business. No, it won’t guarantee success the first time – it’s an iterative process that refines and improves outcomes. But over time, the successful experiments can become standard practice.
There is a genius in people and organizations. If we can actively seek it, encourage it, and provide the right framework for it to thrive, the results will be amazing.
Tim
Multi-Generational Learners in the Workplace
There are currently four generations in the workplace and they each have their own learning styles:
Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964):
Known for their drive for professional achievement and financial success. This generation values stability and face-to-face communication. They learn best by hands-on, instructor driven classroom training.
Generation X (born 1965-1980): Known for their pragmatism, independence, and strong work ethics. This generation values flexibility and informal work styles. They learn best by self-directed learning with access to practical Millennials (born 1981-1996): Known as tech-savvy, ambitious, and collaborative. This generation values work-life balance and purpose-driven work. They learn best by interactive, tech-enables experiences with opportunities for social learning and real-time feedback.
Generation Z (born after 1997): Known for their digital fluency, entrepreneurial spirit, and preference. This generation
values for diverse and inclusive environments. They learn best by leveraging on-line learnings as well as the ability to “Google it”. Another effective tool/format are podcasts.
Given these differences, it is important for L&D leaders to consider multiple approached for learning from the classroom to online micro-learnings. It is also worth noting the potential need for reverse mentoring in the workplace e.g., A Gen Z’er helping a Boomer learn how to leverage tools such as AI.
Things to also consider while managing these general differences: today, a Baby Boomer might be managed by a Gen X’er or even a Millennial. Understanding what motivates each generation is key — while Boomers may be driven by loyalty and legacy, Gen X often seeks autonomy, Millennials value purpose, and Gen Z craves innovation and inclusion. Effective L&D strategy takes these motivators into account, creating tailored development experiences that resonate across the age spectrum.
