L&D Must Change

If people need a skill, training alone isn't enough. In this episode, Jess talks with Julie Dirksen, author of Design for How People Build Skills, about what it really takes to help people develop proficiency. They explore how to define skills more precisely, determine whether training is actually the answer, and design practice and feedback that continue beyond the learning experience. Julie also shares practical ways to analyze skills based on context, variability, and risk so L&D can make better design decisions and help people perform more effectively.

Jess and Julie Discuss

• What actually makes something a skill
• How to determine whether training will solve a performance problem
• Turning broad requests like "communication" into observable skills
• Using the "photo test" to define what good performance looks like
• How context, variability, and risk should influence learning design
• Why different skills require different kinds of practice

About Julie Dirksen

Julie Dirksen is the author of the books Design For How People Learn and Talk to the Elephant: Design Learning for Behavior Change and her newest book, Design for How People Learn Skills. She is a learning strategy consultant with a focus on incorporating behavioral science into learning interventions. Her Masters degree is in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University. She's been an adjunct faculty member at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and is a Learning Guild Guildmaster.

Find and Connect with Julie Dirksen

• LinkedIn
• Website: https://usablelearning.com/
• Website: https://designbetterlearning.com/
• Books on Amazon: Design for How People Learn, Talk to the Elephant: Design Learning for Behavior Change, Design for How People Learn Skills
• New Book Directly from Publisher (see discount code below): https://www.peachpit.com/store/design-for-how-people-build-skills-9780135919507

Discount Code: Use code BUILDSKILLS for a 35% discount off the list price when purchased on the publisher website. Free shipping for USA domestic sales.

• LinkedIn
• Website: www.jessalmlie.com
• Book: L&D Order Taker No More! Become a Strategic Business Partner
• L&D Strategic Business Partner Team Assessment and Team Development Roadmap
• Contact Jess

Additional Links Regarding Skills and Practice

• L&D Must Change Episode 22 with Chris Taylor
• L&D Must Change Episode 45 with Melanie Martinelli
• Book by Koreen Pagano: Building the Skills Based Organization

What if becoming a better facilitator has less to do with learning another technique and more to do with understanding who you are in the room? Jess and Moe Poirier explore why facilitator development needs to move beyond content delivery and mechanics toward presence, adaptability, and human connection. They unpack Moe's five facilitation personas, how each meets a different learner need, and why exceptional facilitators know how to flex between them while still showing up authentically. They also explore the difference between performing as a facilitator and being truly present.

Jess and Moe Discuss

• Why facilitation should move from transactional delivery to transformational experiences
• The five facilitation personas: Sensei, Drill Sergeant, Superhero, Confidant, and Jester
• How each persona responds to a different need in the learning environment
• Why facilitators naturally default to some personas more than others
• How to recognize what learners need and flex your approach in the moment
• The difference between facilitator performance and authentic presence
• Why facilitator development should include more than techniques and content mastery

About Moe Poirier

Moe Poirier is a facilitator, coach, and founding partner of Shift Facilitation, where he has spent more than 25 years helping trainers, leaders, and teams become more effective facilitators.

Originally trained as an engineer, Moe has built his career around the belief that great facilitation goes far beyond simply knowing the content or mastering a set of techniques. It's about presence, adaptability, and understanding the unique strengths you bring into the room.

He is the author of the new book, The Five Personas of Facilitation: Elevating Your Unique Training Delivery Strengths & Style, which introduces five distinct facilitation personas and helps trainers and facilitators better understand their natural tendencies, build on their strengths, and adapt their approach to what learners need in the moment.

Find and Connect with Moe Poirier

• LinkedIn
• Company and work: www.shiftfacilitation.com
• The Five Facilitator Personas: www.fivepersonas.com
• Book: The Five Personas of Facilitation: Elevate Your Training Delivery Strengths and Style
• Sign up. Join the Community. Bonus tools & resources: www.fivepersonas.com/practice-circle

Find and Connect with Jess Almlie

• LinkedIn
• Website: www.jessalmlie.com
• Book: L&D Order Taker No More! Become a Strategic Business Partner
• L&D Strategic Business Partner Team Assessment and Team Development Roadmap
• Contact Jess

What if trying to isolate L&D's impact is the wrong measurement goal? Kevin M. Yates, the L&D Detective, challenges the idea that training alone can explain changes in workplace performance. Jess and Kevin explore a performance-first approach that looks at L&D as one contributor within a larger performance ecosystem. They also discuss how to use business KPIs, navigate stakeholder resistance, and shift from proving training worked to investigating what actually influenced performance.

