☠️ They lied to us about content

Today’s Thoughts ☠️

Hey there 👋,

There are some mysteries we may never solve.

What did the end of Westworld mean? What was the ‘thing’ Meatloaf wouldn’t do for love? Or, why do some people put milk in with a teabag before the hot water?

But, there is one we can solve together - how to tame the tsunami of bloated learning content workforces worldwide are drowning in.

Get your tea 🍵 or beverage of choice ready, we've got lots to discuss!

In today’s chat 👇

• How not to drown in the learning content tsunami

• 3 insights from Microsoft’s Work Trends Report

• How to pick a career that actually fits you

The Big Thought

The Content Tsunami Is Not Cool

Do not confuse more content for better learning experiences.

It's easy to fall into this trap. So many of us do it. I find that it is not a question of adding more, but rather asking, what we need to take away.

Sculptors chip away at stone to craft inspiring statues which we look at as marvellous examples of art. They didn't say, "Oh this worked well, how about we add more stone to it as surely more people will flock to see it".

Content strategies often start like this.

When content strategies go wrong

You develop content to serve the needs of the masses but then get lost in it. You take a one-size-fits-all approach and build monoliths of content which become the central spear of your learning strategy.

Then you realise no one uses all the content you've amassed - why?

They're overwhelmed, confused and quickly lose interest. It's the Netflix Friday night movie choice conundrum on repeat. If this is the way the company wants them to 'learn', then they'd rather check out.

This leads to the popular employee survey response of "I haven't learned anything in the past year".

Which you and I know is not true, of course.

Truth hurts, but we can change

Your employees don't want to engage and don't benefit from your "only content can save us" strategy. So, your learning strategies are deemed a failure because you measure the wrong metrics and ask the wrong questions.

It doesn't have to be this way though.

An intelligent approach to content in your learning strategy and ecosystem can unlock powerful skill development.

Here’s some tools to help you:

• Context and content = 🔥

• The 4-step content health check to save your budget

Deep Thought

Microsoft Work Trend Report (Will AI Fix Work?): 3 Key Takeaways

Here’s a quick breakdown of Microsoft’s work trend research. You can download your copy here. These are my personal takeaways.

1️⃣ Meetings are killing workplace creativity

68% of people say they don’t have enough uninterrupted focus time during the workday. This is the oldest battle. Creation vs. Consumption.

The folks from Atlassian found that a massive $37 billion a year is the cost of unnecessary meetings in the USA alone. That means the average American wastes about 31 hours a month in unproductive meetings!

I feel like meetings have got worse since the pandemic. I’m looking at you here, Zoom!

Along with meetings, ‘not easily finding the information I need’ was a top barrier to performance. I’m pretty sure we can do something about that.

You might find my meme-laden 3 Tools To Avoid Pointless Meetings article useful in your pursuit of slaying the meeting demons.

See pages: 5 - 8

2️⃣ You’ve got a friend in AI

Despite mass hysteria in mainstream media that AI will take our jobs. The data tells a different story.

When asked, “What would you value most about AI in the workplace?” business leaders were 2x more likely to choose increasing productivity over killing jobs. I’d say that’s positive.

It seems the everyday individual contributor is also pumped about AI’s potential at work.

1. 73% of respondents want to use AI to find the information they need

2. 76% believe it can enhance their creativity

3. 86% want to use it to summarise their meetings, and who can blame them with the sheer volume we endure?

It sounds like there’s a lot of optimism. Of course, you should be aware this report comes from Microsoft which is one of the biggest players in the AI arms race.

Psychologist Adam Grant summed it up nicely when he said:

“It’s fascinating that people are more excited about AI rescuing them from burnout than they are worried about it eliminating their jobs.”

See pages: 11 - 14

3️⃣ New skills for new times

Newsflash: Learning isn’t keeping up with the pace of work.

You probably knew that already.

It’s not just AI skills that leaders are looking for employees to develop. They want those that will enhance an AI-powered future too.

The top 3 are:

1. Analytical judgement

2. Flexibility (I think they mean adaptability)

3. Emotional intelligence

Human + AI skills are the winning combo. If you want to work smarter with generative AI tools Like ChatGPT, it would be a miss for me not to tell you about my crash course.

I’m teaching L&D and HR pros like you how to make AI your partner, not the problem. Interested? Join the next cohort 👈

See page: 16-18

LinkedIn

I post so much on LI, even I lose track of all the stuff. Here’s a quick roundup of drops to keep you and me in the loop:

1️⃣ The Pokemon learning journey

2️⃣ How does ChatGPT create new content? (Explained)

3️⃣ Please stop calling people learners

4️⃣ Stop worrying about AI. Start worrying about this

5️⃣ Use these 3 tips to make better learning technology decisions

Make AI Your Partner, Not The Problem 🤝

I’m making learning Gen AI tools like ChatGPT simple and easy to empower you at work and save tons of time!

Join L&D professionals future-proofing their skills with AI in hours, not days.

Get started with my beginner’s crash course

Smart Thoughts

Content that has caught my attention and might interest you too.

🤔  5 insights on how to nurture learning in your organisation

Edtech startup, Section, shares quick insights from their students and enterprise customers on enabling learning efforts.

I don’t agree with them all and number 4 made me laugh (a lot). Check them out and let me know what you think.

💡 How to pick a career that actually fits you

I must share this article 4-5 times a year.

I do it for good reason too. Our society places too much pressure on finding the one and only career for life. That’s not how the world works.

This is a lengthy but worthwhile read about the career decision game.

🔥  F**kups, lessons and experiences with learning strategies

The lovely folks at learningbank invited me to their Work 3.0 podcast this week.

We chatted about the future of learning, two mistakes which 10x’d my skills and how to lead a digital revolution in your team.

Check it out here and do share your own L&D war stories by hitting ‘reply’.

If you're curious, here's three ways 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.

Please share your thoughts with me on these pieces or anything I share on LinkedIn or hit 'reply'. Chat to you soon.