The Mind Tools L&D Podcast

Mind Tools Ltd
The Mind Tools L&D Podcast Podcast

The Mind Tools L&D Podcast is a must-listen for anyone involved in Learning and Development or Human Resources. The weekly show features regular appearances from the Mind Tools team plus special guests to get right to the heart of issues affecting the L&D and HR communities. From learning needs analysis and evidence-based practice through to the impact of technology on work and hot topics at industry conferences, you'll get critical insights into the world of work, performance and learning.

  1. SEP 3

    Agile L&D puts the ‘human’ into ‘Human Resources’

    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

    50 min
  2. AUG 27

    Communication skills for geeks

    Technical professionals have a high level of expertise, but translating that expertise for non-technical colleagues isn’t always straightforward. Whether you’re an engineer, a researcher, or even an L&D professional, how can you communicate in a way that resonates with your audience?  This week on the Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Owen are joined by Neil Thompson, founder of Teach The Geek, to discuss:   why good communication skills are important for technical professionals;  the specific challenges associated with technical communication;  how L&D can support technical professionals to become better communicators.  To find out more about Neil’s work, visit www.teachthegeek.com  The very geeky meta-meta-analysis that Owen mentioned in ‘What I Learned This Week’ can be found at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-024-01172-y  You can read the Verge article that Ross D referenced at: https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/18/24223160/waymo-honking-san-francisco-parking-lot-depot-fix-not-working  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 Dickie  Owen Ferguson  Neil Thompson

    34 min
  3. AUG 20

    Early careers: What if we teach them and they leave?

    This week we’re revisiting an old adage: The employer who says, ‘What if we train our people and they leave?’ And the trainer who says, ‘What if we don't and they stay?’ As Talent Development Manager for Kew Green Hotels, Clare Sheppard knows all about this. She’s responsible for helping those who want to stay progress in their careers, while giving those who leave a great experience that they can carry with them into their next role. We discuss: ·       the types of colleague who fall into the ‘Early Careers’ bucket (it’s broader than you might think!) ·       how to identify high potential colleagues ·       the role of managers in supporting Early Careers professionals. 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.  In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Clare discussed the likelihood of it raining, and what that means. Ross recommended (sort of) an old episode of The Magic Roundabout. Connect with our speakers    If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: ·       Ross Garner ·       Clare Sheppard

    36 min
  4. AUG 13

    Revisiting 70:20:10: From learning to performance

    Last week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross G and Owen explored how the 70:20:10 model is being applied by three L&D Practitioners: Ceri Sharples, Cath Addis, and Carl Akintola-Davis. Today, we wanted to follow up on some of the challenges posed during that discussion with The 70:20:10 Institute’s Charles Jennings. What does it really mean to 'integrate learning into the workflow', and how does 70:20:10 move us towards a performance focus? We discuss: ·       Where the numbers ‘70’, ‘20’ and ‘10’ come from ·       How a focus on ‘learning’ tends to lead to a ‘10+’ approach ·       Examples of interventions that have focused on supporting performance, rather than formal learning. For more on the origins of 70:20:10, see this blog post from Charles. See also The Center for Creative Leadership’s chapter ‘Learning Through Experience’. Mind Tools offers a summary of Informal Learning, by Jay Cross. Joseph Stiglitz book is Creating a Learning Culture. Find out more about Dr Edwards Deming. For more from Charles and his team, see 702010institute.com. The case study Charles wrote with Brian Murphy from Citi bank was: ‘From Courses to Campaigns: Citi’s Journey to a Culture of Continuous Learning’. 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.  In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Owen recommended (again) Lenny’s Newsletter, in particular a recent edition on pricing for AI features. Ross discussed a post from Ben Evans on how users are interacting with ChatGPT. Charles recommended the podcast The Infinite Monkey Cage. Connect with our speakers    If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: ·       Ross Garner ·       Owen Ferguson ·       Charles Jennings

    52 min
  5. AUG 6

    Revisiting 70:20:10: Theory into practice

    Depending how you count it, 70:20:10 is almost 40 years old. The model provides a high-level outline of how we learn at work: 10% through formal learning, 20% through working with others, 70% through doing the work. The numbers get criticised, but this insight is widely accepted: Most of what we learn does not come from formal training. But how then should L&D practitioners apply the model to the work that they do? Is it still a useful concept after all this time? In the first of this two-part series, Ross Garner and Owen explore these questions with three practitioners: Ceri Sharples, Learning and Development manager at Somerset Bridge Group; Cath Addis, L&D manager at Ascential; and return guest Carl Akintola-Davis, Head of Leadership Development at Phoenix Group. We discuss: ·       The history and criticisms of 70:20:10 ·       How useful the concept is for discussing workplace learning with stakeholders ·       How to think about the ‘70’, the ‘20’, and the ‘10’ when designing learning programs. For more on the origins of 70:20:10, see this blog post from Charles Jennings of The 702010 Institute, who is joining us next week on the show. Carl’s acronym for workplace learning was ‘Performance RECIPES: Reflection, Experimentation, Connection, Information, Practice, Environment and Support’. In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Owen discussed a new paper from Nature, which didn’t really impress him: Bloom, N., Han, R., & Liang, J. (2024). Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance. Nature, 1-6. Ross learned the unfortunate fate of 440 squirrels. 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.  Connect with our speakers    If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: ·       Ross Garner ·       Owen Ferguson ·       Ceri Sharples ·       Cath Addis ·       Carl Akintola-Davis

    45 min
  6. JUL 30

    405 — What’s in your book bag this summer?

    A summer holiday holds the potential for distraction-free reading. With that in mind, in this week’s episode our podcast team suggest books that hold lessons for L&D practitioners. Which might you take on holiday this summer? Book list Right Kind of Wrong. Why Learning to Fail Can Teach Us to Thrive (2023) by Amy Edmondson www.amazon.co.uk/Right-Kind-Wrong-Learning-Thrive Counter-Intelligence: What the secret world can teach us about problem-solving and creativity (2024) by Robert Hannigan https://www.roberthannigan.com/ The Tyranny of Metrics (2018) by Jerry J. Muller www.amazon.co.uk/Tyranny-Metrics-Jerry-Z-Muller How big things get done. The surprising factors behind every successful project (2023) by Brent Flyberg and Dan Gardner www.amazon.co.uk/How-Big-Things-Get-Done A history of the world in twelve shipwrecks (2024) by David Gibbons www.amazon.co.uk/History-World-Twelve-Shipwrecks Performance-focused learner surveys (2022) by Will Thalheimer www.amazon.co.uk/Performance-Focused-Learner-Surveys-Distinctive-Effectiveness   In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Nahdia spoke about how former PM Harold Wilson funded his Alzheimer’s care www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/23/former-pm-harold-wilson-sold-private-papers-fund-care-alzheimers   Ross Dickie also mentioned the traditional Greek bagpipe, known as the ‘tsampouna’, which he discovered during a recent holiday on Santorini. 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.  Connect with our speakers    If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: ·       Nahdia Khan ·       Owen Ferguson ·       Ross Dickie

    46 min
4.6
out of 5
19 Ratings

About

The Mind Tools L&D Podcast is a must-listen for anyone involved in Learning and Development or Human Resources. The weekly show features regular appearances from the Mind Tools team plus special guests to get right to the heart of issues affecting the L&D and HR communities. From learning needs analysis and evidence-based practice through to the impact of technology on work and hot topics at industry conferences, you'll get critical insights into the world of work, performance and learning.

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