The Mind Tools L&D Podcast Emerald Works

You had an idea for say, a product or service. You created it and rolled it out to a small target group. It worked - a success! It’s now time to expand, to unleash it onto the world. How do you make sure it continues to be a success? This is the question John A. List sets out to answer in his book, The Voltage Effect.
In this book club episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Gemma is joined by Owen and Ross Dickie to get to grips with List’s suggestions for successful scaling.
We discussed:
       the avoidable errors that lead to “voltage drops”         the actions that promote “voltage gains” i.e., successful scaling         what these mean for L&D professionals. In ‘What I Learned this Week’, Owen described how he set a goal and trained for the Etape Caledonia 2023. You can find out more about next year’s event here: https://limelightsports.club/event/etape-caledonia-2024
Ross told a story about a cunning negotiation concerning an image on Theodore Roosevelt’s campaign poster. Here’s an article about it: https://wheeler.substack.com/p/update-teddy-roosevelt-the-secret
Gemma was astounded to learn of the number of teeth all dogs have. She found this information on this site: https://www.petvaxah.com/site/blog/2022/07/15/dog-teeth
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
·        Ross Dickie – @RossDickieMT
·        Owen Ferguson – @owenferguson

You might offer employees the best content libraries, training or toolkits in the world, but if they don’t know what’s there, or when or why they’d access it, it’s useless. In these situations, you need a creative approach to grab learners’ attention and give them compelling reasons to keep them coming back.
In this week’s episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Gemma is joined by the team behind a successful engagement project at Heathrow Airport: Steph Constantinides, Charlotte Blake and Claire Gibson.
We discussed:
·       how Heathrow colleagues were using the toolkit
·       the idea-generation and production processes for campaign assets
·       the results and the future of campaign-based learning at Heathrow.
In What I Learnt this Week, Charlotte discussed the surprisingly low percentage of LinkedIn users who contribute content to the platform. Read more about this here: kinsta.com/blog/linkedin-statistics.
Claire discovered that she could get US preclearance in Dublin Airport. If you’re also heading to the US from Dublin (perhaps you’re also going to the Taylor Swift concert?), there’s more about that here: dublinairport.com/flight-information/travelling-to-usa/usa-preclearance/us-customs-and-border-protection-video
If you’re not going to the concert, here’s one of Claire’s favorite Taylor Swift songs to make up for it.
Gemma described Naismith’s rule, having read about it in Mountaincraft and Leadership by Eric Langmuir.
For more from us, including access to our back catalog 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 (some of) our speakers on Twitter:
·       Gemma Towersey - @GemmaTowersey
·       Claire Gibson – @claireisdigital
Our other speakers are on LinkedIn, so head over there to connect with:
·       Charlotte Blake
·       Steph Constantinides

For over 20 years, Debbie Carter has been working at industry magazine Training Journal, tracking the changes that have taken place in our field – and occasionally railing against them!
In this week’s episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, she joins Ross G and Owen to discuss:
 
·       the state of L&D in the early ‘noughties’
·       the big changes that have shaped our profession
·       the constants that have remained the same.
 
You can check out Training Journal at: trainingjournal.com/
You can read Ross’s TJ article, on learning campaigns, at: trainingjournal.com/2023/education-and-skills/if-learning-matters-make-it-a-campaign/ 
In what is surely our best-researched (and least interesting) ‘What I Learned This Week’, Owen revealed the quick-drying properties of microfiber towels from the company Dock & Bay: uk.dockandbay.com. That’s not an affiliate link, just an excellent way to dry yourself quickly. You’re welcome!
Ross G discussed, perhaps with greater relevance to our audience, the language that we use to discuss AI. Check out this blog from Donald Clark for more: donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2023/04/7-words-that-worry-me-in-ai.html
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
·       Debbie Carter - @DebbieCarter20

