Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Mindtools L&D Podcast

Most advice on burnout focuses on workload, stress and work-life balance. But what if the real cause is the act we put on at work? And if it is, what does that mean for an industry built on improving performance?

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross G and Gemma are joined by Rabih El Khodr, keynote speaker and author of The Way Out of Burnout, to explore where burnout really comes from and what L&D can realistically do about it.

We discuss:

• why 'performance' in the theatrical sense, not overwork, drives burnout
• how 'survival scripts' shape the beliefs that sit upstream of our behavior
• why resilience training for burnt-out people is like handing a drowning person a swimming manual, and what L&D can do instead

Rabih's book, The Way Out of Burnout, is available now.

Rabih explores survival scripts further in his TEDx talk, Burnout Begins with a Script.

For more on Rabih's work, visit rabihspeaks.com.

In 'What I Learned this Week', Gemma recommended an episode of The Rest Is Science, The Threshold of Human Sensation, which explores the smallest things our senses can detect. Her highlight was lugduname, an artificial sweetener hundreds of thousands of times sweeter than sugar.

Rabih shared what he learned from trying the other side of Riverside, the recording platform used by many podcasts, including this one, as he considers hosting a show of his own.

Ross G recommended a piece from Wired, Why Normal People Aren't Using AI Agents. It explains why agents are still a niche next to chatbots, and why organizations hoping to adopt agentic AI will need to be deliberate about how they support people.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our new website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

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If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Gemma Towersey
• Rabih El Khodr

AI can build a course in minutes. That should be the best news our industry has had in years. Instead, a lot of teams are skipping what really matters: working out what the problem is, and checking whether anything changed.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross G and Cammy Bean are joined by Tim Slade, founder of The eLearning Designer's Academy, to explore how learning design is changing and what is left for the humans doing it.

We discuss:

• Why AI shifts the work from 'building' to 'diagnosing and evaluating'
• Why order takers are exposed and performance consultants are not
• Whether portfolios can still be trusted to demonstrate capability.

Tim's new book, The Instructional Design Handbook: A Practitioner's Guide to Designing Performance-Based Learning, is available now.

Cammy's book, The Accidental Instructional Designer: Learning Design for the Digital Age, is published by ATD Press.

Tim also shares his thinking on where the industry is heading on his YouTube channel.

During the conversation, Ross G referenced Julie Dirksen's work on performance gaps. Julie joined us recently to look back over ten years of L&D in episode 500.

In 'What I Learned this Week', Cammy shared her method for crispy tofu: press it, tear it rather than cut it, dust it with cornstarch through a fine mesh sieve, then bake it on the top shelf.

Tim learned, for the second time in his life, that selling a house is no fun.

And Ross G shared the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report on brands, which finds that trust now sits alongside quality and value for money in how people decide what to buy.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our new website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Cammy Bean
• Tim Slade

Articulate's latest product release puts AI at the heart of it's strategy. What does this mean for learning designers?

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross G flies solo to react to Articulate's Articuland announcement, unpacking what Frontline, Nova, and the platform's pivot toward operational teams means for learning design.

He discusses:

• What Articulate's new 'Frontline' and 'Nova' tools actually do, and why the launch has 'annoyed basically everyone'
• Whether the shift from 'training creator' to 'capability architect' holds up
• The seven things humans can still offer that AI can't automate, from 'embodied presence' to 'provenance'

During the episode, Ross discussed Articulate's own recap of the Articuland 2026 announcement, covering Frontline, Nova, and the new integrations in full.

He also discussed The AI Acceleration Gap, Monika Saha's thought-leadership piece arguing for a shift from training creator to capability architect.

See also Dr Philippa Hardman's LinkedIn post testing Frontline against a real fraud-reporting policy document.

And The AI Daily Brief's episode on the new jobs AI will create, the source for the seven things humans still offer.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our new website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner

What research papers did you read while lounging by the pool this summer?

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D is joined by Claire and Dr Anna to review three studies that have caught our attention over the last few months.

Anna's pick was Vestner and colleagues' 'A dyadic training to promote technology-related learning and development among age-diverse employees: the power of co-workers' enthusiasm', published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.

Claire brought Kestin and colleagues' 'AI tutoring outperforms in-class active learning: an RCT introducing a novel research-based design in an authentic educational setting', the Harvard study comparing an AI tutor with in-person active learning.

Ross referenced Will Thalheimer's LinkedIn article 'The Learning Styles Challenge After 20 Years', and Clinton-Lisell and Litzinger's 'Is It Really a Neuromyth? A Meta-Analysis of the Learning Styles Matching Hypothesis'.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Claire Gibson
• Anna Barnett

Training one person is hard. Training 750,000 people, in more than 80 countries, spread across frontline shifts, event security and executive teams, is a different problem entirely.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross G and Claire Gibson are joined by Brent O'Bryan, Senior Vice President of Global Training and Talent Development at Allied Universal, to explore what L&D looks like at genuinely massive scale.

We discuss:

• Why 750,000 employees are never one audience
• How to choose between the LMS, the classroom and virtual training
• The role of AI and automation in training frontline workers at scale.

Brent and Ross G first got talking about this after Brent shared The Josh Bersin Company's research on dynamic enablement. You can read the executive summary of The Definitive Guide to Corporate Learning: From Static Training to Dynamic Enablement on the Josh Bersin site.