Jess and Kevin Discuss

• Why isolating L&D's impact can create unrealistic expectations about what training can achieve
• How workplace performance is shaped by multiple factors, not L&D alone
• What Kevin means by investigating L&D's affect within the performance ecosystem
• Why L&D should focus on contribution rather than claiming sole credit for business outcomes
• How a performance-first mindset changes the way L&D responds to training requests
• Why learning analytics and business performance data tell very different stories
• How to use existing business KPIs to understand whether performance is moving
• Why relationships with KPI owners are essential for better measurement
• How to ask performance-focused questions without becoming a roadblock for stakeholders
• Why Kevin is moving away from the word "impact"
• Two questions L&D can ask immediately to redirect the conversation toward performance

About Kevin M Yates

Kevin M. Yates is known in the global training, learning, and talent development community as the L&D Detective®. He investigates how L&D as a function and training and development as an experience contributes to organization goals within the workplace performance ecosystem. Kevin uses facts, clues, and evidence to uncover what is influencing human performance and organizational results, recognizing that meaningful performance is rarely driven by one solution or contributor alone. He has applied his measurement and performance expertise in roles with world-renowned brands including Grant Thornton, McDonald's, and Meta (Facebook). He is also president and founder of Meals in the Meantime, a nonprofit organization addressing food insecurity in the Chicagoland south suburbs with mobile pop-up food pantries.

Find and Connect with Kevin M Yates

• L&D Detective Kit: https://lddetective.com/
• Kevin's Website: https://kevinmyates.com/
• LinkedIn
• Meals in the Meantime: https://mealsinthemeantime.org/

Find and Connect with Jess Almlie

• LinkedIn
• Website: www.jessalmlie.com
• Book: L&D Order Taker No More! Become a Strategic Business Partner
• L&D Strategic Business Partner Team Assessment and Team Development Roadmap
• Contact Jess

What if AI transformation isn't really a technology challenge at all? Jess talks with OneDigital executives Mike Sullivan and Vinay Gidwaney about why they see AI as a talent, leadership, and workforce transformation challenge, and why L&D should be at the center of it, leading the transformation. They explore what it means to treat AI as talent, redesign work around human and AI strengths, activate leaders for new ways of working, and move L&D beyond content creation into a much more strategic role.

• Why AI transformation is fundamentally a talent and behavior change challenge, not simply a technology rollout
• What changes when organizations begin thinking about AI as talent
• Why giving employees access to AI is not enough to create meaningful adoption or business impact
• How leaders can accelerate AI adoption and behavior change across their teams
• Why the future workforce is a blended workforce of humans and AI
• How leaders can distinguish between reducible work that AI may handle and irreducible work that depends on human judgment, creativity, empathy, and experience
• Why organizations may need to stop tweaking existing job descriptions and instead completely rethink how work gets done
• The emerging leadership responsibility to manage both human talent and AI talent
• How L&D can help managers unbundle work, rethink roles, and redesign teams for an AI-enabled future
• Why people, not AI itself, may become an organization's greatest source of competitive advantage
• How L&D's role in capturing, codifying, and spreading organizational intelligence becomes even more valuable in an AI-enabled workplace
• What L&D professionals can do now to move from spectators of AI transformation to active leaders shaping what comes next

About Mike Sullivan

Mike Sullivan has spent more than four decades at the intersection of business strategy, mergers & acquisitions and all facets of an evolving American workplace. He has seen firsthand what separates companies that thrive from those that stall. As Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of OneDigital, he has helped build one of the most dynamic insurance and financial services firms in the country, guiding its expansion through acquisition, partnership, and entry into new markets. Outside OneDigital, he is an active investor and board member across a broad set of firms and industry verticals.

