"I think a major act of leadership right now, call it a radical act, is to create the places and processes where people can learn together using our experiences.' Margaret J Wheatley Lack of acknowledgement of systems and systems change by L&D leaders is increasingly indefensible The level of deliberate 'transformation' / transition in the corporate L&D function should be equal to or greater than the level of change / transition across the organisation as a whole The L&D function needs an 'appetite statement' that confirms the new level of ambition and expectation " People don't have time to learn " is a systemic red flag (as "learning" still only means "training")  The training paradigm persists as it's in the interests of L&D leaders and senior managers to collude to maintain it  Generic content libraries can't (possibly) change performance Interaction rich highly contextual approaches can enable perfo...

"The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence. It is to act with yesterday's logic." Peter F. Drucker L&D folks: Try replacing the word " learning " with the words " working " or " performing ". How does that feel? Why?

"A major barrier in health and care is the Einstelling effect. It occurs when, facing a new problem, we apply a repeated solution we have learnt from old problems, based on what we know and are comfortable with, preventing us finding a better solution.  It creates a cycle of non achievement of results." Helen Bevan   Corporate L&D is an example of group-think, fear, and the Einstelling effect. There is typically a collective devotion to conventional thinking: The training course is still the main unit of 'learning' (see the Shirky Principle )  Focusing on only 'course attendance' and 'attendees reactions' reinforces and justifies this Which means 'allocating time to learn' is the inevitable mantra needed to support this  'Badging' and 'credentials' are part of the same paradigm (cult?) (Corporate life with less courses still seems unthinkable and unpalatable on all sides?)

"Fear is the enemy of learning. Fear is the enemy of excellence in any endeavor where there is uncertainty." Amy Edmondson Fear - implicit or explicit - is a feature of most organisational work cultures: Fear of perceived failure Fear of those with higher status Fear of loss of status Fear of uncertainty Fear of change Fear of being 'found out' Fear of new ideas Fear of being 'on the outside' Work cultures reflect the system*, and the system emerges from the assumptions and beliefs of senior leaders (who often have expensive lifestyles to maintain). * Leaders choice of goals, incentives, reward mechanisms, rules, policies, processes, metrics, information flows, teams, groups, hierarchies, team structures, roles and responsibilities, career paths. 

"A deterministic mindset and command and control culture leads to no or limited space for learning for individuals nor for the organisation." Jonathan Smart You can't prioritise formal learning (training courses and e-learning modules), which are separated from work - and then complain about people not having the time to stop working and 'consume' your 'solutions'. (You   decided to make it that way :)

"We need to make a shift from the institutional model of scalable efficiency to a model of scalable learning."  John Hagel Five fundamental building blocks for an effective corporate Learning and Development operating model: 1. A performance and change oriented vision; a clear and compelling 'appetite statement' (beyond 'provide training material and manage events') 2. A focus on enabling team and organisational performance; (over 'fixing individuals through attending training and consuming content') 3. A solution design ethos that capitalises on how people learn - namely through their everyday work and their networks (over formal learning 'interventions', separated from work) 4.  A solution design approach focused on employees' tasks to be done and concerns to be addressed (beyond vague 'understand...' and 'be aware of...' goals) 5. Performance oriented success criteria; (beyond 'course attendance', 'conte...

"We tend to focus on snapshots of isolated parts of the system. And wonder why our deepest problems never get solved." Peter Senge We know that providing isolated formal learning interventions (usually e-learning modules and training courses) have little or no impact on individual or team performance.  It takes courage, curiosity and foresight for leaders to see beyond the training paradigm (and to stop colluding in it) and start to see enabling new capability and performance as a connected, inter-dependent system. Some new questions that can help start this new practice might include: What are the short, medium, and long term success measures for this initiative? Who has defined these success measures? Why? How effectively do this success measures link to our overall strategy and stated ' values '?  How will we create time for leaders and their teams to focus on this new initiative? (What will stop?) Where does this initiative sit in the priorities of its 't...

"Compliance is seductive because it comes with short term prizes. If you fit in all the way, it might feel a bit less frightening. The centre of the herd may in fact be safer, but the view is terrible." Seth Godin Long tenures can create blurred vision and / or blinkered vision Lack of incentives to change (discomfort, uncertainty, risk to status) Defending sunk costs  Leadership should be more than logistics management Strategy and tactics are very different things Plans are still the dominant currency (Which reinforces the training course as the unit of 'learning')  'Everything has to change' (but only if things can stay the same?) People do like to be busy (regardless) Systems thinking is feared - so status roles shape business performance instead.

"Leaders, lifelong learners, learning organisations, learning cultures ... the rhetoric is deafening. In practice this means more 'courses'." Donald Clark Most investments in organisational learning (courses and programmes) are performative theatre. To enable genuine, sustainable, performance change, shift focus towards: Creating and incentivising social structures that accelerate collaborative problem solving Defining the new capabilities now needed for the organisation to become 'future fit' Deliberately adjusting goals, incentives, rewards, structures, rules, processes and information flows (AKA 'the system') to enable the new capabilities to emerge and establish Facilitating new connections and team working Prioritising creation of more capacity for questions and reflection Challenging and supporting leaders (raised on process compliance and contracting out responsibility for peoples' development) to redefine 'learning' beyond (just) at...

"The recipe for workplace despair is having high expectations for performance in a system that erodes well-being and extracts the energy needed to "perform". Zach Mercurio Here a some ingrained organisational culture norms that are mostly invisible to leaders and prevent 'cultures of learning': 1. Worshipping individual performance (= individualising systemic problems) 2. "Performance" (really) equates to 'level of compliance and acceptance' (working with the system) 3. Hiring and organising for 'cultural fit' (reinforcement) 4. Absence of inquiry (status roles limit questions and challenge) 5. 'High potentials' ethos (special treatment for the special people) 6. Work and learning viewed as separate entities ('work' means 'delivery', 'learning' means 'training') 7. Processes organised to maintain separation between the 'thinkers' and the 'doers' (status roles).

"Your worldview determines what problems you believe are important to solve, which, in turn, points you towards certain principles and away from others. Principles get operationalised in processes which shape everyday practices (behaviours), and ultimately determine performance." Gary Hamel It's the underpinning assumptions and beliefs of the leaders (their 'worldview') that inform business models and operating models (" The business / organisation we will be! ..."). Common assumptions and beliefs that determine priorities for industrial leaders often include: 1. ' My previous experience equips me to accurately predict the future .' 2. Success comes from directing and pace setting 3. Desired results can be achieved through process management  4. High performance means high compliance 5. Change needs to be 'driven through' an organisation 6. 'Learning' (only) = 'being trained'. So organisational cultures are outcomes (thin...

"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