The Mindtools L&D Podcast

What do the Ancient Greeks, Viking warriors and World War II munition factories have to tell us about modern learning and development? More than you might think!

On this week's episode of The GoodPractice Podcast, Michelle Parry-Slater joins Ross G and Owen to explore lessons from the history of L&D.

We discuss:

• how modern L&D developed
• the benefits of exploring our history
• evolution vs revolution in L&D.

If you'd like to get in touch with us about any of the things we've said on this show, you can tweet @RossGarnerGP and @OwenFerguson or @MiPS1608.

You can also tweet @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAUS.

To find out more about what we do, visit goodpractice.com.

Ross' slightly dubious fossil fuel assertion was in part based on: https://www.forbes.com/sites/walvanlierop/2019/12/06/yes-fossil-fuel-subsidies-are-real-destructive-and-protected-by-lobbying/

For more on the secret history of the Girl Guides, see:

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11005064
• https://owl-and-toadstool.blogspot.com/2011/11/role-of-girl-guides-during-war-time.html
• https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Girl-Guides-Won-War/dp/0007356323

What should we know about the people we don't? Through a series of thematically related anecdotes, this is the question Malcolm Gladwell sets out to answer in his latest book, Talking to Strangers.

On this week's episode of the GoodPractice Podcast, Ross D is joined by Owen, Ross G and Nicola for the first in a series of bimonthly 'bookclub' episodes. We discuss:

• our general impressions of the book
• whether it has changed the way we interact with strangers
• key takeaways for L&D professionals

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find us on Twitter @ross__dickie, @owenferguson, @RossGarnerGP and @NicolaBoyle_GP.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAus.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy of Talking to Strangers, simply tell us what you learned this week by sending a direct message to @GoodPractice, or by emailing [email protected]. The most interesting response wins the book!

To understand why nobody will build a statue of you, head over to David D'Souza's website: https://daviddsouza.com/2019/11/29/why-you-wont-get-your-own-statue/

The Guardian interview Owen mentioned can be found here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/01/malcolm-gladwell-interview-talking-to-strangers-apolitical

Richard Feynman's personal reflections on the Challenger shuttle disaster can be found at https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51-l/docs/rogers-commission/Appendix-F.txt

If you're not lucky enough to win a copy of Talking to Strangers in our giveaway, you can also find it in all good bookshops.

In this special video episode of The GoodPractice Podcast, we're at eLN Connect 2019, the annual e-Learning Network conference for developers and instructional designers.

We discuss:

• our instructional design mistakes
• relationships between clients and vendors
• good and bad applications for virtual reality
• problems with the traditional conference format.

As well as the usual 30-minute audio cut, we've also released a 7-minute video version on our YouTube channel. You can see that here: bit.ly/GPPod_videospecial

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find us on Twitter @RossGarnerGP and @Ross__Dickie.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAus.

You can get more from the eLearning Network at elearningnetwork.org/

At face value, FC Barcelona look like any other top-tier football club. They've got an army of devoted fans, deep pockets and a roster of world-class players. So what sets them apart from the competition? According to Damian Hughes, the answer is culture.

This week on the podcast, Damian joins Ross D, Owen and Stewart to discuss his latest book, The Barcelona Way. They cover:

• how FC Barcelona created a culture of high performance
• how these lessons can be applied in different contexts
• the role L&D/HR play in shaping organisational culture

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find us on Twitter @ross__dickie, @owenferguson, @shardie15 and @LiquidThinker.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAus.

For more from Damian, check out his website: www.liquidthinker.com

If you're interested in picking up a copy of The Barcelona Way, you can find it at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Barcelona-Way-Create-High-performance-Culture/dp/1509804420/ref=sr_1_1?crid=7N5Y9ZHXPVLH&keywords=the+barcelona+way&qid=1573927147&sprefix=the+barcelo%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-1

How do we achieve work-life balance? Is there even such a thing? And should we treat 'work' and 'life' as two separate entities or are they more integrated than we would like to believe?

This week return guest Stephanie Hubka, world traveller and managing partner at Protos Learning, joins Nicola Boyle and James McLuckie to discuss. We talk about:

• How taking time off can improve our performance at work
• How we can integrate 'work' and 'life' effectively
• How organisations can foster a work-life balance culture

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find us on Twitter @NicolaBoyle_GP, @JamesMcLuckie and @StephanieHubka.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAus.

For travel inspiration, visit Stephanie's website: https://www.roadunraveled.com/

To find out more about Protos Learning - https://www.protoslearning.com/

To learn more about the words recently added to the Oxford English Dictionary: https://public.oed.com/blog/new-words-notes-for-october-2019/

To find out more about why life (apparently) becomes less fun at 45: https://www.studyfinds.org/survey-life-least-fun-at-45/

Back in Episode 150, the CIPD's Andy Lancaster told us he was writing a book. Now that he's written that book, Driving Performance Through Learning, we thought we'd invite him back to chat about it.

