The Mindtools L&D Podcast

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/.

The internet has changed a great deal in the past 10 years, but has e-learning design kept pace with the consumer market? This week on the GoodPractice Podcast, Wes Atkinson from Appitierre speaks to Ross and James from the GoodPractice team about the importance of responsive design and the future of the e-learning industry. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find us on Twitter @RossGarnerGP, @JamesMcLuckie, and @WesAtkinsonUK. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus. You can find out more about Appitierre at appitierre.com, or get in touch with Wes @WesAtkinsonUK. Wes' educational dragon game is available from the http://dragonbox.com/. James' article on the science of music is available at: https://www.unbelievable-facts.com/2015/04/facts-about-music.html. And Ross' Freakonomics podcast episode on Google searches is available at: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/big-penis-things-ask-google/.

This week on the GoodPractice Podcast: building an online learning community can be difficult. How do you encourage people to sign up? And how do you make them stay? Ross and Owen speak to Mike Collins and Ady Howes from DPG to learn about their experience with the DPG Community. Then, in part two, we take a look at Facebook's moderation guidelines to ask if there's anything to be learned for online learning communities in the workplace? If you want to share your thoughts on anything we discussed on the show, you can tweet @OwenFerguson, @RossGarnerGP, @AdyHowes or @Community_Mike. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAUS, or visit www.goodpractice.com. Facebook's secret rules and guidelines were covered by The Guardian at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/may/21/revealed-facebook-internal-rulebook-sex-terrorism-violence. The article Owen referenced on film ratings can be found at: https://medium.freecodecamp.com/whose-reviews-should-you-trust-imdb-rotten-tomatoes-metacritic-or-fandango-7d1010c6cf19?gi=1549fcfc768b. You can find out more about DPG, and join the Community, at dpgplc.co.uk.

New tech, new approaches, new fads: Our industry is awash with exciting developments, but do we approach them with the curiosity of a magpie or the curiosity of a scientist? On this week's GoodPractice Podcast, Ross G is joined by Owen and Giorgio to look at curiosity in Learning & Development. We discuss the importance of questions, the love of learning and the fun of failing (quickly!). If you have any thoughts on the show and fancy getting in on the discussion, you can tweet us: @OwenFerguson, @CoachGiorgio and @RossGarnerGP. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAus. To find out more about our upcoming events, blogs and whitepapers, and to access our back catalogue of podcasts, visit goodpractice.com. To find out more about Owen's blue crayon, see: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/05/12/first-new-shade-blue-discovered-200-years-turned-crayola-crayon/ You can find out more about Giorgio's 'survivorship bias' at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-we-dont-see-juan-carlos-soto And Ross' lesson in basic spelling is available at: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/197173/why-is-it-spelled-curiosity-instead-of-curiousity If you've enjoyed the show, please remember to leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Technology advances at an exponential rate – so how on Earth do you keep up with it? What tech could you be using that you don't know about? What should you be thinking about using next year, or in five years? What do you need to think about addressing right now? Technical Director Jonny Anderson and Early Adopter Owen Ferguson join Justin Anderson this week to discuss the dizzying world of new technology. If you have thoughts on the show and fancy getting in on the discussion, you can tweet us: @owenferguson, @biofractal and @writerjustin. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus. To find out more about our upcoming events, blogs and whitepapers, visit goodpractice.com. The Warren Buffet article Owen mentioned is here: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/28/what-its-like-working-for-warren-buffett-its-literally-just-reading-about-12-hours-a-day.html The book Justin is reading is here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seeing-What-Others-Dont-Remarkable-ebook/dp/B01HPVHHJS And the sites the guys recommended for tech news are: https://techcrunch.com/ https://www.techmeme.com/ https://www.engadget.com

The Learning and Development profession is awash with rich terminology, much of it vague and overlapping. But is the language we use a useful shorthand, an opportunity for priming or an unnecessary distraction? Then, we'll be previewing next week's CIPD L&D show. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find Owen on Twitter @owenferguson, Louise @LCampbellGP 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. A good summary of Lera Boroditsky's research can be found at: https://www.edge.org/conversation/lera_boroditsky-how-does-our-language-shape-the-way-we-think The paper Ross mentioned, covering terminology in e-learning, is available from ScienceDirect at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096751610000886 Cass Sunstein's article on political biases was published by The Guardian at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/27/challenge-everything-democracy-representative-government The Bret Stephens article that got NYT subscribers in a fizz is available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/opinion/climate-of-complete-certainty.html For the peculiarities of Icelandic naming conventions, see: http://wsimag.com/culture/2248-the-peculiarities-of-icelandic-naming Our top picks for the CIPD L&D show can be found at http://www.goodpractice.com/blog/items/top-picks-for-the-cipd-ld-show-2017/ and http://www.goodpractice.com/blog/items/top-picks-for-the-cipd-ld-show-2017-part-2/. Contributors this week included: @niallgavinuk, @marielearns, @lorna_clancy86, @gemmatowersey, @paullyv71, @cccubusiness and @innerspiration_. Apologies if we didn't read out all of your names.

You'll always find a good flaming argument on Twitter, but can it actually be used in a way that's beneficial for work? Marketing and networking are probably obvious options, but are there better ways to make use of this massive communications medium? This week, Justin, James and Paul discuss how best to get started with Twitter, and how to personalise it so it works just for you. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can (obviously) find us all on Twitter: @WriterJustin, @JamesMcLuckie and @paullyv71. 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 book Justin mentions, Utopia for Realists, is available from Amazon at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Utopia-Realists-How-Can-There-ebook/dp/B01MQRQG22