The Mindtools L&D Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross G and Owen are diving into their L&D mailbag to answer your questions.

We discuss:

·       Will there be more or less opportunity to make a meaningful living in L&D over the next five years? (via JD Dillon)

·       If we think of L&D as a product, what would you sunset and what would the top three candidates look like for development? (via Sean Brown)

·       What's more important to a Learning strategy and approach... Speed or Efficacy? (via Marc Steven Ramos)

·       What's your best ROI story? (via Marc Zao-Sanders)

During the discussion, Ross referenced Benedict Evans article ‘The AI Summer’.

Ross also referenced an example of work our behavioral scientists completed for an ESG project.

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtools.com/business. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.  

Or become a member to support our show! Visit mindtools.com and use the offer code PODCAST15 for 15% off an individual subscription. This offer is for new subscribers only and can’t be used with any other offer. 

Connect with our speakers   

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

·       Ross Garner

·       Owen Ferguson

This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, we're putting the ‘people’ back into People Development and the ‘human’ back into ‘Human Resources, as we explore Natal Dank's book Agile L&D.  

Natal is the co-owner and director of PXO Culture, a consultancy firm on a mission to make HR, culture and change about humans. 

And her book, Agile L&D, is a follow-up to Agile HR.  

We discuss: 

• Problems with a ‘traditional’ approach to L&D 

• Tools and methods for prioritizing and organizing workloads 

• Whether ‘agile’ has just become another corporate buzzword 

To find out more about Natal, and the book, visit pxoculture.com 

During the discussion, Natal referenced the books The Build Trap by Melissa Perri and Embracing Uncertainty by Margaret Heffernan. 

For more on Taylorism, see ‘scientific management’. 

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Ross Garner discussed Yuval Noah Harari’s bleak take on the future of AI and government. 

Nahdia discussed digital twins. 

Natal discussed Meditations for Mortals. 

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtools.com/business. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.   

Or become a member to support our show! Visit mindtools.com and use the offer code PODCAST15 for 15% off an individual subscription. This offer is for new subscribers only and can’t be used with any other offer.  

Connect with our speakers    

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

• Ross Garner 

• Nahdia Khan 

• Natal Dank 

What does good management look like? What skills and capabilities does a manager need? Are you a good manager?

In this week’s episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross Garner and Owen Ferguson are joined by Dr Anna Barnett, from our own in-house Insights team, to discuss the findings of our latest report: ‘Building Better Managers’.

In the first of three episodes exploring how we can improve management capability for our people and organizations, we discuss:

·       How we define a ‘good’ manager

·       The capabilities all managers need to perform, no matter their industry

·       How to measure manager capability.

We’ve used the results of Anna’s research to develop our own manager skills assessment. It can help your managers identify skill gaps, while also giving L&D leaders an insight into critical development areas that exist across their organisations.

To speak to us about running our management skills assessment with your people, get in touch! Email [email protected] or visit mindtools.com/business/poducts/mind-tools-insights to book a meeting.

During the discussion, Anna referenced the following papers:

Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Hill, J., Raste, Y., & Plumb, I. (2001). The “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Test revised version: a study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 42(2), 241-251.

Carmeli, A., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Ziv, E. (2010). Inclusive leadership and employee involvement in creative tasks in the workplace: The mediating role of psychological safety. Creativity Research Journal, 22(3), 250-260.

Our report, ‘Building Better Managers’, will be released on July 9.

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Owen shared how disagreement is often mistaken for bad listening.

Ross discussed the app Finch, for motivating behavior change.

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtools.com/business. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.  

Or become a member to support our show! Visit mindtools.com and use the offer code PODCAST15 for 15% off an individual subscription. This offer is for new subscribers only and can’t be used with any other offer. 

Connect with our speakers   

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

·       Ross Garner

·       Owen Ferguson

·       Dr Anna Barnett

Our brain is a ‘prediction machine’ that responds to and interprets reality based on what we expect. This is the claim of science writer David Robson and, this week on The Mind Tools Podcast, Ross G, Owen and Nahdia plan to exceed your expectations by discussing it in our book club. 

