1. Learning & Development 2.0
Houston, we have a problem.
The world is changing. And L&D is changing with it.
Why?
Well, businesses have long relied on L&D to be the gatekeepers of knowledge. And boy, have we delivered! Courses, modules, workshops, eLearning, microlearning, explainers… you name it, we’ve built it. And whilst those who know better have always strived for performance improvement, we’ve often fallen back on our get-out-of-jail free card, aka: knowledge transfer.
But, for better or for worse, the good old days are over. The harsh reality is we can no longer base our value on delivering information, regardless of format. Because AI delivers faster and better. Need answers? AI gives us what we want, when we want it.
So, how else can we justify our existence?
What about skills? L&D doesn't just deliver content - we design learning experiences to help people practice. Can’t we just double down on those?
Well, we are great at this. And people will always need skills.
But here’s the thing…
AI is exposing something that’s been ignored for too long - high performance isn’t driven exclusively by individual capability - it’s also determined by the environment. Give people skills without considering the system within which they're operating, and we become reliant on individual heroics.
Of course, you already knew that. But businesses have ignored this for decades.
And that's because people are bloody great at compensating for ambiguity. We manage! We figure things out! Broken processes, disconnected tech, competing priorities…
We succeed despite the environment, not because of it.
And we do so because we’re capable, resilient and adaptable. Hell, our ancestors overcame the plague and T-Rex - of course we can handle a little fuzziness at work!
But here’s the problem - AI cannot.
And if you’ve ever plopped a half-baked prompt into ChatGPT without adequate instruction, context or guardrails, you’ll have experienced the inevitability of an unusable output. Garbage in, garbage out.
For AI to perform to the required standard, it needs clarity. Which means for anyone using AI to perform to the required standard, they must provide AI with that clarity. And unless that clarity has been defined ahead of time, they'll be forced to figure it out for themselves, at the moment they undertake the task.
So, what does that mean for L&D?
It means the value upon which we’ve built our reputations - i.e., knowledge transfer and skill building - is being questioned. The business is seeing for themselves the importance of thoughtfully designed work in order to improve performance.
Of course, people still need knowledge and skills. But the perceived value of ‘work design’ is growing.
And so, for L&D to survive, we must take this seriously. We can either lead the change, or watch our value disappear and become irrelevant.
But “designing the work”… what does that even mean? Can we do that? How do we do that? Do we even want to do that?!
For most of us, this raises many questions. And so, the whole point of these emails is to find the answers.
But before we begin, let’s define the rules of engagement…
My commitment to you is three fold. I promise to:
operate from first principles
challenge assumptions, and
litter my emails with silly anecdotes and Grade A dad jokes.
But it ain't fair for me to do all this hard work without your help. So, I have three asks:
1. Stay open-minded. I may say some things that raise an eyebrow. Remain open. Of course, I'm not asking you to blindly believe what I'm saying. But don't disregard it because it's unconventional.
2. Remain sceptical. Isn't that a contradiction? How can you remain open-minded and sceptical? Well, open-mindedness means you're willing to consider possibilities you don't already believe. Scepticism means you don't accept things without justification. The fine line we're walking here is: "I'm open to changing my mind, but I'll think carefully before I do."
3. Hit reply. The beauty of email is they're two-way and private. Whether or not you agree with what I'm saying, I want to know. Reply with questions, comments, objections and virtual high-fives. Your responses will have a direct impact on my thinking and motivation to keep writing.
***
Ok, so we've taken our vows and are legally married - what's next?
Well, let’s finish with some housekeeping…
As we all know, spaced repetition is more effective than a one-off knowledge dump. And email is perfect for that. So, I’l be drip-feeding you a few emails each week.
To help familiarise you with some core concepts, I'll be sending a series of pre-written, daily emails (weekdays only). This will last a couple of weeks, with each email building on the last. After that, you'll be getting my latest content in real-time, as and when they’re written.
So, thanks for joining - I feel genuinely giddy about where we're going.
Yours,
- Ant
