The Mindtools L&D Podcast

In learning and development we often accept an organisation's design without criticism. But, if we're in the business of improving performance, don't we have a responsibility to challenge that design if we think it will help? This week on the GoodPractice Podcast, Mark Britz from the eLearning Guild joins Ross G and Owen to discuss how far we should push against organisational structures and processes. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find Mark on Twitter @Britz, Ross @RossGarnerGP and Owen @OwenFerguson. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus. If you'd like to find out more about our upcoming events, blogs and whitepapers, visit goodpractice.com. Details of Dave Snowden's Cynefin framework can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework For more on Harold Jarche, see his website: https://jarche.com/ The Realities360 conference ran from July 26 - 28 this year. See the website for details: https://www.elearningguild.com/realities360/content/4900/2017-realities360-conference--home/ Owen's disputed Netflix anecdote can be read about at Digital Spy: http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/news/a834554/netflix-hits-back-20-billion-debt-inaccurate-report/ We pass no judgement on Adam Sandler's movies, but The Verge has an article titled: 'Netflix accuses its users of watching 500 million hours of Adam Sandler films'. Read it here: https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/17/15331674/netflix-adam-sandler-movies-half-a-billion-hours The Onion's story - 'How Bad For The Environment Can Throwing Away One Plastic Bottle Be?' 30 Million People Wonder - can be read here: http://www.theonion.com/article/how-bad-for-the-environment-can-throwing-away-one--2892 Ross recommended the film Plastic Ocean on Netflix, as an emotional jolt that has made him recycle a lot more. If you want to act as a commitment device, tweet him with the hashtag #IsRossRecycling?  

'Inspiration' is a word that means something different to different people, but at GoodPractice we feel that we're constantly looking to inspire and be inspired. So this week on the GoodPractice Podcast, we've invited Sean Brown from Virgin Money to share his thoughts on inspiration. We discuss approaches you can take to inspire your learners, and look outside our profession for sources of inspiration in the wider world. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find Sean on Twitter @SeanBrownHRTech, Ross @RossGarnerGP and Owen @OwenFerguson. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus. If you'd like to find out more about our upcoming events, blogs and whitepapers, visit goodpractice.com. The film 'Butterfly Circus' can be seen on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_MCwlY6zzg. Steve Rayson's article on how to write engaging B2B headlines is available from Buzzsumo at: http://buzzsumo.com/blog/write-engaging-b2b-headlines-analysis-10-million-articles-shared-linkedin/. Details of 32M's decision to chip it's employees can be found at: https://www.sciencealert.com/for-the-first-time-a-us-company-is-implanting-microchips-in-its-employees. The company's own Q&A document can be found at: https://www.32market.com/public/images/QA.pdf. If you fancy joining a Working Out Loud group, see: http://workingoutloud.com. It could be an excellent source of inspiration for you! Next week, our guest is Mark Britz, speaking about L&D's relationship with organisational design.  

Here at GoodPractice, we often speak about learning tech as if everybody is already using it. This week, we want to take a step back for a discussion on getting started. So, today, international speaker and trendcatcher Ger Driesen of aNewSpring joins Ross and Stef to share his advice for anyone looking to launch their first online solution. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find Ger on Twitter @GerDriesen, Ross @RossGarnerGP and Stef @Stefania_Scott. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus. If you'd like to find out more about our upcoming events, blogs and whitepapers, visit goodpractice.com. You can subscribe to Ger's learning notes at: https://www.anewspring.com/gers-learning-notes/. Cathy Moore's 'Is training really the answer?' blog can be found at: http://blog.cathy-moore.com/2013/05/is-training-really-the-answer-ask-the-flowchart/. Our case study on how Edrington use the GoodPractice toolkit is available at: http://www.goodpractice.com/our-clients/edrington/. A source for Stef's 'cacti vs cactuses' discussion is available here: http://grammarist.com/usage/cacti-cactuses/. And the story of Winona Ryder's connection to Polly Klass was covered by Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/sad-case-polly-klaas-190468. Finally, Sam Burrough's excellent blog on instructional design is available at: http://www.transform-elearning.com/duolingo-instructional-design-strategies/. Remember, to be in with a chance of winning an Amazon Alexa, leave a review on iTunes and send a screenshot of it to support@goodpractice.com. Full terms and conditions are available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/goodpractice-podcast/goodpractice-podcast-prize-draw-tcs.pdf. Next week, our guest is Sean Brown, from Virgin Money, speaking about inspiration for L&D.