We discuss: 

• examples of the ‘expectation effect’ in action 
• the strengths and weaknesses of Robson’s argument
• how we can experiment, personally, with managing our expectations. 

During the discussion, Ross referenced the Freakonomics episode ‘I Don’t Know What You’ve Done With My Husband But He’s a Changed Man’: freakonomics.com/podcast/i-dont-know-what-youve-done-with-my-husband-but-hes-a-changed-man/ 

See also our podcast on Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset: podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/grit-and-mindset-emotion-at-work-crossover-special/id1114862726?i=1000470741181 

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Owen recommended Bob Sutton (@work_matters) on Twitter, and specifically his Tweet about the ‘feedback sandwich’: twitter.com/work_matters/status/1565064130574241793?s=46&t=z7JQmmhA9bhpOPtQuc1RLQ 

And Ross discussed the shortest day for 40 years, June 29: theguardian.com/science/2022/aug/01/midnight-sooner-earth-spins-faster-shortest-day 

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtoolsbusiness.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.   

To take advantage of our special offer on a Mind Tools Membership, visit: mindtools.com/september-subscription-sale  

Connect with our speakers   

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

• Ross Garner - @RossGarnerMT  
• Nahdia Khan - @NahdiaKhan 
• Owen Ferguson - @OwenFerguson 

This week The Mind Tools Podcast team are travelling through another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop: Extended Reality.

In this episode, Ross G and Nahdia speak to technologist, TEDx speaker, author and designer Myra Roldan about how new technologies are shaping the way we interact with the world, and with each other. We discuss:

• VR, AR, XR and mixed realities
• Applications of XR for learning
• The impact of XR on empathy.

During the discussion, we discussed several VR experiences:

• Five Nights at Freddy’s: oculus.com/experiences/quest/3162101440489458
• Vader Immortal: oculus.com/vader-immortal/?locale=en_GB
• Richie’s Plank: oculus.com/experiences/quest/1642239225880682/

For more on how The Mandalorian was shot, see: youtube.com/watch?v=gUnxzVOs3rk

For Myra’s TEDx talk on VR, see: ted.com/talks/myra_roldan_vr_changing_world_views

You can find Myra on LinkedIn at: linkedin.com/in/myraroldan

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Nahdia discussed the recent flooding in Pakistan, the impact of glaciers, and the effects of climate change: bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62758811

Myra discussed her TikTok channel, learnwithmyra: tiktok.com/@learnwithmyra

And for something completely different, Ross G shared old Hollywood bloopers: twitter.com/NonsenseIsland/status/1550562796458352641

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtoolsbusiness.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.  

Connect with our speakers  

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

• Ross Garner - @RossGarnerMT
• Nahdia Khan - @NahdiaKhan
• Myra Roldan - @MyraMade

What’s the evidence telling us about effective questions for learning? How can we apply it? 

In this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Gemma is joined by fellow Custom team members Ross Garner, Sam and Alison to discuss key takeaways from Patti Shanks’ book, Write better multiple-choice questions to assess learning.  

We discussed:  

• The role of questions in learning  
• What makes an effective question 
• How to overcome challenges in writing them. 

We talked about how we used open questions as part of a project with Scottish Enterprise. Find out more about the project here: Award-winning blended learning for Scottish Enterprise case study. 

In WILTW, Ross excitedly told us about the five attempts (and injuries!) that Bond’s stuntman took to nail the crocodile shot in Live and Let Die. You can watch them on Twitter: twitter.com/michaelwarbur17  

Gemma’s discovery about the Summer Time Act came from an episode of the BBC’s podcast You’re Dead to Me called ‘The History of Timekeeping’. 

Further details came from the BBC article, “The Builder who changed how the world keeps time”. 

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtoolsbusiness.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.   

Connect with our speakers   

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

• Ross Garner - @RossGarnerMT  
• Sam Brown - @SbrownMT  
• Alison Perrott - @allyperrott 
• Gemma Towersey – @gemmatowersey 

Will avatar-based training replace virtual classrooms? Would it make any difference if L&D didn’t even exist?

In this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross D, Owen and Nahdia tackle these questions from listeners Ian Younger (@ian5611) and Craig Taylor (@CraigTaylor74).

