The Mindtools L&D Podcast

Learning styles, right-brain vs. left-brain, brain training — for those working in learning and development, cognitive psychology can seem like a minefield.  On this week's episode of the GoodPractice podcast, Ross D and James are joined by Dr Rebecca Gordon to find out what L&D professionals really need to know about cognitive psychology. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find us on Twitter @ross__dickie, @JamesMcluckie or @DrRebeccaGordon. To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAus.  

If you work in Learning and Development for a large organisation, there's a good chance that at some point you've spent years putting a programme together, only to find that by the time it launches the original stakeholders have left.  On this week's podcast, Ross D and Owen are joined by Steph Clarke to ask if this approach is overcomplicating learning - or oversimplifying it. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the podcast, you can find us on Twitter @Ross__Dickie and @OwenFerguson. Steph isn't on Twitter, but you can find her at stephclarke.com. To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAus. Owen's WILTW, on what constitutes 'well read', came from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/may/12/book-clinic-what-constitutes-well-read  The book Steph recommended, New Power: How It's Changing The 21st Century - And Why You Need To Know by Jeremy Heimans, is available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Power-Changing-21st-Century-ebook/dp/B076T8MJ83 And the book that Ross recommended was The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande, available at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Checklist-Manifesto-Things-Right-Gawande/dp/1846683149 Incidentally, Atul Gawande was recently appointed CEO of a new healthcare venture from Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase. That story was covered by GeekWire here: https://www.geekwire.com/2018/atul-gawande-starts-first-day-ceo-amazon-berkshire-hathaway-jpmorgan-health-venture/  And if Ross G was here, he'd point out that Gawande also recently featured on the Freakonomics podcast, and is well worth a listen: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/atul-gawande/

For over a decade, SCORM has been the industry standard for e-learning, helping learning and development professionals track the completion of courses and recording assessment scores. But now there's a new standard in town: xAPI, offering far larger data sets and the ability to connect multiple platforms. On this week's podcast, Ben Betts from HT2 Labs and Andrew Downes from Watershed join Ross G and Owen to ask what opportunities xAPI creates. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the podcast, you can find us on Twitter @RossGarnerGP, @OwenFerguson, @BBetts and @MrDownes. To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAus. HT2 Labs offer free resources on xAPI at: https://www.ht2labs.com/resources/ For examples of xAPI in action, see Watershed's client stories at: https://www.watershedlrs.com/resource-center/topic/client-story We discussed learning ecosystems with ASOS's Adam Harwood in episode 92: http://podcast.goodpractice.com/podcast/92-best-of-breed-ecosystems-vs-the-lms The article Owen referenced, on relativity, is at: https://gizmodo.com/einsteins-theory-of-gravity-passes-enormous-test-on-a-g-1827026239 The article Ross referenced to move the conversation away from dogs and onto cats was: http://news.mit.edu/2010/cat-lapping-1112

Curation tools allow organisations to deliver high-quality, relevant content to learners. But is this how they're actually being used?  This week on the podcast, Ross D and Owen are joined by Jam Pan's David Wood to drain the content swamp. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the podcast, you can find us on Twitter @ross__dickie, @owenferguson and @jampanlearn. To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAus. The book Owen mentioned in What I Learned This Week was Exactly: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Winchester. You can listen to ReplyAll on their website, or wherever you get your podcasts. David recommended the book 24 Assets by Daniel Priestley. To find out more about Jam Pan, visit jam-pan.com

For two years we've been chatting work, performance and learning in the cramped confines of our office - but no longer. For our 100th episode, Ross G, Owen and James sloped off to the Raeburn Hotel in Edinburgh to reflect on favourite episodes, greatest guests and, of course, what we learned this week  And, as it's our anniversary, we filmed that discussion for a one-off special: Podcasters in Pubs Getting Pints. You can watch the video version of this podcast on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/_sKUx3DEJSQ  To share your thoughts on the podcast, you can find us on Twitter @RossGarnerGP, @OwenFerguson and @JamesMcLuckie. To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAus.  The episodes mentioned were: 17 — AI and jobs: What is the future of work?, with David D'Souza at: http://podcast.goodpractice.com/ai-and-jobs-what-is-the-future-of-work  30 — Compliance training: Ticking a box or having an impact?, with Sukh Pabial at: http://podcast.goodpractice.com/compliance-training-ticking-a-box-or-having-an-impact  32 — How should L&D respond to millennials?, with Ross' brother Grant Garner at: http://podcast.goodpractice.com/how-should-ld-respond-to-millennials  49 — Evidence-based practice for HR and L&D, with Mark Hendy at: http://podcast.goodpractice.com/evidence-based-practice-for-hr-and-ld  59 — How can L&D support performance?, with JD Dillon at: http://podcast.goodpractice.com/59-how-can-ld-support-performance  66 — Discernment in L&D, with Simon Heath at: http://podcast.goodpractice.com/66-discernment-in-ld  80 — How do we make digital learning accessible?, with Michael Osborne and Mike Shaw at: http://podcast.goodpractice.com/80-how-do-we-make-digital-learning-accessible  87 — Building a learning culture, with Michelle Ockers at: http://podcast.goodpractice.com/87-building-a-learning-culture 89 — Introducing learning design, with Nick Robinson at: http://podcast.goodpractice.com/89-introducing-learning-design   92 — Best of breed ecosystems vs the LMS, with Adam Harwood at http://podcast.goodpractice.com/92-best-of-breed-ecosystems-vs-the-lms  94 — Challenge trends in L&D, with Anthony Williams at http://podcast.goodpractice.com/94-challenging-trends-in-ld  The paper Owen referenced for 'What I Learned This Week' was: Cullen, D., & Gotell, L. (2002). From orgasms to organizations: Maslow, women’s sexuality and the gendered foundations of the needs hierarchy. Gender, Work & Organization, 9(5), 537-555. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227501292_From_Orgasms_to_Organizations_Maslow_Women's_Sexuality_and_the_Gendered_Foundations_of_the_Needs_Hierarchy The Twitter conversation that Owen referenced was: https://twitter.com/wildejoanna/status/1002583221006106624?s=21 Ross discussed 'asymmetrical polling', a concept he learned about on The West Wing Weekly podcast's crossover episode with Five Thirty Eight. You can listen to that here: http://thewestwingweekly.com/episodes/002 The transcript of the West Wing episode discussed is online at: http://www.westwingtranscripts.com/wwscripts/1-21.php With thanks to The Raeburn, Edinburgh.

