Key Terms 💡
Just in case = amassing reams of knowledge in multiple topics with the hope that you might need it later.
Just in time = acquiring the knowledge to serve a specific task, challenge or new skill acquisition for the now.
Tag: Learning
The mind is buzzing on all things learning technology today.
It’s funny to me how I’ve watched the transition over the last few decades in the L&D industry from ‘we need to have as many classroom courses as possible’ to ‘we need as much learning tech as possible’.
When I spoke at the Learning Technologies conference in London late last year, I shared with the 200 attendees packed into our room that the average organisation has 88 different pieces of digital technology for employees to use. That’s bloody mad, right?
If you think about it, it’s not really that staggering in today’s world. I’ve worked with large organisations that have had 20+ LMS/LXPs and tiny organisations that have nothing but a Google doc.
In a confusing land of boundless technology and pressure from market expectations. We lose our way with acquiring shiny new things when we would do well to step back and figure out what’s the right tool for the job. Spoiler: It might mean no tech.
This week’s words were inspired by other words I wrote on LinkedIn.
I shared a thesis that LMS vs LXP is the wrong question and that the right tool for the job is the better one. I fully expected to be met with hellfire and brimstone. Mainly from tech vendors, (I know some of you are reading this!), but that didn’t happen.
Instead, I saw an outpour of “Yes, thank you for saying this”.
So, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief at least knowing I’m not as crazy as I think on some days. The core of my thesis was L&D teams struggle to get unstuck in what can easily be a confusing land of boundless pieces of technology. Which (IMO) means we would be better positioned to ask these questions of ourselves and our teams before uttering the word’ tech’:
1️⃣ What are you solving?
2️⃣ Who are you serving?
3️⃣ What is the best tool for that job?
The reaction to this post got me thinking.
What tools and insights can I share with you to navigate the often complex field of learning technology in your organisation, and most importantly, if you need it?
After a decade-plus dealing with vendors, L&D teams and senior leaders (I’m looking at you CFOs). I’ve picked up a few useful thoughts and experiences which I hope can serve you well.
1️⃣ The Ultimate Checklist Before Buying New Learn Tech
This is a meaty one which walks through the process I used with a 30,000-plus sized business. The key takeaways are to figure out if you really need anything new and pick partners, not providers. Read the whole thing to learn from my wins and avoid my failures.
2️⃣ The 5-Step Framework To Build Your Tech Stack
This one came from a webinar I delivered for Degreed and their customers.
It’s the same framework I’ve used across enterprise orgs and scale-ups with a few tweaks here and there to avoid costly tech mistakes.
3️⃣ The Learning Tech Decision Template
This is a variation of a template I used with quite a few companies over the last 6-ish years.
It’s short and simple but incredibly effective in encouraging critical thinking on your technology decisions. This is the companion to the above visual and you can get the template here.
Ok, folks. That’s it from me.
I hope these tools and insights serve you well in your own practice.
Before you go… 👋
If you like my writing and think “Hey, I’d like to hear more of what this guy has to say” then you’re in luck.
You can join me every Tuesday morning for more tools, templates and insights for the modern L&D pro in my weekly newsletter.
Leveraging a data-informed approach has more benefits than just in your work.
As L&D pros, we constantly hear the drum beat of “We need to get better with data”.
That’s cool. But no one ever explains why we need to do it (you might say it’s obvious, but stick with me here). Let’s take a shared experience many of us can understand: Taking your driving license test.
Back in 2018, famed HR analyst, Josh Bersin coined the term “Learning in the Flow of Work®” and the L&D world went mad for it.
For years, not a moment, a social post or industry blog went by without mention of this very phrase. It became part of the buzzword lexicon quicker than Ed Sheeran can bang out the next heartbreaking tune. It was ingenious.
Like many of you, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to win the hearts and minds of business leaders with modern-era learning practices.
I’ve not always won those battles.
However, I’ve learnt you don’t always need to.
Here’s a framework you can steal to use in your own strategy development.
How can you influence your stakeholders on modern-day learning design experiences?
It’s a question which all L&D pros face.
We’re in 2023 with AI and Metaverses, but our stakeholders want ‘e-learning’ or ‘to get people together in a room’. It’s a huge contradiction of our time.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve smashed my head off a wall as I’ve repeatedly been asked “Hey Ross, can you create some training for our team?”. This is the most mysterious question I’m fed daily.