Asking good questions, listening carefully, checking facts: all skills associated with journalists. But these are the exact same skills that can help us improve as learning and development (L&D) professionals. On this week's GoodPractice Podcast, L&D's editor-in-chief Martin Couzins joins Ross and Owen to share his insight into the crossover between those two professions, and the lessons you can learn from journalism. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find Martin on Twitter @MartinCouzins, Ross @RossGarnerGP and Owen @OwenFerguson. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus. If you'd like to find out more about our upcoming events, blogs and whitepapers, visit goodpractice.com. The Jeremy Paxman v Michael Howard interview that Martin referenced can be viewed on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyqnu6ywhR4. Mary Meeker's 2017 Internet Trends report can be found at: http://www.kpcb.com/internet-trends. The tl;dr version can be found at TechCrunch, which includes a bullet list of key points and a highlights version: https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/31/mary-meeker-internet-trends-2017/. A good demo of Hololens can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihKUoZxNClA . The official Microsoft page for Hololens is at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/hololens. This video demonstration of a Hololens game demonstrates Ross' point about the relatively low-quality graphics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29xnzxgCx6I. Remember, to be in with a chance of winning an Amazon Alexa, leave a review on iTunes and send a screenshot of it to support@goodpractice.com. Full terms and conditions are available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/goodpractice-podcast/goodpractice-podcast-prize-draw-tcs.pdf. Next week, our guest is international speaker Ger Driesen, who will be sharing his advice for getting started delivering online learning.

We recently spoke about the importance of user experience design, but how does this differ in a learning context? On this week's GoodPractice Podcast: Julie Dirksen, author of 'Design for How People Learn', joins Ross and James to explore the importance of 'desirable difficulty'. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find Julie on Twitter @UsableLearning, Ross @RossGarnerGP and James @JamesMcLuckie. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus. If you'd like to find out more about our upcoming events, blogs and whitepapers, visit goodpractice.com. Julie has written about why 'clear and easy to understand' can be a bad thing at:http://usablelearning.com/2011/07/06/why-clear-and-easy-to-understand-can-be-bad/. She has also presented on UX for learning, which you can see here: https://www.slideshare.net/usablelearning/ux-for-learning-design. Finally, if you are interested in the conversation around Ericsson's work on deliberate practice, you can join the Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/designforhowpeoplelearn/ . Remember, to be in with a chance of winning an Amazon Echo, leave a review on iTunes and send a screenshot of it to support@goodpractice.com. Full terms and conditions are available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/goodpractice-podcast/goodpractice-podcast-prize-draw-tcs.pdf. Next week, our guest is Martin Couzins, discussing journalism's tips for L&D.  

Mobile technology and the growing popularity of freelancing have helped fuel a boom in co-working. But what does this mean for L&D? This week, Ross Dickie is joined by podcast-regular James McLuckie, along with first-time guests Fiona McBride and Michelle Parry-Slater, to discuss the implications of co-working for L&D. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find Fiona on Twitter @fionamcbride, Michelle @MiPS1608, James @JamesMcLuckie and Ross @ross__dickie. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus. If you'd like to find out more about our upcoming events, blogs and whitepapers, visit goodpractice.com. More information about #LnDcowork can be found at https://about.me/lndcowork. You can also tweet @LnDcowork  To be in with a chance of winning an Amazon Alexa, remember to leave a review on iTunes and send a screenshot of it to support@goodpractice.com. Full terms and conditions are available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/goodpractice-podcast/goodpractice-podcast-prize-draw-tcs.pdf  

At GoodPractice, we're big fans of research-based decision-making. So today on the show, we're speaking to Laura Overton from Towards Maturity. Towards Maturity's annual benchmark gives you an opportunity to reflect on your department's achievements, then compares your performance with every other participating organisation. By doing so, you can come up with a plan for where to go next and learn what works for top performers. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find Laura on Twitter @LauraOverton, Peter @PeterCasebow, and Ross @RossGarnerGP. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus. If you'd like to find out more about our upcoming events, blogs and whitepapers, visit goodpractice.com. You can take part in the Towards Maturity Benchmark by visiting: towardsmaturity.org/benchmark. The academic paper Ross referenced, on the impact of visualised performance data on learner motivation, was: Gašević, D., Dawson, S., Siemens, G. 2015. Let’s not forget: Learning analytics are about learning. TechTrends, vol 59, no. 1, pp. 64. It's available at: www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/19113410/techtrends2015.pdf And for more on Working Out Loud circles, see: workingoutloud.com/circle-guides.