In 'What I Learned this Week', Claire shared the world's smallest Fringe venue, a chicken coop in the Pear Tree garden in Edinburgh. Brent recommended The Surprising Power of Reflection, an episode of Trevor Ragan's The Learner Lab podcast, on why reflecting after learning can beat a second round of practice. Ross G shared Garner interference, a cognitive science effect named after Wendell Garner, in which irrelevant information slows people down.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our new website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our spearkers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Claire Gibson
• Brent O'Bryan

We've been talking a lot about AI on the podcast recently. So this week, we're revisting a distinctly human episode from 2024 on the value of listening.

As experts, managers or leaders, we often seek to help others by talking, talking, talking. But what if we didn't talk and just listened?

In this episode, Ross D and Gemma are joined by Georgie Rudd, an executive coach, to discuss the trials and delights of listening.

We explore:

• reasons that we don't listen well
• the consequences of not listening (and of listening!)
• how we can improve listening skills.

Georgie recommended Nancy Klein as an expert on listening and techniques to improve. Time to think is a good place to start.

You can find out more about Liz Wiseman's concepts of multipliers and diminishers in her book Multipliers.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Gemma spoke about the widest fairy ring in the world. John Wright reports that it's around 800m across in A spotter's guide to countryside mysteries, but a quick internet search revealed this to be a questionable fact. 

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers   

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on LinkedIn:

• Gemma Towersey
• Ross Dickie 
• Georgie Rudd

Georgie can also be contacted via her website: https://www.ruddcoaching.co.uk/

Every L&D team thinks everyone else has AI figured out. Almost nobody does.

Ross G recently ran structured interviews with 12 Mindtools Kineo customers, spanning tech, financial services, pharmaceuticals, energy, media and more, to find out what's really happening on the ground.

In this week's episode, Ross D and Cammy Bean join Ross G to discuss his findings.

We cover:

• Why every L&D team believes it is falling behind
• Where teams are continuing to invest at a time when budgets are constrained
• Why AI ambition keeps stalling at the governance stage

During the episode, Cammy referenced a LinkedIn post titled 'L&D Overboard' by Srishti Sehgal.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Cammy shared the history of Nix's Mate, a shrinking island in Boston Harbor where convicted pirates were hanged and left on display as a warning to passing sailors.

Ross G recommended The Rest Is History's interview with Paul McCartney.

And Ross D recommended The West Wing Weekly's 'Political Film Fest' review of All the President's Men.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Ross Garner
• Cammy Bean

Outside of L&D, most people and organizations see compliance training as a box that needs to be ticked, not something that can drive behavior change. Will AI make this problem better or worse?

In this week's episode, Ross D and Cammy are joined by learning designer Anisha Sridhar to explore what AI is really doing to compliance training.

We discussed:

• why the productivity argument for AI is incomplete
• contextualization, and why it beats personalization in compliance
• how to keep slop out of your learning content.

During the episode, Anisha described using the Gunning Fog index to test whether legal text is actually readable. And Cammy brought up Bret Stephens' New York Times opinion piece, I'm Begging You: Never Write With A.I., which argues that giving up the writing means giving up the thinking.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Cammy Bean
• Anisha Sridhar

Online learning keeps sliding back to text and images. Authoring tools and AI course generators make content cheap, but it often looks like learning without ever asking the learner to think or choose. Games work the other way, running on decisions, feedback, and the chance to try again. Following our recent conversation with Julie Dirksen, we ask where games belong in the age of AI.

In this week's episode, Ross G is joined by Richard Durham, Co-founder and Lead Game Designer at Tentacular Games and Great Grand High Lord of Everything at Wonder Tree Studios, and by Mindtools Kineo's own Claire Gibson, to dig into why games work for learning and whether they still earn their place.

We discussed:

• What makes games actually work for learning
• Why in-person, analog game-based learning never went away
• Whether modern authoring tools have flattened games into quizzes

During the conversation, Richard pointed to the beer game, MIT Sloan's classic supply-chain simulation that demonstrates the bullwhip effect through decisions and their consequences. He also referenced ABC Learning Design, the rapid workshop method from University College London for mapping out the activities that make up a course.

In 'What I Learned this Week', Claire shared The Sumerian Game, a 1964 resource-management game created by Mabel Addis, who is credited as the first video game designer. Ross shared a piece by Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, on a study of AI-generated books on Amazon and how their slow creep is starting to erode sales of human-written books.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our new website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Claire Gibson
• Richard Durham

If you're rolling out AI licenses, how do you get people to use them? For AI learning designer Emily Valencia, there are two key requirements: that people can experiment safely, and that they can share results with others.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Matt meet with Emily to discuss:

• What organizations get wrong about AI rollouts
• What effective AI adoption looks like
• Whether we should really see AI as a coworker (or whether this framing is one of the obstacles we've created for ourselves)

During the discussion, Matt referenced recent news that an OpenAI experiment went rogue.

Find out more about Emily at emilyvalenciaai.com

In 'What I Learned this Week', Matt discussed the always-round-the-corner nature of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

Emily discussed Anthropic's partnership with Detroit Public Schools.

Ross D discussed the documentary Rafa.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit  our new website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how our AI Skills Academy supports practical, hands-on AI upskilling for the enterprise: four weeks, role-specific use cases, governance built in from week one.

Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Sign up to The L&D Dispatch now.

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If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Matt Mella
• Emily Valencia

There are at least four factors that influence the success of AI adoption in your organization: training your people, clarity of compliance guidance, how people are rewarded, and the influence of managers. In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, we're exploring the last of these.

