"There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning, boys. How's the water?" The two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and says "What the hell is water?" David Foster Wallace Here are some common signs of tactical, 'cost centre' positioning from my experiences of working alongside corporate L&D teams:  A lack of understanding of business goals / strategy / brand strategy / commercial differentiation No compelling vision for the indisputable role of 'learning' in the context of achieving the business goals No connected, aligned L&D strategy, tactics and success measures which enable the business goals "Traditional" expectations from "senior leaders" of the work of the L&D team A focus on "learning" as the goal - rather than work performance

" When you change what someone pays attention to, then you change the conclusions they come to. " Annette Simmons Many L&D leaders will making the annual pilgrimage to the Learning Technologies Conference this week. If you're considering an investment in a new technology my list of ten questions for vendor discussions might be helpful. In my experience its critical for L&D leaders to keep a firm grip on the context inside their organisation - and reflect on how a new tool  will actively contribute to your own specific learning strategy and goals. (Don't get side tracked by features and subscription tiers...) 1. What is the big change your learning technology business is seeking to help make / facilitate / accelerate in the world of work? 2. What is your 'worldview' on the role and priority for 'learning' in business settings today? 3. Who is your technology not for? 4. Describe how your organisation interprets the terms "tra