The corporate Learning and Development team is still part of status quo


"Management was designed to solve a very specific problem - how to do things with perfect replicability at ever increasing scale and steadily increasing efficiency. 

 Now there's a new set of challenges on the horizon. How do you build organisations that are nimble as change itself?"

Gary Hamel

A late invitation to participate in an "Annual Business Plan" project team remains the holy grail for many corporate L&D teams.

A common challenge with these plans is that they remain fundamentally control orientated and reductive by nature.

"Annual Business Plans" often share a common vernacular that has been refined over time to meet the expectations of a specific circle of senior people within the organisation.

This inevitably runs counter to the more pressing challenge of investing in a new work environment in which everyone can safely participate and learn through their work and relationships.

Some examples of this 'red flag' "Annual Business Plan" language from my experience includes:

"Empower"
"Control"
"Reduce"
"Replicate"
"Digitise"
"Accelerate"
"Remove"
"Maintain"
"Limit"
"Centralise"
"Outsource"
"Consolidate"
"Stabilise"
"Standardise"
"Maximise"

If we reflect on these "Project Goals" then it's obvious why the next step is invariably a request to the newest members of the "Business Plan Natural Work Team" to "Create a training sessions plan".


I help L&D leaders to see new possibilities and to have more impact

 https://www.jocelynconsultingltd.co.uk/
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.

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