The Learning & Development Podcast: The #1 L&D Show

‘You’re going to know your customers better than any system, Digital value is about human value, it’s about working with people to solve problems’   

As a successful leader in Digital (at the BBC and at Ask.com), Myles has observed L&D’s embracing of new technologies but also its failure to transform itself. We discuss what digital transformation really means and what it will take for L&D professionals to make the most of the opportunities that digital now offers. 

  

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

Digital capability is largely remiss in L&D and is a blocker to positively changing the profession, is this what you see?
The preoccupation with technology is a real problem for the industry. For too much of the time for too many people digital means technology implementation

One of the most important aspects is the pace at which you have to move and having a clear focus on data and evidence.

The digital world has shown the values and benefits of a prototype to demonstrate and gather real data and this is driven at pace

You can’t make a transformational change from your current position; you have to have new information and data.

The stuff that we use ourselves has completely changed the way we communicate, our entertainment and access to each other.

The digital revolution has not been about systems it has been about having new experiences that add value to our lives in different ways

The L&D profession is still stuck in the trap of finding new ways to do what its always done rather than finding new things to do. 

What is digital transformation for you?
The challenge for L&D is that the learning pace is now set outside of the industry and we need to change how we work to meet the rising expectations we all,  as consumers, have. 

It’s about what we can do with the technologies we can create and how we can apply them

We need to constantly be aiming to give the best consumer experience we can.

One of the challenges is for the industry to look beyond learning data and be smart about other sources of data, we need to be smart about all of the data landscape to help us understand what the problems are and how we will solve them. 

What's your position on digital and face to face?

It’s not about one or the other it's about how you use the tools you have available to solve the problems. It can be people coming together, or a phone call, it's about an event that is helpful.

The learning classroom is a human event that due to what it is surrounded by has increased in value and importance. 

  

VALUABLE RESOURCES 

Myles Runham LinkedIn 

Myles Runham website   

  

BEST MOMENTS 

‘The L&D world needs to become much more confident working in these ways’ 

‘For people in senior positions, it’s about letting go and trusting in something new’ 

‘You need to be where people are and understand why they want to learn in the first place’ 

‘There is a recognition now that everything is changing, and it is happening at a pace so beware of certainty’ 

  

ABOUT THE HOST 
David James 

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 

As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. 

  

CONTACT METHOD 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning?lang=en 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ 
Website: https://www.looop.co/ 

Nigel Paine is a hard man to pin down to a profile, his  LinkedIn page describes him as Learning Now TV presenter and podcast host but there is lots more,  He teaches on a doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania, works for the University of Chicago as part of their business school at the London campus and writes books about the world as he sees it. In this episode David and Nigel are discussing his latest book, Workplace Learning: How To Build A Culture Of Continuous Employee Development, David and Nigel explore its themes in the context of the real-life challenges faced by L&D professionals today.  

  

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

What were you hoping to achieve with this book?
I usually write my books in a rage and the rage behind this book was the term’ learning culture’ being bandied about by people who did not know what they were talking about and had no understanding of the history behind the term.

I have tracked the journey and looked at what is happening today to help others understand what a learning culture is and provide them with the tools and ideas to build a better learning culture in their own businesses. 

Who decides they want to embark on creating a learning culture?
The key is not to be able to say that everyone is learning but to be able to say we are making better decisions, move faster, have more ideas and are more innovative, cooperating and working together.

The dream is clear but how you get to the dream is not clear that’s where the role of L&D is vital, their ability to frame it and offer solutions is critical to the journey. 

Usually, L&D teams don’t have the remit, currency or skills to change the culture, and yet so many say they need to how do we get past this initial hurdle?
You got to understand the frustrations and what inhibits people from doing their best. In understanding this you can begin changing the organisational process through people and eventually more of a learning culture emerges.

You’ve got to say we will scrap everything and build again based on need. If we know what people really do need help with then we can guide and support them effectively 

As a profession are we ready to acknowledge that ‘the course’ is not doing the job we are in organisations to do?
It’s a recognition that people learn in different ways and recognising that huge amounts of learning takes place in the workplace. Its moving learning and work closer together, that’s when learning becomes exciting, ingrained and integrated into the business.

