The Mindtools L&D Podcast

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  

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 week's 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 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: Cas Holman Ross Garner Gemma Towersey

Jess Almlie, an experienced L&D consultant and author of 'Order Taker No More!', discusses transforming L&D from a reactive order-taker to a proactive strategic business partner. She explores why L&D often feels like a drive-thru service and examines the root causes behind this behavior. Jess shares three key foundations for effective strategic partnering, emphasizing the importance of understanding the business and stakeholders. She also highlights scenarios where training isn't the answer and shares insights on navigating organizational change.

Decision-making is a key aspect of being a manager, and a complex mix of skills, experiences, judgments and instincts. So how do you help your managers make smarter decisions at work? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, our own Dr Anna Barnett reveals insights from our new report 'The empathy problem: Balancing emotion in decision-making', part of our Building Better Managers series. We discuss: Whether managers are more inclined to delegate difficult tasks than those they think will be achieved Why too much empathy is a problem in decision-making How to build emotionally intelligent managers. During the discussion, Anna referenced the following papers: Maas, V. S., & Shi, B. (2023). ‘The effects of target difficulty and relative ability on managers’ delegation decisions’. Management Accounting Research, 60, 100851. Kaiser, R. B. (2024). 'Has empathy really become more important to leadership since the COVID-19 pandemic?'. Consulting Psychology Journal. 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: Ross Dickie Dr Anna Barnett Ross Garner

Last week on The Mindtools L&D Podcast, L&D Detective Kevin M Yates joined Ross D and Dr Anna to talk about isolating the impact of training at work. When listening back, Ross G took umbrage at some of the claims made by his Mindtools colleagues and so, this week, we re-litigate! We discuss: Are control groups really worth it? How else can you measure impact? Why Dr Anna thinks learning NEVER leads (directly) to business impact To find out how Mindtools can help you measure the business impact of your learning, despite what Dr Anna says, mindtools.com/services/analyst-insights Ross D also discussed Dr Will Thalheimer's LTEM model. In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D recommended the Hard Fork podcast. For more from Mindtools and Kineo, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning Content Hub, our Manager Skills Assessment, our Manager Skill Builder and our custom work.  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 Dr Anna Barnett Ross Garner  

In a riveting discussion, Kevin M. Yates, known as The L&D Detective, uncovers the complexities of isolating training's impact in organizations. He emphasizes that behavior change isn't solely the responsibility of L&D professionals but requires a collective effort. Kevin dives into the interconnected factors influencing performance and highlights the necessity of a holistic evaluation of training effectiveness. With a mix of professional insights and personal anecdotes, he champions the importance of collaboration across departments in demonstrating L&D's value.

As learning and development professionals, we spend most of our days thinking about how we help others build their skills. But how many of us neglect our own development while doing so? It's what L&D advisor, writer and speaker David Kelly calls 'The Irony of L&D', and in this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, David joins Ross G and Claire to discuss: how to make time for personal development how to build this habit among your team the extent to which AI makes personal development existential for L&D professionals. To find out more about David, find him on LinkedIn. There you'll also find his article, 'The Irony of L&D: We Often Forget Our Own Development'. In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross G discussed 'chimping'. David discussed Josh Cavalier's guidance on AI prompting with JSON. For more from us, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning Content Hub, our Manager Skills Assessment, our Manager Skill Builder 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 Claire Gibson (who it turns out works every second Friday) David Kelly

In this engaging discussion, Radhika Dutt, an entrepreneur and author known for her work on Radical Product Thinking, unveils a fresh perspective on goal-setting that shifts from the traditional OKRs to a model known as Objectives, Hypotheses, and Learnings (OHLs). She explains the frequent failures of OKRs, emphasizing the importance of a problem-solving mindset. Radhika also shares practical insights to prevent analysis paralysis, highlighting the necessity of continuous learning and adaptability in achieving meaningful outcomes.