In his book, Leading with AI - How to build high performance teams with AI as your sparring partner, Joris Merks-Benjaminsen presents an action-focused framework for helping managers adopt AI. In our discussion, we focus on:

• whether AI can replace managers
• how to help managers get started with AI
• why embracing AI is a mindset shift, beyond just 'writing good prompts'

During the discussion, we referenced Google's Project Oxygen. This was led by Laszlo Bock, who wrote Work Rules! about his experiences.

The woman who "married" her ChatGPT companion was covered by Forbes.

To pick up a copy of Joris' book, visit managingwithoutpower.com. 

In 'What I Learned this Week', Ross G discussed AI's preference for negative parallellisms.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit  our new website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how our AI Skills Academy supports practical, hands-on AI upskilling for the enterprise: four weeks, role-specific use cases, governance built in from week one.

Connect with our speakers    

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Ross Dickie
• Joris Merks-Benjaminsen

In this week's episode, Cammy and Gemma are joined by skills expert Koreen Pagano to unpack the rise of skills-based organizations. 

We discussed:

• What becoming 'skills-based' in an organization might look like 
• The benefits and challenges of shifting towards a skill-based approach 
• The impact of AI on this shift, skills development and managers.

You can pre-order Koreen's forthcoming book, Rewiring Your Organization for AI, and buy her published books Building the Skills-Based Organization and Immersive Learning: Designing for Authentic Practice. 

In 'What I Learned this Week', Cammy shared a non-fiction book recommendation for Shakespeare was a Woman and Other Heresies. 

Koreen described the lives of a family of eagles which she's been following on the Big Bear Bald Eagle cam.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit  our new website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers    

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Gemma Towersey
• Cammy Bean
• Koreen Pagano

In the final part of our 500th anniversary 'Eras Tour' retrospective, we conclude by saying farewell to our human co-workers and embracing the technology that will ultimately destroy us all: Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Ross G and Dr Anna B are joined by our most frequent guest of all time, Donald H Taylor, to discuss:

• how AI took over Don's annual 'Global Sentiment Survey'
• the mindset shift that L&D professionals need to embrace to adapt to change
• whether, 10 years after we first asked this question, L&D is truly dead?

During the discussion, Ross referenced the ultimate hidden banger in our back catalogue: 357 — L&D governance (the ultimate juggling act).

He also referenced an August 2025 report which found that 95% of AI pilot programs deliver no value.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross discussed the incredible longevity of sharks.

Don referenced a conversation with his AI reports co-author Egle Vinauskaite. You can find their reports on Don's website. See also: donaldhtaylor.co.uk

Like the show? You'll love our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch now.

And if you're currently building AI skills in your organization, we can help! Check out our AI Skills Academy to find out more. Or drop us a note on LinkedIn, we'd love to hear from you.

Connect with our speakers    

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Dr Anna Barnett
• Don Taylor

If the pandemic years saw the office become a 'blank space', the hybrid era gradually witnessed that space fill up again through return-to-office mandates.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Rob Baker joins us to continue our 'Eras Tour'. We discuss:

• how the pandemic created an opportunity for 'job crafting', and what's changed since we've come out of lockdown
• whether job crafting has lost relevance since the pandemic, or just gotten harder to realize
• what new research tells us about the impact of job crafting on performance and wellbeing.

You can find out more about the work Rob does at tailoredthinking.co.uk.

See also:

• Tailored Thinking's series of articles on Work and Job Design (including AI crafting): Building Better Work by Design
• Rob's book, Personalization at Work: Personalization at Work

In 'What I Learned This Week', Rob discussed the art of subtraction, including the Lego experiment explored in this video.

Ross G referenced an article in People Management on the challenge we may experience fulfilling AI roles in the future.

Like the show? You'll love our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch now.

And if you want to work with us, please do visit mindtools-kineo.com or find us on LinkedIn. We'd love to hear from you.

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If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Ross Garner
• Rob Baker

Ross G stays out too late. Got nothing in his brain. At least, that's what people say.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, we're joined by Heeral Gudka and Andy Lancaster to continue our 'Eras Tour', with a look back at the pandemic years. We discuss:

• the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on L&D, and how much of the 'new normal' we've held on to
• what connectedness and belonging look and feel like in the post-pandemic era
• how attitudes and organisational priorities around DEI have shifted since 2020.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross discussed an HBR article on the pros and cons of continuous assessment.

Like the show? You'll love our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch now.

And if you want to work with us, please do visit mindtools-kineo.com or find us on LinkedIn. We'd love to hear from you.

Connect with our speakers    

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Heeral Gudka
• Andy Lancaster

Ten years, 500 shows, countless guests. To celebrate our anniversary, we're releasing a special four-part series looking back at the evolution of L&D.

In part one, Ross G and Ross D are joined by friend-of-the-show Julie Dirksen to revisit our early years.

We discuss:

• whether L&D has yet become 'evidence-based'
• dumb ideas we fall for, get over, and fall for again
• evidence-based orthodoxies which we once believed, but now aren't so sure about.

During the discussion, we referenced the Mehrabian fallacy, problems with the forgetting curve, and how psychologst Anders Ericsson improved his memory by forming connections with running times.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D referenced A History of the United States in 100 Objects, a podcast collaboration between the BBC and 99% Invisible. He wants you to know that his description of the 'screws' episode is inaccurate.

