Corporate Learning and Development is trapped by its own adopted language


"Where we all think alike, no-one thinks much at all"

Walt Whitman

It's interesting to reflect on the the industrial structures and bureaucratic language now adopted by many corporate 'L&D' teams:

"Learning solution"
"Learning program"
"Learning delivery plan"
"Learning implementation"
"Capability framework"
"Learning requirements"
"Skills matrices"
"Learning deployment activities"
"Learning objectives tracking"
"Learning measurement framework"

This narrative reinforces a view of "learning" which is functionally structured and centrally controlled.

I believe L&D's ongoing quest to be accepted as bona fide function has driven this shift in language. The choice to align with what is familiar and expected by senior leaders, in particular Management's apparent interest in only what can be "measured".

Here are some new words which 'L&D' could choose to associate with instead:

Opportunities
Empathy
Openness
Creativity
Enrolment
Possibilities
Choices
Context
Intuition
Confidence
Connections
Clarity
Alignment
Adaptability
Uniquely
Empowered
Proactive
Practical
Guide
Cultural
Progressive
Imagination
Collective
Aspiration
Freedom
Reflection
Curiosity
Autonomy
Influence
Participation
Communication
Meaning
Diversity
Interactions
Readiness
Supportive
Energising
Inspiration
Questions
Agency
Discover
Responsibility
Elevate
Latitude
Enable
Evolving
Challenging


Paul works with L&D teams who recognise that learning and leading have to go beyond 'the program'...




I work as a thinking partner and advisor with mid sized, value oriented companies going through significant change. I help you to build new capability and mindsets through shifting your approach to organisational development.

Comments

Post a Comment

Please let me know your thoughts on this...

Popular posts from this blog

Barriers to progress

"Consciously or unconsciously, leaders put in place structures and practices that make sense to them. These structures and practices correspond to their way of dealing with the world and means that an organisation cannot evolve beyond it's leadership's stage of development." Hermanni Hyytiala   Here are some barriers to progress that correspond with the way that many control oriented leaders deal with their world: Perpetuating a linear, directive, process oriented, bias... Maintains busyness as the key status enhancing characteristic of the system* Which reinforces an inability to create space for reflection, new opportunities and stopping 'old' things Which limits the ability to define the new characteristics of high performance as context shifts Which prevents agreement on the new conditions that need to be in place to enable these new characteristics Which reinforces the 'snow blindness' of attempting to move in a 'new direction' using the
Read more

The interconnectedness of perennial 'L&D' challenges

"The reason why we don't see the source of our problems is that the means by which we try to solve them is the source." David Bohm The ' Top 5 challenges for L&D leaders ' - based on responses from folks planning to attend the 2021 annual Learning & Performance Institute 'Learning Live' conference: 1. "Digital transformation of learning." 2. "Building a learning and coaching culture." 3. "Supporting learning 'in the flow of work'." 4. "Leadership and management development." 5. "Driving employee engagement." There are some perennial runners on this list of " Challenges " (symptoms?) - which in my opinion are all connected . If we can acknowledge that sustainable business models are no longer based on centralised control - enabled through optimising efficiency and standardisation. If we can agree that an individual's expectation of 'work', an employer, a 'boss' a
Read more

The NEW valuable organisational capabilities

"All these executives going around talking about the need for innovation and increasing agility while pushing an out-of-date command-and-control structure focusing on efficiency aren't going to get agility of innovation." Charles Lambdin OLD industrial era value-creating organisational capabilities: 1. Control 2. Standardisation 3. Incremental improvement 4. Compliance 5. Consistency NEW digital era value-creating organisation capabilities: 1. Receptiveness to continuous change (market, customer, employee contexts) 2. Connectivity across teams 3. Access to exemplary performers (internal and external) 4. Agency and autonomy 5. Inquiry and reflection
Read more