About Vinay Gidwaney

As Chief Product Officer (CPO) at OneDigital, Vinay Gidwaney is passionate about creating opportunities for employees and families to make better decisions around their finances through OneDigital's integrated offerings. He leads a strong team of technology experts and developers who deliver the latest in innovative products and solutions to OneDigital's customer base.

Find and Connect with Mike and Vinay

• Mike Sullivan LinkedIn
• Vinay Gidwaney LinkedIn
• Book: Workforce Intelligence: The PEOPLE-FIRST Playbook for Leading Your Company Through AI TRANSFORMATION

Find and Connect with Jess Almlie

• LinkedIn
• Website: www.jessalmlie.com
• Book: L&D Order Taker No More! Become a Strategic Business Partner
• L&D Strategic Business Partner Team Assessment and Team Development Roadmap
• Contact Jess

Leadership development has become far too complicated. In this episode, Jess and Matt Gjertsen strip away the jargon and return to the fundamentals busy managers can actually use. They explore the Minimum Viable Manager mindset, three core skills every leader needs, and why iteration matters more than perfection. You'll also hear how L&D can help employees navigate the career change into management, make feedback a daily habit, and combine high-impact in-person experiences with digital learning to create lasting behavior change.

Jess and Matt Discuss

• Why leadership development has become unnecessarily complicated
• How first principles thinking can simplify manager development
• The Minimum Viable Manager mindset and the power of iteration
• Three essential manager skills: building trust, setting expectations, and giving feedback
• How a clear definition of done prevents the delegation doom loop
• Why managers should ask for feedback before giving it
• Why becoming a manager is a career change, not a promotion
• How L&D can help employees decide whether management is right for them
• Why in-person learning still matters for behavior change
• How to reframe leadership development as a facilitated conversation

About Matt Gjertsen

Matt Gjertsen is the founder of BUILT, a leadership-development company focused on helping technical professionals become exceptional people leaders. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Matt spent nine years as an instructor pilot before leading training and development at SpaceX. With two decades of experience developing high-performing teams, he now helps organizations strengthen their managers, improve performance, and prepare leaders to solve complex challenges.

Find and Connect with Matt Gjertsen

• LinkedIn
• Website: BUILT Leaders
• Book: Minimum Viable Manager

Find and Connect with Jess Almlie

• LinkedIn
• Website: www.jessalmlie.com
• Book: L&D Order Taker No More! Become a Strategic Business Partner
• L&D Strategic Business Partner Team Assessment and Team Development Roadmap
• Contact Jess

Our learning design could be better if we understood how the brain is taking in and processing what we share. It would help us to know what's effective, and what's having the opposite effect. In this episode, Jess sits down with learning scientist Lauren Waldman to explore why neuroscience should be a foundational skill for every L&D professional. They discuss how memory really works, why most training never reaches long-term memory, how cognitive overload undermines learning, and practical ways to design experiences that work with the brain instead of against it.

• Why every L&D professional should understand how the brain learns
• The difference between content delivery and the biological process of learning
• How working memory limits affect learning design
• Why repetition and retrieval are essential for long-term memory
• How cognitive overload prevents learners from retaining information
• Practical ways to reduce distractions and guide learner attention
• Designing learning that supports focus instead of competing for it
• Using neuroscience to confidently push back on stakeholder requests that hinder learning
• A simple design question every L&D team should ask before building training

About Lauren Waldman

Lauren Waldman is a learning scientist, founder of Learning Pirate, and one of the leading voices bringing neuroscience into the world of learning and development. With advanced neuroscience studies from Harvard, Duke, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Michigan, she helps organizations design learning experiences that align with how the brain actually learns. Lauren is a sought-after keynote speaker known for challenging conventional thinking and making brain science practical, engaging, and impossible to ignore.