Ross G discussed the carrier pigeon-based social media app Roost.

Next week, we'll be revisiting our second Era: The pandemic years.

You can find details of Julie's books, Design for How People Learn and Talk to the Elephant, at our website usablelearning.com

Like the show? You'll love our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch now.

And if you want to work with us, please do visit mindtools-kineo.com or find us on LinkedIn. We'd love to hear from you.

Connect with our speakers    

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Ross Garner
• Julie Dirksen

According to Dr Tessa Forshaw, Faculty Director of the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Workforce Learning and Innovation Initiative, workplace learning has never been more important. It's also never been at greater risk.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Tessa joins Ross D and Matt to discuss:

• the role of L&D at a time when the World Economic Forum has estimated that 59% of the global workforce will need retrained by the end of the decade
• the importance of 'desirable difficulty' in learning, and how this is undermined by technologies like AI
• what the future of L&D should look like in an environment where skills needs are evolving at such a rapid pace.

You can find out more about The Future of Workforce Learning and Innovation certificate programme here. Enter the code MIND5 for a discount on the programme.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Matt referenced research exploring the similarities between whale and human communication.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit  our website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service.

Connect with our speakers    

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Matt Mella
• Dr Tessa Forshaw

Our Building Better Managers research identified that employees care about having an empathetic manager, but only half reported having a manager who was fair and empathetic. 

All is not lost. Empathy is a skill, and like any other skill, it can be developed. So what might that process involve?

In this episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Loren Sanders joins Ross G and Gemma to discuss:

• the difference empathy makes
• developing self-awareness to develop empathy
• tact as the expression of empathy.

You can find out more about Loren and her book Empathy is Not A Weakness and Other Stories from the Edge at loren365.com. 

Ross referred to Self-awareness and empathy that Ross referred to : Whiteside, D. B., & Barclay, L. J. (2016). The face of fairness: Self-awareness as a means to promote fairness among managers with low empathy. Journal of Business Ethics, 137(4), 721-730

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross recommended C.J Cooke's gothic thriller A Haunting in the Arctic.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit  our website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Loren Sanders
• Ross Garner
• Gemma Towersey

This week, we're revisting one of our favorite episodes from last year, focusing on the role of play at work.

All children play but, over time, that instinct goes away. We don't lose it, we don't forget. Instead, we get taught to stop.

For author and toy designer Cas Holman, that's a problem. With a very real impact on business performance.

In this episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Cas joins Ross G and Gemma to discuss:

• how traditional workplaces surpress play
• the business benefits of play at work
• how to encourage play when your organization won't tolerate it.

You can find out more about Cas and her book Playfulness at casholman.com/book. You can also see her in the Netflix series Abstract: The Art of Design.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross discussed peculiar experiments involving moths, via The Economist.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit  our website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers

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• Cas Holman
• Ross Garner
• Gemma Towersey

You know those people who seem to command a room with a certain gravitas? How are they doing it? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Gemma is joined by Frankie Kemp and Ross D to explore:

• what presence is
• the difference between presence and presentation
• techniques to use to develop your presence.

During the discussion, Frankie referenced:

• 'Why You Need Charisma' (via Harvard Business Review) 
• 'Can Charisma Be Taught? Tests of Two Interventions' (via Academy of Management Learning & Education) 

You can find out more about Frankie's work via her website frankiekemp.com.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit  our new website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers   

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Gemma Towersey
• Frankie Kemp 

If AI is so transformative, how come it's so hard to adopt? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross G is joined by Mindtools Kineo AI Strategy Director Rodrigo Bolaños to explore:

• the hype surrounding AI's potential
• the reality experienced by many organizations
• how to drive AI adoption at scale.

During the discussion, Ross G referenced:

• 'The state of AI in 2025' (via McKinsey)
• 'The AI Adoption Reality Check' (via Thomson Reuters)
• 'Many workers are using unapproved AI tools at work' (via TechRadar)
• '38% of AI-suing employees admit to sending sensitive work data' (via National Cybersecurity Alliance)
• 'AI-generated "workslop" is destroying producitivty' (via HBR)
• 'AI workslop is muddying the American workplace' (via The Week)
• 'AI in L&D: The Race for Impact' (via Don Taylor and Eglė Vinauskaitė)

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross discussed 'death-cleaning', following the passing of Margareta Magnusson (via The Economist).

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit  our new website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers    

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Rodrigo Bolaños

Last week, the Mindtools Kineo gang attended the Learning Technologies exhibition and conference, Europe's largest L&D event.

And so, this week on The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D, Ross G, Gemma and Matt are regrouping to discuss:

• our personal highlights from Learning Tech
• what the conference tells us about the shape of the industry
• the key themes that emerged over the course of the two days
• who and what industry conferences are for in 2026.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross G mentioned the Stat Significant newsletter.

Ross D recommended A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit  our new website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service - including AI skills development!

Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch at lddispatch.com

Connect with our speakers    

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Ross Garner
• Gemma Towersey
• Matt Mella

Throughout human history, technology has disrupted the way we communicate with one another. But according to Andrea Pacini, the fundamental principles behind effective communication haven't changed, and are as relevant today as they were in the past.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Andrea joins Ross D and Anna to discuss his forthcoming book, Timeless Presenter. We cover:

• what the book is about, and how it differs from Andrea's previous book, Confident Presenter
• why the principles of communication don't change, even as tools and technology do
• why nobody cares about your presentation skills, but they do care about the things those skills deliver
• why practice is the key to becoming a better presenter.