In WILTW, Owen mentioned the article ‘Good’ posture doesn’t prevent back pain, and ‘bad’ posture doesn’t cause it by Peter O’Sullivan, Leon Straker and Nic Saraceni.

The episode of the Ezra Klein Show which featured a discussion of ‘Larping your job’ was The Office is Dying. It’s Time to Rethink How We Work.

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtoolsbusiness.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.  

Connect with our speakers  

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

• Ross Dickie - @RossDickieMT
• Owen Ferguson - @OwenFerguson
• Nahdia Khan -@NahdiaKhan

Here at Mind Tools Towers, we’ve been supporting L&D teams for years – and that’s given us plenty of time to reflect on things we could have done better!

So this week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross G, Owen, Sean and Ross D are sharing the advice that they wish they’d had when they started out in their careers. We discuss:

• The importance of gathering diverse work experiences
• How to define a problem
• How to speak to others about what you do for a living.

Additionally, we share insights from our Twitter audience. Thanks everyone for sharing your ideas. You can find these responses on Twitter at: twitter.com/SeanBrownHRTech/status/1559833708441620482

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Owen recommended an article from Ben Thompson: stratechery.com/2022/instagram-tiktok-and-the-three-trends/

Sean discussed the world's first animated feature film, El Apóstol: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ap%C3%B3stol

Ross D discussed a lost trove of Civil War gold: theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/07/pennsylvania-civil-war-treasure-gold-hunt-fbi/638445/

And Ross G recommended the '(Not Boring) Habits' app: apps.apple.com/us/app/not-boring-habits/id1593891243

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtoolsbusiness.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. 

Connect with our speakers 

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

• Ross Garner - @RossGarnerMT
• Owen Ferguson - @OwenFerguson
• Sean Brown - @Seanbrownhrtech
• Ross Dickie - @RossDickieMT

Many organizations responded to the global pandemic by adopting digital technologies that enabled different ways of working. This sudden, unanticipated change has created opportunities for L&D, but it's also posed challenges. 

This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross D is joined by Owen and Anna to dive into this year's L&D Benchmark Report: 'Is your learning culture keeping pace with rapid digitalization?' They discuss:

• the history of the Annual L&D Benchmark Report, and its relationship to our Learning Performance Benchmark
• the emergence of culture and digitalization as the key themes of this year's report, and what this tells us about the state of L&D
• the characteristics of top-performing organizations, and what we can learn from them
• practical advice for applying the report's findings.

To explore the Annual L&D Benchmark Report for yourself, head to our website: mindtoolsbusiness.com/research-and-reports/keeping-pace-with-digitalization

In 'What I Learned This Week', Owen recommended the Abba Voyage concert experience. Full details can be found at: abbavoyage.com

Ross D referenced the FiveThirtyEight article 'Why the Same Temperature Can Feel Different Somewhere Else' by Maggie Koerth: fivethirtyeight.com/features/heat-index-temperature

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtoolsbusiness.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. 

Connect with our speakers

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

• Ross Dickie - @RossDickieMT
• Owen Ferguson @OwenFerguson
• Anna Barnett @DrAnnaBarnett

Have learners engaged? Learnt what we set out for them to learn? More importantly, have they bought that learning into how they perform? Is this having the wider impact we wanted?

All the questions. So, how do we, as learning professionals, measure the impact our learning experiences have?

This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Gemma discusses with teammates Claire, Sean and Tracey, about measuring impact.

We discuss:

• what measuring impact means
• tools and methods we use
• some of the challenges involved.

During our chat, Sean mentioned that more than 95% of CLOs know it’s important to measure impact, but less than 5% know how. The statistic came from this blog netcomlearning.com/blogs/55/10-ways-to-measure-the-impact-of-learning-for-the-ultimate-roi.html

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Gemma spoke about the first woman who summited Mont Blanc, Marie Paradis. You can find out more about her here chamonixallyear.com/lady-legends-women-in-mountaineering

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtoolsbusiness.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. 

Connect with our speakers 

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

• Gemma Towersey - @GemmaTowersey
• Claire Gibson - @Claireisdigital
• Sean Brown - @Seanbrownhrtech
• Tracey McDonald – @Traceymcdonald