Find and Connect with Lauren Waldman

• LinkedIn
• Learning Pirate Website: https://www.learningpirate.com/

Find and Connect with Jess Almlie

• LinkedIn
• Website: www.jessalmlie.com
• Book: L&D Order Taker No More! Become a Strategic Business Partner
• L&D Strategic Business Partner Team Assessment and Team Development Roadmap
• Contact Jess

Additional Links from This Episode

• L&D Must Change Episode 22: Designing and Measuring on Purpose with Chris Taylor
• L&D Must Change Episode 45: Ensure Learning is Worth the Expense with Melanie Martinelli

What if the biggest thing holding L&D back isn't AI, but our data? Jess sits down with Nolan Hout to explore why Learning is often "data poor," why completion metrics aren't enough, and how stronger partnerships unlock the business data that proves impact. They discuss AI, measurement, ROI, cost efficiency, and practical ways to connect learning initiatives to business outcomes. If you want L&D to influence business decisions instead of simply reporting training activity, this conversation is a great place to start.

Jess and Nolan Discuss

• Why L&D is often "data poor" compared to other business functions
• The difference between learning activity and business impact
• Why SCORM data limits meaningful measurement
• How AI amplifies both good and bad data practices
• The business metrics L&D should pursue with stakeholders
• Why measurement begins before training starts
• Building partnerships to gain access to business data
• Using AI to create better business hypotheses
• Rethinking cost per learner and learning ROI
• Reinvesting AI efficiencies into higher-impact learning experiences

About Nolan Hout

Nolan Hout is the Senior Vice President of Growth at InfoPro Learning. He has more than 15 years of experience in learning, talent development, and workforce transformation, and helps global organizations align learning strategies with real business outcomes. He's also the host of The Talent Equation podcast, where he interviews leading voices in leadership, AI, and the future of work.

Find and Connect with Nolan Hout

• LinkedIn

Find and Connect with Jess Almlie

• LinkedIn
• Website: www.jessalmlie.com
• Book: L&D Order Taker No More! Become a Strategic Business Partner
• L&D Strategic Business Partner Team Assessment and Team Development Roadmap
• Contact Jess

What if L&D has been optimizing all the wrong things? Jess sits down with Brad Batesole, founder of Madecraft and former LinkedIn Learning leader, to explore why learning often feels harder than it should. They discuss designing learning that matches how people actually consume content, advocating for resources in budget-conscious organizations, using AI to personalize rather than replace learning, and setting realistic stakeholder expectations that move L&D beyond checking boxes toward creating meaningful business impact.

Jess and Brad Discuss

• Why L&D often optimizes for cost, completion, and volume instead of learning effectiveness.
• How poor learner experiences create compliance instead of engagement.
• Why workplace learning should mirror how people naturally consume content outside of work.
• Designing for "interstitial time" with short, meaningful learning experiences.
• Layering just-in-time, durable, and long-tail learning to support real skill development.
• How L&D can advocate more effectively for budget by connecting learning to business outcomes.
• Setting realistic expectations with stakeholders when resources limit what's possible.
• The role of AI in personalization, practice, and learner support without replacing human expertise.
• Why experimentation should be treated as a necessary investment for L&D teams.
• Small changes L&D teams can make today to create learning people actually want to use.

About Brad Batesole

Brad Batesole co-founded Madecraft in 2018 after two decades at the forefront of online learning. At Lynda.com and LinkedIn Learning, he created top-performing marketing courses that amassed over 20 million views and built a LinkedIn following of 96,000 professionals. An internationally recognized speaker and storyteller, Brad advocates for learning strategies that match how people consume content today.

Find and Connect with Brad Batesole

• LinkedIn
• Madecraft

Find and Connect with Jess Almlie

• LinkedIn
• Website: www.jessalmlie.com
• Book: L&D Order Taker No More! Become a Strategic Business Partner
• L&D Strategic Business Partner Team Assessment and Team Development Roadmap
• Contact Jess

Does the pace of new technology have you in a bit of a spiral? If the amount of tech and learning about tech coming at you these days is making you question your skills, your role, and the value of your expertise, or if you simply feel like you cannot possibly keep up, you are not alone. In this conversation with Betty Dannewitz of "If You Ask Betty," we dig into what Betty calls tech-induced imposter syndrome: the spiral that happens when a new tool makes you question your own value. You will walk away with practical, research-backed strategies to tame your inner critic, build confidence through action, and rethink how you design learning experiences so your learners can do the same.