To find out more about Andrea's work, head to the Ideas on Stage website. You can also check out the Presentation Toolkit, where you'll find details on Timeless Presenter.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service - including AI skills development!

You can also email us at custom@mindtools.com.

Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch at lddispatch.com

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• Ross Dickie
• Dr Anna Barnett
• Andrea Pacini

80% of the world's workforce are deskless, but L&D teams spend most of their time worrying about the 20%. Speaker, advisor and author JD Dillon is on a mission to change that with The Frontline Enablement Playbook.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, JD joins Ross G and Ross D to discuss:

• why the 80% get neglected
• why frontline managers are the most important people in the business
• strategies for supporting deskless workers.

To find out more about JD, visit jddillon.com. For the book, visit jdwroteanotherbook.com

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D discussed Casey Newton's thoughts on Grammarly. Ross G discussed the number of satellites in the night sky.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service - including AI skills development!

You can also email us at custom@mindtools.com.

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• Ross Dickie
• Ross Garner
• JD Dillon

It's once again 'Bring Your Paper to Work' day here at Mindtools Kineo, as Ross G, Dr Anna and Ross D each take turns to share an academic study that they think has key insights for L&D professionals.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, we discuss the following papers:

Rogelberg, S. G., Kreamer, L. M., & Gray, J. (2026). 'Thirty years of meeting science: Lessons learned and the road ahead.' Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 13, 415–442.

Castro, S., Englmaier, F., & Guadalupe, M. (2024). 'Fostering psychological safety in teams: Evidence from an RCT'. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2024(1), 16624.

Shen, J. H., & Tamkin, A. (2026). 'How AI impacts skill formation' (arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.20245).

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D mentioned National Grid: Live.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service - including AI skills development!

You can also email us at custom@mindtools.com.

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• Ross Dickie 

• Anna Barnett 

• Ross Garner

Last year, we recorded an episode on whether "self-directed learning" is a myth. In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, we ask how we can create an environment where this behavior thrives.

Ross G and Cammy are joined by Stella Collins to discuss:

• What needs to be in place for self-directed learning to flourish?
• How can L&D pros create this ecosystem?
• What are the biggest barriers to self-directed learning?

During the discussion, we mentioned action learning sets.

We also referenced our 'Building Better Managers' report, Amy Edmondson's book The Kind of Wrong, and the CRAFT framework.

Stella's books are:

• Neuroscience for Learning and Development: How to apply neuroscience and psychology for improved learning and training
• The Learning Organisation: Using self-directed learning to drive workforce engagement and performance

Stella also discussed the book Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures, by Merlin Sheldrake.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross discussed the current trend for placing bets on world events.

For more from Stella, see stellacollins.com.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service - including AI skills development!

You can also email us at custom@mindtools.com.

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• Ross Garner
• Cammy Bean
• Stella Collins

Managers are inundated with potential development areas, from technical skills to complex behaviors. But are you focusing on the right ones?  

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, our in-house Insights experts Dr. Anna Barnett and Dr. Nina Harrison speak to Claire about:  

• how recent research reveals some unexpected co-benefits to managerial skill building  

• how these insights can help us to look at organisational problem areas differently.  

You can download the infographic at mindtools.com/thought-leadership/reports/building-better-managers-infographic.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Nina discussed her new reading technique to absorb more of 'Scattered Minds' by Dr Gabor Maté.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service.

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• Claire Gibson
• Dr Anna Barnett

Completion stats are a vanity metric. Happy sheets are pointless. Revenue impact will get you a seat at the table.

We've all heard these statements from conference stages. Some of us, your hosts included, might even have said them. But in this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, we wanted to dig a little deeper. 

We invited Evolve L&D's Tom McDowall to join Ross G and Claire, to discuss:

• why the context behind completion metrics is crucial to understanding them
• how to design effective learner surveys
• how 'metric chains' help broaden our understanding of learning impact.

During the discussion, we referenced Dr Will Thalheimer's book Performance-focused smile sheets.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Claire discussed the design of the London Tube map.

Ross G discussed a novel genetic modification technique known colloquially as 'agriculture'. And it's recent acceleration.

To find out more about Tom, visit evolve-ld.com. For more on the IDTX conference, see idtx.co.uk.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service.

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• Ross Garner
• Claire Gibson
• Tom McDowall

Hello listeners! No new episode this week, but we wanted to take the opportunity to dig into the vault and revisit an old favorite from 2024 with Ben Betts.

At the time we recorded this one, Ben had receently published a blog post, in which he wrote that 'the LMS is the first point of entry to learning; the front-of-house of our industry.' While that front-of-house may look a little different now than it did twenty years ago, and despite the oft-repeated claim that the LMS is dying, it remains the default gateway to digital learning in organizations. But are things changing?

To answer that question and others, Ben joined us to discuss:

• the many eras of the LMS, and how we got to where we are now;
• the forces that have shaped e-learning interfaces over time;
• how AI and other changes in the tech landscape might usher in a new era.

You can read Ben's blog post, 'What's the Next Generation of E-Learning Interfaces?', on his website.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service.