• the changing role of L&D professionals
• the impact of technology as an approach to supporting workplace performance
• the factors required to support workplace social networks

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find us on Twitter @ross__dickie, @owenferguson, and @AndyLancasterUK.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAus.

You can get hold of Driving Performance Through Learning at https://www.koganpage.com/product/driving-performance-through-learning-9780749497439

If you order a copy before the end of November and enter the code AHRDL15 at checkout, you'll receive 15% off your purchase.

Fellow basketball nerds can geek out over FiveThirtyEight's new statistical metric here: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/introducing-raptor-our-new-metric-for-the-modern-nba/

For more on 'America in One Room', you can check out the Helena website: https://helena.org/projects/america-in-one-room

How do you challenge your colleagues and clients to think deeply about the problems they bring to you, and how can you gain the credibility to help solve those problems?

This week on The GoodPractice Podcast, Ross G and Owen are joined by author and performance consultant Nigel Harrison to find out.

We discuss:

• what performance consulting is
• how it differs from traditional approaches to HR and L&D
• how to act as a performance consultant without being confrontational.

If you'd like to get in touch with us about any of the things we've said on this show, you can tweet @RossGarnerGP and @OwenFerguson, or can email [email protected].

You can also tweet @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAUS.

To find out more about what we do, visit goodpractice.com.

For more from Nigel, see: performconsult.co.uk

The paper Owen mentioned was: Antonakis, J. (2017). On doing better science: From thrill of discovery to policy implications. The Leadership Quarterly, 28(1), 5-21.

The pithier news source Ross talked about was Beautiful News, from Information is Beautiful, online at: https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/

How effective are we at separating the 'messenger' from the 'message'? Do we truly listen to what people have to say, or are we overly focused on how they say it and who they are?

These are the questions up for discussion on this week's GoodPractice Podcast, as Nicola, Ross G and Cat are joined by Joseph Marks, co-author of Messengers.

In this episode, we discuss:

• the difference between 'hard' and 'soft' messengers
• who we trust and why we trust them
• how gender affects how messages are received

If you'd like to get in touch with us about any of the things we've said on this show, you can tweet @NicolaBoyle_GP, @RossGarnerGP, @CatGoodPractice and @JoeMarks13.

You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAUS.

Messengers, by Stephen Martin and Joseph Marks, is out now: https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/stephen-martin/messengers/9781541724396/

Details of the 'America in One Room' project are online at: https://helena.org/projects/america-in-one-room

For more on the menopause, see the British Menopause Society at: https://thebms.org.uk/

The Menopause Cafe, covered in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/01/welcome-to-the-menopause-cafe-now-i-know-im-not-alone-im-not-going-mad

The CIPD's 'Let's talk menopause' resource: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/culture/well-being/menopause

A clip of Kirsty Wark discussing the menopause at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpawvMbqBVw

For more information on giving blood: https://www.blood.co.uk/why-give-blood/

The humble course was once the go-to solution for learning and development teams across the world, but in recent years it has suffered from a damaged reputation.

This week on The GoodPractice Podcast, we discuss whether traditional formal learning has a role in the modern workplace. And, if so, when?

To dig into this topic, Ross G and James are joined by author and learning designer Patti Shank.

In this episode we discuss:

• why courses are so unpopular
• when a course is a good solution
• the characteristics of a good course

If you'd like to get in touch with us about any of the things we've said on this show, you can tweet @RossGarnerGP, @JamesMcLuckie and @PattiShank.

You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAUS.

To find out more about what we do, visit goodpractice.com.

The book Ross mentioned, by Don Norman, was The Design of Everyday Things, available on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Design-Everyday-Things-MIT-Press/dp/0262525674

The learning platform Patti referenced was New Zenler. You can request early access at: https://www.zenler.com/

Ross' 'zip file' life hack came from Twitter, courtesy of @Helena_LB via John MacMillan (@_jmac_).

For many of us, working life is based around five days of energy depletion, followed by two days of recharging. But does it have to be this way?

This week on the podcast, Ross D, Nicola and Peter are joined by guest Perry Timms to discuss:

• what the title 'Chief Energy Officer' means
• how to manage our own energy levels
• how we can design more energy-giving jobs

If you'd like to get in touch with us about any of the things we've said on this show, you can tweet @ross__dickie, @NicolaBoyle_GP, @petercasebow and @PerryTimms.

You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAUS.

To find out more about what we do, visit goodpractice.com.

If you're interested in finding out more about Perry's work, visit his website: https://www.pthr.co.uk/

The episode of The Life Scientific that Nicola mentioned can be found at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008y3y