"The future of corporate Learning and Development" debate is five different things

"Pushing fancy new stuff onto your organisation will not change the outcomes if that is not emerging from your system itself, through the ripening of a different worldview."

Stelio Verzera

The perennial topic of "The future of corporate Learning and Development" is always everywhere. This 'Shirky Principle' fuels and sustains the status quo and the players that continue to benefit from it.

I'd argue that the discussion is in fact five very different conversations happening in parallel, but unequally distributed. They are - in current descending order of noise, ambition and opportunity:

1. 'MAKE THE TRAINING BETTER'. The status quo. The economic model. Dependent on maintaining the belief that educating individual workers changes the system through which complex, interconnected organisations perform. This narrative is carefully preserved by (mostly) commercial vendors who have filled the strategy vacuum. New technologies, new (and old) instructional design trends, industry reports, trade shows and familiar 'insider' voices.

2. Scaling access to and gaming increased consumption of centrally managed 'learning content'. This is the status quo being optimised and spread via new digital technologies. The economic model in action. 

3. Top down, emergency mass re-skilling programmes focused on 'individual performance'. This is the status quo re-cycling itself as the new (old) answer to the now failing centralised, control based business models and cultures it helped to create. 

4. Accelerating shifts in value creation (from top down to bottom up), new sustainable business models and a more empathetic employer / employee social contract.

5. Challenging philosophical foundations of work, leadership, connection, contribution and mastery.

So - where in the "Future of Learning and Development" are you spending your time and energy?


Dynamic organisational development strategy for mid sized companies

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.

Comments

  1. Niels Pflaeging3 March 2022 at 08:08

    A short, but very powerful text with a highly consistent line of thinking behind it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Niels Pflaeging3 March 2022 at 08:09

    I think this article would profit from some editing and re-formatting. It deserves a larger audience!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul Jocelyn 3 March 2022 at 22:13

      Thanks Nols that’s much appreciated! Feel free to suggest ways you think I could improve this!

      Delete

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