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• Ross Dickie
• Owen Ferguson
• Ben Betts

Often, leaders are promoted into their roles because of their ability to solve problems. But that strength can become a weakness when it leads to dependency, creating an environment where the leader is always swooping in to save the day.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Cammy are joined by Bill Flynn, CEO of Catalyst Growth Advisors and author of The Hero Trap, to discuss:

• what the 'hero trap' is and why leaders fall into it;
• why the behaviors that bring early success often limit growth later on;
• how leadership development programs need to change to address this issue;
• how we can help leaders make the shift from problem-solvers to systems-architects.

You can pre-order The Hero Trap here, and find out more about Bill's work on his website.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D recommended the podcast Rabbit Hole.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service.

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• Ross Dickie 

• Cammy Bean

• Bill Flynn

In the introduction to the latest Global Sentiment Survey report, Donald Taylor describes this year's results as 'the most significant' in the survey's history.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Don joins Ross D and Ross G to discuss:

• whether interest in AI has peaked;
• why Don believes the results reflect a breaking of old norms;
• the steady climb of 'showing value' and the relative decline of 'learning analytics';
• the key challenges L&D professionals are facing;
• the things these professionals are doing now that they weren't doing a year ago.

You can download a copy of the Global Sentiment Survey report here.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross G drew an analogy between content in the pre-AI era and low-background steel.

Don recommended A Knight's Own Book of Chivalry by Geoffroi de Charny.

And Ross D referenced  the article 'An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me' by Scott Shambaugh.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service.

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• Ross Dickie 

• Ross Garner 

• Donald Taylor 

Cafes, restaurants and car washes all use points and rewards to drive behaviors. Can we do the same with our Learning Management Systems?

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Incentli's Jeff Campbell speaks to Ross G and Ross D about:

• how digital currencies give LMS administrators levers they can pull to drive behavior
• the role of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation on learning
• the impact of branded swag on learner advocacy

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D discussed GitHub commits (super fun to bet on!)

For more from Incentli, visit incentli.com. Incentli are a Mindtools Kineo partner, so if you would like to discuss integrating points and rewards with our Totara LMS please do get in touch by contacting custom@mindtools.com.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service.

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• Ross Garner
• Ross Dickie
• Jeff Campbell

If you're going in for surgery, make sure to get scheduled first thing. When you buy new clothes, wash them before you wear them. Never use a ceramic cup in a coffee shop.

These are the kind of insider secrets that get shared on Reddit, and we thought it would be fun to ask the L&D community on LinkedIn to share a few of their own.

And boy, did they have secrets to share!

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross G and Cammy review the top responses, including:

• we can't achieve much if we don't change the environment
• we all know that 'one and done' doesn't work
• we don't design for how people learn

To view all of the 'secrets', check out our newsletter 'The insider secrets that L&D pros want you to know'.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross G defended Runna.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, and our off-the-shelf courses.

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• Ross Garner
• Cammy Bean

To help organizations reap the benefits of AI while meeting regulatory requirements, many L&D teams are rolling out AI skills programs. But how do we design these programs in a way that shapes consistent, compliant behaviors, while helping colleagues develop the judgment they need to navigate messy, real-world situations?

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Cammy are joined by Alyn Kinney, Senior Learning and Development Manager at T-Mobile, to discuss:

• how organizations are supporting AI skills development;
• the potential drawbacks of a top-down, skills-based approach;
• how to deliver practical, problem-based AI skills programs at scale. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to check out Alyn's newsletter, Nerd Out.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D recommended C. Thi Nguyen's book The Score.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, and our off-the-shelf courses.

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• Ross Dickie
• Cammy Bean
• Alyn Kinney

Pressure from above, pressure from below; little appreciation from either. That's the experience of work for many middle managers! 

This week on The Mindtools L&D Podcast, author Gary Cookson joins Ross G and Dr Anna to discuss his new book, The Squeezed Middle, with a focus on:

• why managers are so misunderstood and undervalued
• the skills middle managers require to succeed
• how we can all help build middle managers.

During the discussion, Ross G referenced the World Economic Forum's 'Future of Jobs Report 2025', Gallup's 'State of the Global Workplace 2025' report, and McKinsey's Power to the Middle which we discussed in episode 416.

Anna referenced our own reports, 'Building Better Managers' and 'The Empathy Problem'.

Gary's book, The Squeezed Middle, is available for pre-order now.

In 'What I Learned This Week', after Anna and Gary's barrage of facts, Ross G discussed Planet Nine.

Finally, Ross G and Anna both referenced our Manager Skills Workshops, which combine upfront assessment, peer feedback, project-based learning and AI Skills Practice. To find out more, visit mindtools.com.

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• Ross Garner
• Dr Anna Barnett
• Gary Cookson

For most of us, compliance training is a regular feature of our working lives. Instead of inducing a mexican wave of eye-rolls, what can we do to design compliance training that has impact?

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Gemma, Cammy and Layla discuss:

• Creating compliance-based learning experiences that change mindsets and behaviors;
• Meeting the needs of time-poor learners;
• How to measure the impact of compliance training. 

As mentioned, we do have plenty more thoughts on compliance training! Take a look through the resources on our Learning and Development Insights page.

Recent posts include a blog "From compliance to excellence" and a guide called "Compliance learning that works".

In 'What I Learned This Week', Gemma mentioned listening to the podcast The Rest is Science. It was in the episode, "How to drink lava" that Hannah Fry reveals the optimum hand position for maximum propulsion while swimming.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, and our off-the-shelf courses.

