"Advocates of bold and ambitious strategies too often find themselves on the sidelines, labeled as losers, while the rewards go to those to those more skilled at working within the system." Kenichi Ohmae Some things that aren't your ' Learning Strategy' : The 'Annual Training Plan'  The 'Learning Offer' An 'Academy portal' where colleagues have to go to access the 'Learning Offer' A collection of L&D team 'to-do' lists for the year ahead The prioritised list of 'orders taken' from senior stakeholders by the L&D team The new 'learning technology' implementation and adoption project plan The 'L&D Marketing and Engagement Plan' for the current training curriculum Approved ' Instructional Design Standards '.  

"Quite often a 'Training Needs Analysis' is conducted by wandering around asking important people what they think less important people need to know. They usually have no shortage of ideas." Nick Shakleton Jones From my experiences, a 'TNA' can be a defensive instrument which only maintains the status quo approach to learning. Some questions to consider around the role and approach to ' Training Needs Analysis': Is the use of the word ' Training ' deliberate and relevant? How might this preempt outcomes and reinforce existing expectations? Who decides the construct of the 'TNA' template? Why? How effectively does the 'TNA' enable the agreed learning strategy? How effectively does the 'TNA' capture the context within which people are working and need to learn? How effectively does the 'TNA' limit the risk of jumping to solutions?

" Until you accept that it's the collective assumptions and beliefs of your organisation that constrain performance, success, etc., you'll ALWAYS be stumbling around in the dark ." Bob Marshall The most powerful forces affecting the performance of an organisation are the assumptions and beliefs of its leaders.  In most organisations there's a 'perfect storm' of inertia because  a) leaders are not encouraged to question themselves and,  b) no one is encouraged to question leaders. Looking outside of their organisation and its current rituals can help leaders to acknowledge the new forces at play and pose useful new questions. For examples: 'How is our thinking changing on what we now need more of / less of from all of our people?' 'How is our thinking changing on what is valuable to us and why?' 'How is our thinking changing on where we need stronger connections?' 'How is our thinking changing on the environment we now need to c

"Bureaucracy is a massive, role-playing game. If you're an advanced player, you know how to deflect blame, defend turf, manage up, hoard resources, trade favours, negotiate targets and avoid scrutiny. Those who excel at the game, unsurprisingly, are unenthusiastic about changing it." Gary Hamel In most organisations there is a chasm between the mindset and assumptions from the industrial age of business and, what is now required today. On one side of the the chasm there is status, control, hierarchy, reactivity, process, self-servants and a deliberate separation between 'thinkers' and 'doers'. On the other side of the chasm there is an acknowledgement of organisations as connected systems, the role of 'leaders' as enablers and facilitators, empathy, curiosity, inclusion, possibility, and learning as the work. (If you're invested in and dependant on the first side of the chasm you'll inevitably see the other side as a risk and a threat).