You’ve got to have a  vision about the organisation you want to build and then work out what will make the biggest difference. 

How do we bridge the skills gap in L&D?
Sometimes it is important to be able to buy in the specialist skills you require for a specific piece of work or project. 

Every learning professional should be on their own learning journey to make sure they don’t get left behind by trying new stuff we broaden our horizons.

A learning culture is one where people take information from  outside and share it quickly turning it into action. 

 

BEST MOMENTS 

‘If you don’t lose the mentality that everything has to be a course you can't change and move forward’ 

‘The vast majority of learning is solved by individuals or teams without any reference to L&D, they just get on and do it’ 

‘It’s not about nice learning it's about hard-edged business benefits’ 

‘If you haven’t got sharing you haven’t got a learning culture’ 

ABOUT THE GUEST 

Nigel Paine   

Nigel is a prominent figure in the global L&D community and has been involved in corporate learning for over twenty years, including time leading the BBC’s Learning and Development operation.  

He left the BBC in September 2006 to start his own company that is focused on building great workplaces by promoting creativity, innovation, values based-leadership and learning and the link between them.  

He speaks regularly at conferences around the world and teaches on a doctoral programme at the University of Pennsylvania and for Chicago Booth Business School.  

In this podcast, Nigel talks about his latest book (Workplace Learning: how to build a culture of continuous employee development) and how it practically applies to organisations. 

You can follow Nigel via: 

CONTACT METHOD
Twitter: @ebase 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelpaine/ 
Website: https://www.nigelpaine.com/ 
Podcast: http://fromscratchpodcast.com/ 
Learning Now TV: https://learningnow.tv/ 

 

ABOUT THE HOST 
David James  

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 

As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. 

  

CONTACT METHOD 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning?lang=en 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ 
Website: https://www.looop.co/ 

It appears that women are under-represented at a senior level in L&D. What’s going on to address this and what do we all need to be doing? David and Kate explore these points - and more - within this important conversation.   

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• How would you describe Fosways role in L&D and your role within the company?
  We are an independent analyst and our role within the industry is to look at trends and the progression across technology and talent.
  
  Our role is to help corporate organisations make better decisions, We also liaise closely with vendors to ensure we have a pragmatic picture.
  
  My role involves working across the teams and all content comes through me providing me with an overview of all that is going on. 

What is the current conversation around women in learning?
The statistics are not great for women progressing into senior management.  I have been involved in the conversation across social media platforms and the engagement was far and above what I was expecting, it has captured people’s imaginations and is continuing to grow as people join the debate.

Research based on the worldwide learning and skills group and used job titles as an indicator; in support roles the split was 33% men to 67% women,  in practitioner roles 53% men to  47% women, mid-level 49% men to 51% women, senior roles 69% men to 31% women this makes clear there is a barrier and this is a conversation we need to have. Its opened people’s eyes to an issue that we didn’t know was there previously. 

What are you hoping to achieve from this conversation?
It’s about changing the statistics, ultimately women should be in those senior roles if they want to be and how as an industry can we support that through mentors etc.

Mentoring is a great place to start and we are now looking at the practical steps we can implement to move forward. It isn’t just about women it’s about the steps anyone needs to take to move forward. 

How does this conversation relate to the modernisation that is required in L&D?
The important thing for this debate is that it doesn’t lose sight of the link to our profession.

We are and should be open-minded to the possibilities, we can challenge our own thinking and desire for flexibility and learning.

Faced with this challenge, the statistics, and this ongoing conversation about women in learning that we should hold ourselves accountable for our own development in this area and continue the conversation. 

 

BEST MOMENTS 

‘That’s real life and to understand that is empowering; we can share stories about ourselves’ 

‘It should be about lifting everyone up L&D is a great industry to be in because it’s such a positive place to be’ 

‘There were more people named David on the panel than women’ 

‘It’s about how the vision is executed within the company’ 

  

VALUABLE RESOURCES 

Fosway Group website 
Kate Graham Twitter 
#womeninlearning twitter 
Kate Graham LinkedIn 

ABOUT THE HOST 

David James   

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 

As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. 

  

CONTACT METHOD 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning?lang=en 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/  
Website: https://www.looop.co/