Have you ever completed a project, only to find that someone else had already done it? Have you ever spent hours trying to learn something new, only to find that the person across the hall could have explained it in two minutes?  On this week's show, Ross D and James are joined by author Jane Bozarth to discuss social learning and the challenges of managing knowledge in organisations. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find us on Twitter @ross__dickie, @JamesMcluckie or @JaneBozarth. To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAus. Jane's latest book, Show Your Work, is available here.

This week on The GoodPractice Podcast, Ross G and Owen are joined by Hello2morrow's Chloe Walton to ask how far we can generalise 'millennials'. We explore just some of the benefits to be found when organisations encourage conversations across generations, and ask what those of us in L&D, HR and OD do to facilitate these conversations. To share your thoughts on the podcast, you can find us on Twitter @RossGarnerGP, @owenferguson and @Chloe2morrow. To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAus. Hello2morrow can be found at www.hello2morrow.co.uk. Her research can be found at www.hello2morrow.co.uk/research. Ross' John Adams quote is nicely dissected by Freakonomics at: freakonomics.com/2011/08/25/john-adams-said-it-first/ The podcast that Owen recommended was Malcolm Gladwell's interview with Adam Grant, available at: overcast.fm/+NG9LuTWQE The article Chloe referenced on the home field advantage was: zidbits.com/2012/01/is-home-field-advantage-real/ And the travelling musical Ross recommended was Isle of Love, featuring the music of Adam Ross and Randolph's Leap. Tickets are available at rightlines.net/rightlines/the-isle-of-love/ and Randolph's Leap are on Spotify at: open.spotify.com/artist/2rdghy8NeNCFZcDyAlkRFb.

In this episode, Ross D and Owen are joined by Craig Taylor of HT2 Labs to discuss the success of his YouTube channel, 'The Bushcraft Padawan'.  How effective is YouTube at delivering 'learning' content? What does it take to build an audience? What even is bushcraft anyway? All these questions and more are tackled on this week's show.   To share your thoughts on the podcast, you can find us on Twitter @ross__dickie, @owenferguson and @CraigTaylor74.  To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAus. To check out Craig's channel for yourself, click here or search for 'Bushcraft Padawan' on YouTube. 

Blockchain is an open, distributed ledger, that records transactions in such a way that it is nearly impossible to edit. That might sound technical, but it creates a level of trust that could reconstruct the architecture of the internet and change the nature of banking, government and education. Will this foundational technology have an impact on Learning and Development? In this week's podcast, aNewSpring's Ger Driesen joins Ross G and Owen to discuss. If you want to share your thoughts on the show, you can tweet us @RossGarnerGP, @OwenFerguson and @GerDriesen. To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAus. Find out more about the aNewSpring platform at www.anewspring.com. The Open University produced a report on innovating pedagogy which includes a nice summary of blockchain's potential at: https://iet.open.ac.uk/file/innovating_pedagogy_2016.pdf  Digital Trends ran a series of articles on blockchain that cover some of the opportunities and challenges this technology faces: https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/beyond-bitcoin-how-blockchain-will-reshape-the-future/  You can see the LeBron James shot that Owen referenced at: https://www.inc.com/john-brandon/this-one-quote-from-lebron-james-could-change-your-life-seriously.html  It was discussed in more detail on USA Today at: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2018/05/06/lebron-james-iconic-game-winning-shot-cavaliers-raptors-game-3/584519002/  The Freakonomics episode Ross referenced is at http://freakonomics.com/podcast/misused-psychology-terms/. The original academic paper was: Lilienfeld, S. O., Sauvigné, K. C., Lynn, S. J., Cautin, R. L., Latzman, R. D., & Waldman, I. D. (2015). Fifty psychological and psychiatric terms to avoid: a list of inaccurate, misleading, misused, ambiguous, and logically confused words and phrases. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1100. This was also covered, with a handy graphic, on Stack Exchange: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/6209/what-is-meant-by-steep-learning-curve  Finally, the site Ross referenced where you can buy designers a cup of coffee was ko-fi.com.

Smart recommendation systems are commonplace across consumer sites like Amazon, Netflix and Facebook. But how do they compare with recommendations from a trusted human? In this episode of the GoodPractice Podcast, Ross G and Owen are joined by Filtered's Marc Zao-Sanders to discuss some of the difficulties around machine recommendations and their place in learning. If you want to share your thoughts on the show, you can tweet us @RossGarnerGP, @OwenFerguson and @MarcZaoSanders. To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAus. The Tim Harford blog that Ross suggested (literally a list of recommendations) can be found at: http://timharford.com/2018/04/understanding-algorithms/  If you're interested in 'hardening', check out: https://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profile?PID=386  The Washington Post article Owen discussed is at:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/05/04/one-space-between-each-sentence-they-said-science-just-proved-them-wrong-2 And Ross' Guardian story about Sainsbury's can be found at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/may/06/rotten-results-sainburys-drops-project-to-halve-food-waste