Over the past year or so, the GoodPractice team have produced 50 podcast episodes. To celebrate this milestone, we've asked three of our favourite L&D podcasters to join us in a panel discussion on: podcasting for learning. From 'Emotion at Work', we have Phil Willcox. From 'From Scratch', we have Martin Couzins and Nigel Paine. And from the GoodPractice team we have Ross Garner and Owen Ferguson.  Thanks for listening. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find Phil on Twitter @PhilWillcox, Nigel @ebase, Martin @MartinCouzins, Owen @OwenFerguson, and Ross @RossGarnerGP. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus. If you'd like to find out more about our upcoming events, blogs and whitepapers, visit goodpractice.com. You can subscribe to 'Emotion at Work' on iTunes. 'From Scratch' is available at fromscratchpodcast.com. For anyone interested in starting their own podcast, we tend to record using Blue Snowball USB microphones. We speak over Skype or Google Hangouts, with each contributor recording themselves on Audacity (PC) or QuickTime (Mac). The host then collects that week's recordings from all contributors and edits them together in Adobe Audition. Audacity or Garage Band are free alternatives. We host our podcasts on Libsyn. You can submit your podcast to iTunes here.

We all make decisions based on evidence, whether hard data or personal experience. But are we really interpreting that evidence correctly, or are we basing decisions on hunch and opinion? In HR and L&D, proponents of evidence-based practice (EBP) encourage us to gather the best available evidence from multiple sources and to weight it appropriately. On this week's GoodPractice Podcast, EBP-enthusiast Mark Hendy joins Owen Ferguson and Ross Garner to share his experience with EBP, as well as tips to get you started. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find Mark on Twitter @MarkSWHRF, Owen @OwenFerguson, and Ross @RossGarnerGP. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus. If you'd like to find out more about our upcoming events, blogs and whitepapers, visit goodpractice.com. The Freakonomics podcast episode that Ross referenced makes a case for evidence-based policy. It is available at: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/most-famous-political-operative-america/. The ASK Manager app that Mark recommended is available from the Apple Store at: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ask-manager/id1143524652. The two CIPD reports that Owen recommended are available at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/rapid-evidence-assessment-of-the-research-literature-on-the-effect-of-goal-setting-on-workplace-performance_tcm18-16903.pdf and https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/rapid-evidence-assessment-of-the-research-literature-on-the-effect-of-performance-appraisal-on-workplace-performance_tcm18-16902.pdf. The CIPD's 'Evidence-based HR' discussion forum can be accessed at: http://www2.cipd.co.uk/community/discussion-forum/evidence-based-hr. Other useful resources include the Center for Evidence Based Management (https://www.cebma.org) and Science for Work (http://scienceforwork.com). Mark's HR blog is available at: http://hendyshrblog.co.uk/. The article Owen recommended on Deep Blue's psychological battle with Kasparov is available at: https://backchannel.com/what-deep-blue-tells-us-about-ai-in-2017-3284f92b2a93. And the source for Ross' German word game was: http://hellogiggles.com/10-fabulous-german-words-english-equivalent/. Finally, because it's 2017, the text-to-speech voice used in this podcast was Google Translate, not Microsoft Sam. Ross apologises for any confusion caused.

At work, a great learning experience doesn't start when they access a course or resource: it starts when they make a decision to become better at their job. On this week's episode of the GoodPractice Podcast, Gemma Critchley from Aviva joins Ross and Owen to discuss UX design for L&D. What is UX design? How far does it's remit extend and how can you start applying UX principles to your learning solutions? If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find us on Twitter @RossGarnerGP, @OwenFerguson, and @GemStGem. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus. Gemma's blog can be found at beatifnik.wordpress.com. Fuchsia, Google's experimental OS, was featured in Fast Company at: https://www.fastcodesign.com/90124729/fuschia-googles-experimental-mobile-os-solves-glaring-problems-that-apple-doesnt-get   You can find out about the Concern Task Resource model at: http://www.aconventional.com/2015/03/concern-task-resource-model.html    Another useful UX resource can be found from Semantic Studios: http://semanticstudios.com/user_experience_design/   And the Tim Hartford blog that Owen referenced is available at: http://timharford.com/2017/05/why-prize-winners-are-heading-for-a-fall/.