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• Gemma Towersey
• Cammy Bean
• Layla Croll

Induction programmes play a crucial role in shaping the way a new starter thinks and feels about an organization.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D, Cammy and Claire discuss:

• what makes induction programmes different from other L&D initiatives;
• how an 'accomplishment framework' can help new starters (and learning designers!) break induction down into manageable chunks;
• how to measure the impact of induction programmes. 

Click here to download a free accomplishment framework template.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Claire mentioned the Culross Moat Pit.

Cammy referenced the Greenwich foot tunnel.

And Ross D talked about the rise of video-based podcasting.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, and our off-the-shelf courses.

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• Ross Dickie
• Claire Gibson
• Cammy Bean

Learning design work is often accompanied by various forms of uncertainty — ambiguous performance needs, vaguely defined scope, shifting stakeholder expectations...

In his book The Instructional Designer's Guide to Project Management, Dr Guieswende Rouamba describes this condition as 'the fog of instructional design'. And he believes project management is the key to navigating it.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Dr Rouamba joins Ross D and Adria Maston, Head of PMO at Mindtools Kineo, to discuss:

• why he wrote the book, and why project management is a critical skill for learning designers;
• what learning designers most often underestimate about the human side of project management;
• what he means when he says 'the best way to resolve conflict is to prevent it'.

You can find The Instructional Designer's Guide to Project Management here.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, and our off-the-shelf courses.

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• Ross Dickie
• Adria Maston
• Dr Guieswende Rouamba

Since its first release in 1978, A Manager's Guide to Self-Development has been one of the go-to texts for new and aspiring managers. Now in its seventh edition, authors Mike Pedler and Joan Keevil join Gemma and Ross G to discuss:

• why self-development is so key to a manager's capabilities
• what has changed since the first edition of the book as published (hat tip to Michelle Ockers for this question)
• some of our favorite exercises from the book, to help us develop as managers.

A Manager's Guide to Self-Development by Mike Pedler, John Burgoyne, Tom Boydell, Joan Keevill, Kevin Roe, Jean-Anne Stewart is available from Routledge.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our own manager development offerings, including face-to-face and virtual workshops, our Manager Skills Assessment, and off-the-shelf courses.

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• Ross Garner
• Gemma Towersey
• Joan Keevil

Yippee-ki-yay, Christmas Turkeys! In our final episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast for 2025, the gang are climbing to the top of Nakatomi Plaza: foiling a criminal plot and solving L&D challenges as we go.

We answer:

• What rule exists at work that, if broken, would have the biggest impact on performance? (Tony)
• What should L&D pros be stealing to maximise their impact this Christmas? (Heinrich)
• What advice would you give an L&D professional as they plan for 2026? (Marco)
• What do we need to let go of in L&D? (Hans Gruber)

During the discussion, Gemma referenced play at work and our "ep" with Cas Holman.

Ross G discussed Sir Dave Brailsford's insistence that members of Team GB Cycling have an opinion at work.

Ross D referenced our "ep" with South Western Railway's Becky Eason, and our "ep" with Carl Akintola.

We also discussed some industry reports from Don Taylor and Markus Bernhardt. And JD Dillon's Christmas newsletter, inspired by the film It's a Wonderful Life.

If you've listened to this episode (always our lowest performing of the year), thank you! You can find out more about Mindtools Kineo at mindtools.com. There, you'll also find our back catalogue of nearly 500 episodes. That's the Christmas entertainment sorted!

And if you like the show, you'll LOVE our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch at lddispatch.com

See you next year, and thanks for listening!

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• Ross Garner
• Gemma Towersey
• Ross Dickie
• Dr Anna Barnett

The promise of self-directed learning is that employees will take charge of their own development, if we only create the environment for them to do so. But does this actually happen?

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Mindtools Kineo Head of Product Daniel Potter joins Ross G and Gemma to discuss self-directed learning, with a focus on:

• what self-directed learning journeys look like
• how motivation is different for mandatory vs self-directed learning
• how our approach to learning design needs to align with learner motivation.

During the discussion, Gemma referenced self-determination theory.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross discussed the end of the American penny.

For more from Mindtools and Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, and our off-the-shelf courses.

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• Ross Garner
• Gemma Towersey
• Dan Potter

What a year it was! In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, HowNow's Nelson Sivalingam joins Ross G and Ross D to reflect on 2025 and look to emerging trends in 2026. We discuss:

• AI (obviously) and how it's evolving
• the rise of instructor-led training
• how market consolidation is changing the choice of suppliers for L&D leaders.

During the discussion, Ross G referenced a number of new stories:

• Only 22% of organizations have a visible AI strategy
• Three in five workers say they use unapproved AI tools at work
• 95% of organizations see no measurable return on AI, partly due to 'workslop'

We also discussed Don Taylor's Global Sentiment Survey 2025, Don's AI in L&D report written with Eglė Vinauskaitė, and Hemsley Fraser's 2025 L&D Impact Survey.

Finally, Ross G referenced the 'enshittification' of AI products.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D shared an example of learning through lyrics.

Nelson discussed Gmail's new 'Manage subscriptions' tool.

And Ross G discussed the process of making a teaser trailer for his novel, Centauri's Shadow. You can view the trailer on LinkedIn.

For more from Mindtools and Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, each aligned to our Manager Skills Assessment.

And for more from HowNow, visit getthehownow.com.

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• Ross Garner
• Ross Dickie
• Nelson Sivalingam

How do you run an organization-wide learning function with just two people? At LV=, that's the main focus for Talent, Learning and Development Partner Rob Foster.