Do people think I’m a mind-reader?
The learning solution problem
90% of stakeholders want to tell you the solution to their problem.
This has been constant across the nearly two decades I’ve spent in the industry.
Typically, they fall into two camps:
- I think I have a training problem and want you L&D person to facilitate a classroom workshop.
- I still think I have a training problem. I want you L&D person to create a point-and-click e-learning experience because I want something interactive.
(Fun fact about the word ‘e-learning’, it’s 2023, and we know that everything is electronic now. You can drop the ‘e’. I promise it won’t hurt you).
Before you pull your hair out, let’s explore why this thinking occurs:
- Our education system has brainwashed us to believe that ‘learning’ anything must be a designated event.
- Naturally, this pours over to the working world. If it’s the only system you know, why would you do anything else? The problem is the world of work is not school.
- Organisations don’t see L&D as performance-based. They label it as education. Which leads many to believe it is nice to have.
Now, it’s difficult to introduce new ways of thinking with such an established attitude towards L&D.
I write about doing things differently in the industry (I know, how devilish of me!).
But this is not easy. You’re not going to walk into a company and change the strategy from ‘here’s our list of courses’ to ‘how can we design the best solution to x problem for this audience’.
You’ve got to play the long game.
Sorry, no easy fix here. You might have to grit your teeth and play along for a bit.
Over this time you can do what I call the ‘Trojan horse’ technique.
When in doubt, build a Trojan horse
Before we get into the meat of this, let me provide context for those who aren’t familiar with the tale of the Trojan horse.
Back in the 5th century (a long time ago) the Greeks and Trojans were at war.
It was not going well for the Greeks. They’d been attempting to break down the city of Troy for 10 years. The siege felt like it would never end. The Greek king Odysseus had an idea that would change the tide of this war.
Odysseus created a new tactic that has echoed throughout the pages of history.
He built a wooden horse. I know, very revolutionary. Odysseus hadn’t lost his mind, he was seeing more clearly than ever.
Winning the war by brute force wasn’t going to work. The Greeks have been doing this for 10 years with nothing to show.
Instead, they created a trick.
One day, the Greeks pretended to sail away from Troy.
The Trojans believed they had given up. Outside the city walls, the Greeks left a wooden horse as a parting victory trophy for their enemies. The Trojans accepted and brought the horse into the city.
Little did they know, not all the Greeks had left.
Odysseus and a group of his men secretly hid within this wooden horse to gain access to the city.
When darkness fell, the troops jumped out of the horse to open the city gates for the rest of the Greek army who had sailed back after their fake departure.
Within hours, the Greeks destroyed the city, concluding the fall of Troy.
The Trojans played the smart move.
What does this have to do with transforming your company’s L&D strategy? A lot.
You can either choose to pursue a fruitless multi-year siege in telling stakeholders they’re wrong and you’re right. Which will 100% end up with them shutting down on you like the unbreakable gates of Troy.
Or, you can deploy the long game and switch to a smarter tactic.
How to deploy your Trojan horse
When a stakeholder wants a particular solution and you know you have no leverage in the matter, don’t fight it.
The battle will be pointless and you’ll likely end up in the same place.
Instead, build the solution(s) they want but drop in 10% of the stuff you know works better.
The play here is to neither give up nor try to start a war.
You find opportunities to weave in new ways of thinking and approaches into existing experiences. You’ll then compound this play over time.
What I’ve found is stakeholders typically get excited about that 10% bit and want more of that. It’s not a 100% win rate of course.
And, it has to be something that delivers a clear impact. You can’t do something different to have it fall flat and kill your own play.
The idea is to be strategic in your order-taking.
You can’t expect people to change because you tell them to. It takes months even years to win hearts and minds.
It’s worth the effort.
TL;DR 👀
- Don’t preach, show.
- Don’t start a war when you’re an army of one. Make small changes over time.
- Be a strategic order-taker.
- Change takes longer than you think.
Before you go… 👋
If you like my writing and think “Hey, I’d like to hear more of what this guy has to say” then you’re in luck.
You can join me every Tuesday morning for more tools, templates and insights for the modern L&D pro in my weekly newsletter.
