This is an interview by Bloomfire I participated in almost two years ago that just resurfaced on their blog. I think the relevance is timely and worth sharing again for those who missed it. The basis for this dialog centers around how the T&D role is being stressed to meet the new learning demands of business and some thoughts on what to do about it. (more…)
I love walking trails in the woods; some are favorites, while others may be new and different. Whenever walking down a new path many things appear that are familiar, remembered and experienced from other paths taken. When new things are discovered, they often can pull me from the path to seek a closer look and a deeper discovery. Being pulled from the path may not be planned, but there is no doubt that diversions such as these will occur. Such a journey, with similar detours from known to unknown, can…
With all the recent press performance support is getting…make that positive press…I’m noticing that we could easily slip into a best practice of admiring the problem of what to do about it. To be a bit less sarcastic, I must clarify that admiration of the problem is NOT a best practice, but it often seems like we manage to do it best. (more…)
It has been a long time since I could honestly point to a “training conference” and say, “Now this is one to go to!” The exciting thing is…it’s not a training conference…but anyone “in training” needs to sit up and take this new perspective seriously. Why? Because this is where learning is going at a rapidly increasing pace, and to NOT be a part of the evolution could be career limiting. (more…)
<RANT> Did any of you read the article posted at Chief Learning Officer’s site, “When Employees Hack Learning – and Why That’s a Good Thing”? If not check it out – short and sweet – and right on the money. Evidence of this "hacking" also shows up as something that many LMS administrators see in their reporting summaries as a negative signal – Course Incompletions – courses forever in “In Progress” status, and likely never to be completed. This is NOT a negative indicator of the value of training content,…
A few years ago, I am quite certain, I would have been fighting this “cloud” concept tooth and nail. There was something about having my own staff running my own servers behind my own firewall that provided a sense of security and control. To an extent it did, and the IT staff would be the first to man the ramparts to fight off having anything living outside the firewall – much less allowing anyone outside to get into our systems. I feel their concern, and I respect the need to…
I just stepped out of another awesome dialogue that has triggered another post. A two-part question was asked about “How to influence our training peers to step away from antiquated practices” ...AND... “How to demonstrate to senior leadership that there is a better way to drive performance”. I think both parts of that question are essential and foundational to getting us out of the current practices that are so dangerously embedded. I say “dangerous” because both training budgets and jobs are at risk if we cling to status quo. Until…
Once again, I find motivation flung upon me to grind out a new post based upon an awesome question asked this morning in one of my networking groups. The question, “Do we see a myopic view by training [L&D] limiting training’s impact?” And a second part, “What do we need to do to overcome it?” One response suggested it was not so much “myopic” as it was “funnel vision!” I heartily agree, and on either view [sorry…], if our vision does not peek through a more holistic lens to view…
I wish I had a nickel for every time I read a post on one of my networking groups where someone asks what features they should be sure to get on their LMS. Having been down that path multiple times, I can say the chances of finding one with the “best features” are really good, because most LMSs I’ve seen have all of them. My point being this – the LMS is the commodity – the world does not revolve around the LMS – the application in which the LMS…
The title of this post sort of implies an “either/or” relationship, and I wanted that to come across – at least initially. Why? Because these two outcomes are attained at two different stages of competency development over the span of time that learning occurs. Not only what learning occurs but where, when and how it occurs. There is no shortage of flashy jargon and countless descriptive labels used in the learning industry these days that promise performance impacts, and I am probably guilty of using most of them at one…