Jess and Betty Discuss

• Why tech adoption is a confidence problem just as much as a skills problem, and what L&D needs to do differently as a result
• What tech-induced imposter syndrome actually is and why even experienced L&D pros are not immune
• Betty's story of a 3-day ChatGPT spiral that had her searching for jobs at Target (and what snapped her out of it)
• Practical tools to tame your inner critic when it's activated by technology
• Why confidence comes from action, not before it, and how to build "receipts" of your own capability
• How to stop losing the comparison game on LinkedIn and take control of your digital presence
• How to design learning experiences that build learner confidence early, before the fear takes hold
• Why measuring your value by speed is a losing game against AI, and how to reframe your human strengths around judgment, context, ethics, and relationships
• What it really looks like to be "in cahoots" with AI rather than in competition with it

About Betty Dannewitz

Betty Dannewitz is a speaker, learning innovator, and the founder of "If You Ask Betty" and host of the podcast by the same name. She has spent more than two decades helping organizations create better learning experiences through leadership development, immersive technologies, and innovative learning strategies. She's also a sought-after voice on topics like imposter syndrome, human-centered leadership, and the future of workplace learning.

Find and Connect with Betty Dannewitz

• LinkedIn
• Website: https://ifyouaskbetty.com/

Find and Connect with Jess Almlie

• LinkedIn
• Website: www.jessalmlie.com
• Book: L&D Order Taker No More! Become a Strategic Business Partner
• L&D Strategic Business Partner Team Assessment and Team Development Roadmap
• Contact Jess

If your SME projects keep stalling, it's possible the SME isn't the problem. Recorded LIVE at the ATD 2026 International Conference and Expo in Los Angeles, this special episode brings together influence strategist Tami Reiss and Sr. L&D Manager Jeff Daigle to tackle what can be one of the most universal frustrations in our field: working with subject matter experts. Together, Jess, Tami, and Jeff dig into why content overload kills clarity, how to position L&D as a true business partner, and what it actually looks like to stop persuading SMEs and start aligning with them. Plus, hear Jeff's rare perspective as someone who has sat in the SME seat himself.

Jess, Tami, and Jeff Discuss

• Why SME projects stall when L&D focuses on collecting content instead of defining clear learner outcomes
• The critical difference between persuasion and alignment, and why alignment gets SMEs to actually show up, engage, and champion your work
• How Jeff, as a former field SME, felt pressure to share everything, and what good L&D partnership looked like from that side of the table
• Practical strategies for earning and keeping SME time, including doing your homework before meetings and following through on every promise, even small ones
• The "need-to-know vs. nice-to-know" framework and why nothing the SME shares should ever get thrown away
• How to use AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot to build draft structures before meeting with SMEs, shifting their role from content creator to expert editor and reviewer
• Where SME partnerships are headed in the future

About Tami Reiss

Tami Reiss is a global speaker and trainer specializing in strategic influence and leadership communication. She has worked with professionals across industries to help them gain buy-in, lead without authority, and communicate with clarity. Tami is the creator of Just Not Sorry, author of a book on management, a respected authority on communication, and the voice behind the Confident Communicator GPT, a tool for leaders building executive presence and strategic influence.

Find and Connect with Tami Reiss

• LinkedIn
• Website: https://tamireiss.com/

About Jeff Daigle

Jeff Daigle is a Senior Learning & Development Manager based in Kenner, Louisiana. He bridges big‑picture strategy and real‑world execution, helping organizations turn complex goals into clear, practical learning that drives performance. Jeff specializes in competency‑based talent development, organizational frameworks, and technical training, with a knack for making complex concepts easy to understand. Known for his approachable style, he supports people while thoughtfully challenging them to grow, believing the best development happens when clarity, trust, and high expectations come together.

Find and Connect with Jeff Daigle

• LinkedIn

Find and Connect with the host, Jess Almlie

• LinkedIn
• Website: www.jessalmlie.com
• Book: L&D Order Taker No More! Become a Strategic Business Partner
• L&D Strategic Business Partner Team Assessment and Team Development Roadmap
• Contact Jess