You can map employee networks in all sorts of ways: formal hierarchy, online interactions, geographic location. But, in this episode, we look at how surveying colleagues unlocks insights into who is a key relationship node – and who is isolated.
In this episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross G and Owen are joined by Jeppe Hansgaard, CEO of Innovisor. We discuss:
·       techniques for mapping employee networks
·       the role that the 3% play in maintaining a strong network of
·       the impact of network isolation on long-term retention of employees.
During the discussion, Jeppe made a reference to the impact of loneliness on health. This was based on research from the National Institute on Aging. See: extension.unh.edu/blog/2022/05/prolonged-social-isolation-loneliness-are-equivalent-smoking-15-cigarettes-day
Some of the papers Ross referenced were:
Gašević, D., Zouaq, A., & Janzen, R. (2013). “Choose your classmates, your GPA is at stake!” The association of cross-class social ties and academic performance. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(10), 1460-1479. Online at: journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0002764213479362?journalCode=absb
Lockyer, L., Heathcote, E., & Dawson, S. (2013). Informing pedagogical action: Aligning learning analytics with learning design. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(10), 1439-1459. Online at: www.sfu.ca/~dgasevic/papers/Lockyer_abs2013.pdf
Owen referenced ‘Dunbar’s number’, which describes the number of relationships we can maintain. See: bbc.com/future/article/20191001-dunbars-number-why-we-can-only-maintain-150-relationships
In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Owen referenced Snapchat’s ‘My AI’ feature: help.snapchat.com/hc/en-gb/articles/13266788358932-What-is-My-AI-on-Snapchat-and-how-do-I-use-it-
He also discussed the ‘Artifact’ app: https://artifact.news/
And Ross shared some nonsense about ‘Garfield’ phones: bbc.com/news/world-europe-47732553.amp
This episode was sparked by a case study from Innovisor, which provides a good overview of how isolation affects retention: innovisor.com/2023/01/31/79-of-isolated-employees-left-within-2-years-work-with-people-networks-to-win-on-retention/
To find out more about Innovisor, see: innovisor.com/
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
·       Jeppe Hansgaard – @JeppeHansgaard

Adults do not learn as children learn. They have prior experience, they have real-world problems to solve and, crucially, they can get up and walk out if they lose interest!
In this week’s episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross G and ‘Ross Dickie’ are joined by Dr Carrie Graham. In amongst talk of bridge building, we discuss:
·       the core principles of Adult Learning Theory
·       how to apply Adult Learning Theory in the workplace
·       why keeping the life of the learner front-of-mind is so important.
In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Ross Dickie got smutty by diving into the acronym shift from SMET to STEM. See more here: McComas, W. F. (2014). STEM: Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Language of Science Education: An Expanded Glossary of Key Terms and Concepts in Science Teaching and Learning, 102-103. Online at: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-6209-497-0_92
And Ross G got snarky, with a deep dive into the groundbreaking conspiracy theory that surrounds public information game Cat Park. You can play the game at: catpark.game/
Ross read about Cat Park in The Economist. See: economist.com/culture/2023/04/05/games-are-a-weapon-in-the-war-on-disinformation
If you’re interested in the conspiracy, you’ll need to do your own research. We don’t recommend.
To find out more about Carrie, and to book a CALM consultation, visit: drcarriegraham.com/  
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
·       Ross Dickie - @Ross DickieMT
·       Dr Carrie Graham - LinkedIn

In case you’ve missed it, 2023 has become the year when automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) started displacing cognitive and creative work. Chat-GPT, DALL-E and other tools are becoming ubiquitous, so this week we’re asking how L&D and HR should respond. 

To answer this question, Owen and Ross D are joined on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast by Ashley Recanati, author of AI Battle Royale: How to Protect Your Job from Disruption in the 4th Industrial Revolution. We discuss: 

where the lessons of previous industrial revolutions apply to this one  how ‘knowledge workers’ can adapt their job to work with AI tools the role of L&D in preparing people for the AI revolution. 

Ashley’s book is available from Barnes and Noble: barnesandnoble.com/w/ai-battle-royale-ashley-marc-recanati/1142352394 

You can find him on LinkedIn at: linkedin.com/in/ashley-r-974173171/  
 

Also, exciting news! The Mind Tools team will be exhibiting at the Learning Technologies Conference on May 3 and 4. 

You can find us at Stand J50, next to Theatre 6. 


Our live sessions are: 

The problem your LXP can't solve: Useless content 
(3rd May / 12:30 / Theatre 6 - 30 mins)
Watching someone speak in front of a slide deck is a terrible way to learn 
(3rd May / 16:05 / Bitesize Learning Zone 2 - 15 mins) 
  Panel: 20 Years of Benchmarking, with Laura Overton and Michelle Ockers 
(4th May / 11:45 / Theatre 6 - 30 mins) 
  Let’s make a podcast! 
(4th May / 11:45 / Theatre 6 - 30 mins) 

Full details at: mindtoolsbusiness.com/resources/events-webinars/events/learning-technologies23  

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 – @Ross DickieMT 

Owen Ferguson – @OwenFerguson