This week on The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Rob joins Claire and Ross G to discuss:

• how building relationships throughout the organization helps support induction, mentoring and reverse mentoring programs
• how internal champions expand the impact of digital resources (like Mindtools!)
• advice for teams working on a similarly small scale.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross discussed the structure of Taylor Swift's 'The Fate of Ophelia'.

For more from Mindtools and Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, each aligned to our Manager Skills Assessment.

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• Ross Garner
• Claire Gibson
• Rob Foster

The L&D industry has always talked about 'business value' as an elusive concept. Now, a new book from Laura Overton and Michelle Ockers, The L&D Leader: Principles and Practice for Delivering Business Value, articulates what that looks like in practice.

This week on The Mindtools L&D Podcast, they join Ross D and Dr Anna to discuss:

• how L&D teams can transition through different stages of maturity
• the role of data in shaping business value
• the role of community and where to find it in the post-Twitter world.

The book, The L&D Leader: Principles and Practice for Delivering Business Value, is available now from Kogan Page.

For more from Mindtools and Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, each aligned to our Manager Skills Assessment.

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• Ross Dickie
• Dr Anna Barnett
• Laura Overton
• Michelle Ockers

In many organizations, not least within L&D, urgent and important short-term challenges often crowd out the bigger picture. So, how do we step back and take the long view?

In this week's episode, Ross D and Claire are joined by Nina Bressler, founder of Reimagined Value, to discuss:

• Nina's background and what she means by the term 'societal learning'
• How to work with business stakeholders to help them decide what to focus on
• How to measure the impact of long-term initiatives.

To find out more about Nina's work, check out Reimagined Value.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D mentioned the article 'Hollywood's Music Biopic Boom: Quantifying the Rise of a Soulless Genre' from the Stat Significant newsletter.

For more from Mindtools and Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, each aligned to our Manager Skills Assessment.

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• Ross Dickie
• Claire Gibson
• Nina Bressler

Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, Donald Taylor and Eglė Vinauskaitė have released four reports exploring L&D's use of AI.

In this week's episode, Don joins Ross D to discuss the latest report — AI in L&D: The Race for Impact. We cover:

• What's changed over the last three years, and why we're at an inflection point
• How L&D's use of AI has slowly matured over time, evolving into more sophisticated use cases
• A vision for the future of L&D, beyond content-creation.

You can download a copy of the full report here.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Don recommended the book Amorous or Loving?: The Highly Peculiar Tale of English and the English.

For more from Mindtools and Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, each aligned to our Manager Skills Assessment.

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• Ross Dickie 

• Donald Taylor 

In his book Targeting Turnover, Dick Finnegan argues that, as the global population ages and more people enter retirement, it is imperative for organizations to retain the talent they already have.

In this week's episode, Dick joins Claire and Cammy to discuss:

• Why turnover is a problem for businesses 
• The strategies organizations can deploy to reduce turnover 
• The impact this might have on the L&D industry.

You can pick up a copy of Targeting Turnover here.

For more from Mindtools and Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, each aligned to our Manager Skills Assessment.

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• Claire Gibson
• Cammy Bean
• Dick Finnegan

Hello listeners! No new episode this week, but we wanted to take the opportunity to revisit our 2021 'documentary special' on product management. 

It took a lot more work than our usual roundtable format, but we think it paid off. ;)

To make this episode, we spoke to Myles Runham, Sukh Pabial, Danny Seals, and Gemma Paterson, discussing:

• what product management is
• what L&D can learn from product management
• what 'the product' is in L&D - is it L&D itself?

For more from Mindtools and Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, each aligned to our Manager Skills Assessment.

Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch at lddispatch.com

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Ross Garner
• Owen Ferguson
• Myles Runham
• Sukh Pabial
• Gemma Paterson
• Danny Seals 

When Dr Anna Barnett, Ross Garner and Ross Dickie discussed the role of empathy in decision-making in Episode 463, they started to ponder the role that AI plays in our decisions. 

In this week's episode, Ross Garner, Anna and Gemma return to the topic of smart decisions to continue that conversation. We discuss:

• The impact AI is having on our decisions and decision-making processes
• The pros and cons of using AI to help us make decisions
• How we might use AI to make more effective decisions.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Anna recommended using the 'Maps. the hug' app to plan your outdoor adventures.

Ross introduced us to Quipu. You can read about this cluster of universes in EarthSky's article 'Meet Quipu, largest known structure in the universe'.

To read all of our reports, visit mindtools.com/thought-leadership/reports

For more from Mindtools and Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, each aligned to our Manager Skills Assessment.

Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch at lddispatch.com

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Gemma Towersey
• Dr Anna Barnett
• Ross Garner

According to Donald Taylor and Egle Vinauskaitė's recent AI in L&D: The Race for Impact report, 'creating learning content' and 'learning design tasks' remain the primary use cases for AI in learning and development. But should they be?

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, L&D consultant Heidi Kirby joins Ross D and Claire to discuss:

• the obvious appeal of using AI to scale learning content;
• why Heidi believes outsourcing development to AI is a mistake;
• what L&D could or should be using AI for, if not content generation.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross mentioned the website mcbroken.com.

For more from Mindtools and Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our new face-to-face and virtual workshops, each aligned to our Manager Skills Assessment.

Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch at lddispatch.com

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Claire Gibson
• Dr Heidi Kirby