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5 Thoughts You Must Read
Ross Stevenson
December 26th, 2023
Today’s Thoughts ☠️
Hey there 👋,
Happy festive break ☃️.
I write this on Christmas Eve - Eve envisioning the ungodly amount of food that I will consume.
I’m not going to make you think too much today. Only a little. As this will be the last edition of 2023, why not explore the biggest thoughts of the year?
Today, let’s unpack the 5 most popular big thoughts and data breakdowns from the past 12 months.
Get your tea 🍵 or beverage of choice ready. We've got lots to discuss!
In today’s chat👇
Est reading time: 8 mins
THE BIG THOUGHT
The 5 Most Popular Thoughts of 2023 For Next-Gen L&D Pros
You might notice I’ve started using the phrase ‘Next-Gen L&D Pro’ recently.
This is a nod to a couple of things I’m working on in 2024. Specifically around building the next era of smart L&D operators (or how I see it anyway). It’s a splice between human and tech skills, sprinkled with strategic business savvy.
More on that to come in the next few months.
For now, just know Next-Gen is a reference to awesome pros, like you, advancing their skills and behaviours to navigate the modern world.
Anyway, let’s get to these 5 thoughts that got the most love this year.
Yogababble: The Destroyer of Careers
A common problem that holds L&D teams back is being clear and not clever in communication.
Other teams fall prey to this too, of course. Yet, I’ve seen many good L&D solutions fail through self-sabotaged business jargon.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been ambushed by a vendor or sat in a briefing with other L&D pros where I’ve been completely bamboozled by their level of yogababbley BS.
“We’re going to build a blended learning experience with a dash of miro-learning that leverages human-centred design to take place in the metaverse”.
What does that even mean?
This one obviously struck a cord. Perhaps, it can help you too.
The Skills To Thrive For The Next 5 Years
This one is part of my skills anthology.
A 5-part (soon to be 7) deep dive series of the skills that matter today, tomorrow and the strategies to craft them. Here I used data from leading skills reports to distill what we should each focus on to stay future-fit.
AI Copilots Will Finally Fulfil The Promise Of ‘Learning in The Flow of Work’
I wrote this back in June of this year.
This is funny because it was 6 months before the AI Copliot revolution we now know. I stand by it as the future we’re about to engage with over the next few years.
It might be the final curtain call for the traditional LMS and LXP.
4 Learning Design Mistakes And How To Fix Them
When you spend nearly two decades doing anything, you notice things.
Good, bad and downright weird. I’ve seen patterns and loops emerge in both experience design and technology implementations. Here I unpack 4 common mistakes in the design process with both teams I’ve led and been part of.
The 7 Skills L&D Teams Need For Today's World
Every year for the past 5 years, I’ve spent a month analysing industry reports, talking to clients and L&D teams about the skills required to succeed.
The output of this exercise is this article on the x skills every team and pro needs to navigate today’s world.
It not only covers the skills, but real-world examples in the L&D industry too. If you’re part of the Cult of Thoughts 🏴☠️ community, look out for 60-minute accelerator sessions coming to you in 2024.
Final thoughts
Whilst these are the top 5 of the year ranked by views, I write 52 editions a year.
You can access all of those on the newsletter homepage and my website. I hope these help provide an alternative view and inspire your work in the year ahead.
One more thing…
Before we sign off for the year.
I have one final thought to share. That is simply - THANK YOU!
I never imagined one person would read my words let alone the crazy number that does now. That is all because of you reading this right now.
So, thank you for supporting me and my work.
Whether you like a post, buy my products or just read my words. I’m truly grateful that you chose to spend time with me. At the end of the day, I’m just a guy with some thoughts, a keyboard and what some might say is an unhealthy tea addiction.
Alas, we’re the same.
Just some humans trying to navigate this crazy thing called life.
Much love to you and yours. I’ll see you in 24 🥳
→ Next week: The biggest L&D revelations in 2023 in 12 charts
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🥋 THE DOJO
It’s Time To Become AI Confident in L&D for 2024
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Completed 12.2% more tasks
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DATA THOUGHT
MindTools Unlocking Excellence Report: My Favourite Breakdown of 23
Here’s a breakdown of MindTools Unlocking Excellence in L&D Report. You can download a copy here. These are my personal takeaways.
It was tough to choose just one report I distilled this past year. But this one from the MTB team packed so much value and insight for L&D teams, that it had to take the crown.
1️⃣ Most L&D teams have been stuck at delivering surface impact for 20 years
It’s so easy to bash our industry for not moving fast enough.
I hate doing it, but the data showing just how stuck in our ways we are keeps coming. I like to look at these moments as a time to reflect and plan for the future.
The MindTools team cleverly uses a four-stage learning maturity model to study how different organisations behave (see page: 17). With this they categorise organisations based on the impact of the L&D efforts.
Here’s what they found:
51% of L&D teams surveyed sit at stage 1 with transactional interventions. They seem to be doing a lot in the business but in reality, they’re achieving very little (see page: 13)
23% of L&D teams surveyed sit at stage 2 - implementing L&D programs. These teams are a little smarter in what they focus on but lack enough connection across the business to deliver meaningful impact (see page: 14).
Only 15% of L&D teams surveyed sit at stage 3 with a proactive talent and performance strategy. These teams are found to make more purposeful decisions with an increased clarity of thought (see page: 15).
11% of L&D teams surveyed sit at stage 4 with a high-impact learning culture. These are the highest-performing L&D orgs in the world. They do everything at all 4 levels and link it all back to business alignment (see page: 16).
“Top-performing organizations weave a carefully constructed web of activity, while keeping an eye firmly on what the business needs. As organizations mature, they stop trying to do it all. Instead, they take a step back, reflect on where they’re at and what they’re doing, and then use this insight to build meaningful connections between activities.”
2️⃣ L&D is finally aligning with the business
Rejoice my fellow modern L&D pros.
We are making some pretty damn good improvements. Let’s pat ourselves on the back for a change!
MT’s research shows us that teams closer aligned to business goals have more impact and success. Who would have thought, eh?
This quote nicely sums this up:
“We have shown that when L&D teams fail to perform in synergy, the impact can be harmful for the business. Organizations don’t just fail to achieve what they want to when L&D activities are disconnected. Doing things in isolation can lead organizations to achieve even less than they would have if they hadn’t engaged in the activity at all. We believe that’s why lower-performing L&D teams consistently report feeling so overwhelmed – they’re working hard but reaping few rewards.”
3️⃣ Be a better strategic partner
I feel this is echoed throughout the whole report.
→ The closer you’re to the business the better you can succeed
I’m not saying this is always easy. It’s something I’ve written in-depth about before. It’s good to see that industry data is proving this to be a useful approach.
The emphasis of a lot of my work with L&D teams is getting clear on their companies:
Culture
Constraints
Context
This quote resonates nicely with this:
“Alignment starts by getting to know the business better. Business acumen is an increasingly neglected skill for most L&D teams, but it’s essential for an effective learning leader. L&D teams cannot always rely on senior leaders in the business to define clear objectives, or to communicate them effectively across the organization. But business environments do predict organizational priorities, so with greater knowledge about the business, L&D teams can meet its needs without having to be asked.”
How I can help you👇
1/ My L&D toolkit stack with 20 zero-cost tools.
2/ Work smarter with AI in HR and L&D in my ChatGPT Crash Course.
3/ Work with me on your projects and L&D challenges.
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