The Mindtools L&D Podcast

Not quite L&D, not quite HR, OD sits somewhere in between (or perhaps above?) the two. But what does 'organisation development' actually mean, and what skills do you need to do the job effectively?

This week on the podcast, Ross D and Ross G are joined by return guests Julie Drybrough and David D'Souza to discuss:

• how OD differs from L&D and HR
• the skills of a successful OD practitioner
• the extent to which the name 'organisation development' is about internal branding

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, @RossGarnerGP, @fuchsia_blue and @dds180.

You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAUS.

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

The book Ross D mentioned is Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez.

Criado Perez was also interviewed in a recent episode of the podcast 99% Invisible, which you can find at https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/invisible-women/

We know that in a lot of organisations, learning and development still means training, and training still means classroom. How do we overcome resistance to the alternatives? Should we overcome that resistance?

On this week's episode of The GoodPractice Podcast, Ross G and Owen are joined by Camden Council's Tom Spencer and Sarah Sedley.

We discuss:

• the challenges of delivering learning for a diverse audience
• historic approaches to learning
• new opportunities created by technology and a changing mindset.

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, @OwenFerguson, @TomBSpencer or email [email protected].

You can also tweet @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAUS.

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

In 'What I Learned This Week', Owen's nature paper was found via Max Roser, and was:

Song, X. P., Hansen, M. C., Stehman, S. V., Potapov, P. V., Tyukavina, A., Vermote, E. F., & Townshend, J. R. (2018). Global land change from 1982 to 2016. Nature, 560(7720), 639.

The story Ross shared, about the Polish village of Miejsce Odrzanskie, is online at: https://theconversation.com/polish-village-hasnt-seen-a-boy-born-in-nearly-10-years-heres-how-that-computes-122176

We all like to think our decisions are based on a methodical appraisal of the available evidence. But how do we know what 'good evidence' looks like in the context of L&D?

This week on the podcast, Ross D, Nicola and Owen are joined by Rob Briner, Professor of Organizational Psychology at Queen Mary University of London, to discuss evidence-based practice.

In this episode, we cover:

• the meaning of 'evidence-based practice'
• how 'EBP' can be applied to learning and development
• how to identify 'good' evidence

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, @owenferguson and @Rob_Briner.

You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAUS.

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

FREE Difficult Conversations Bundle:

Breeze through your next difficult conversation with ease by downloading your FREE bundle of resources: http://www2.goodpractice.com/dcpodcast

The paper Owen mentioned is 'Meyer, M. N., Heck, P. R., Holtzman, G. S., Anderson, S. M., Cai, W., Watts, D. J., & Chabris, C. F. (2019). Objecting to experiments that compare two unobjectionable policies or treatments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(22), 10723-10728'. It can be found at: https://www.pnas.org/content/116/22/10723

The FiveThirtyEight article Ross D references can be found at: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/most-personality-quizzes-are-junk-science-i-found-one-that-isnt/

You can learn more about Stonewall's 'Workplace Allies' programme at: https://www.stonewall.org.uk/workplace-allies-programme

You can find the Centre for Evidence-Based Management's website at: https://www.cebma.org

We've often talked on this show about how few people actively seek out a career in learning and development. So, how exactly did we end up here?

This week on the podcast, Ross D, Ross G and James are joined by Richard Dawson of Virgin Trains and Jilly Julian of Horwich Farrelly to share their origin stories.

We discuss:

• our professional backgrounds
• the challenges of getting started in L&D
• the qualities that make someone suited to a role 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 @ross__dickie, @RossGarnerGP, @JamesMcLuckie, @dawsonrichards and @JillyTats.

You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAUS.

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

FREE Difficult Conversations Bundle:

Breeze through your next difficult conversation with ease by downloading your FREE bundle of resources: http://www2.goodpractice.com/dcpodcast

You can find out more about Mary Anning here: http://www.lymeregis.org/mary-anning.aspx

The book Ross G mentioned is I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron.

You can find all the episodes of The Allusionist at https://www.theallusionist.org/

This week the GoodPractice team visited Turing Fest 2019, one of Europe's top tech conferences, to learn about product development, leadership, marketing - and skateboards.

Ross G, Ross D and Owen are joined by podcast newcomers Jade Stewart and Tracey McDonald to share their reflections.

We discuss:

• how marketing techniques can optimise your L&D output
• the importance of seeking user feedback
• the tech sector's approach to diversity and inclusion

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, @OwenFerguson, @Ross__Dickie and @TraceyMcDonald.

Want to get in touch with Jade? She's the wizard behind the @GoodPractice curtain. You can also tweet @GoodPracticeAUS.

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

FREE Difficult Conversations Bundle:

Breeze through your next difficult conversation with ease by downloading your FREE bundle of resources: http://www2.goodpractice.com/dcpodcast

You can find out more about Turing Fest at turingfest.com

In What I Learned This Week, Owen shared the public and open source frameworks for career progression at progression.fyi

And Ross shared the Twitter account @JustSaysInMice, which aims to increase the accuracy of science reporting.

This week on The GoodPractice Podcast, it's the return of our L&D book bag. Nicola Boyle and Ross G are joined by Owen and James to share insights from the books that we think are a must-read for L&D professionals.

We discuss:

• Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure by Tim Harford
• An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
• The Accidental Instructional Designer by Cammy Bean
• How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life by Caroline Webb

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, @OwenFerguson and @JamesMcLuckie.

You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAUS.

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

FREE Difficult Conversations Bundle:

Breeze through your next difficult conversation with ease by downloading your FREE bundle of resources: http://www2.goodpractice.com/dcpodcast

In What I Learned This Week, Owen shared the article 'Why it's time to stop worrying about the decline of the English language', available online at: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/aug/15/why-its-time-to-stop-worrying-about-the-decline-of-the-english-language

This made him revisit his views on Lynn Truss' book Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.

James shared his reflections on a show by @GreekComedian.

Nicola has been learning about different road crossings for her driving test: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/105231/uk-pedestrian-crossings-explained-zebra-puffin-pelican-toucan-and-how-to-use-them

And Ross shared the designs for the new Virgin Galactic space port: https://www.virgingalactic.com/articles/virgin-galactic-opens-the-doors-to-the-gateway-to-space/

The modern office, based largely on a 'factory' model, is constantly being re-organised in a bid to optimise output. But how far have cubicles, hot desks and pods been effective? What principles should guide these design choices?

On this week's GoodPractice Podcast, Ross G, Ross D and Owen are joined by author and workplace designer Neil Usher.

We discuss:

• factors to consider when designing an effective office space
• the relationship between spaces and the meanings we attach to them
• the pros and cons of working from home.

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, @Ross__Dickie, @OwenFerguson and @WorkEssence.

You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAUS.

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

Neil's book, The Elemental Workplace, is available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elemental-Workplace-fantastic-workplace-everyone/dp/1911498649

He blogs at workessence.com

The study Ross G discussed, on the effect that working from home had on a Chinese travel company, was:

Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J., & Ying, Z. J. (2014). Does working from home work? Evidence from a Chinese experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(1), 165-218.

Owen's WILTW on the 3-click rule was from The Nielson Norman Group: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/3-click-rule/

The podcast episode Neil talked about was '157 — Why should we care about behaviour change?' with Julie Dirksen, available online at: https://www.goodpractice.com/blog/podcast-157-why-should-we-care-about-behaviour-change

For more on 'libertarian paternalism', see the book Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein, or the paper:

Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2003). Libertarian paternalism. American economic review, 93(2), 175-179.

The podcast episode that Ross D recommended was from Reply All: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/xjhx3l/146-summer-hotline

The film that Ross G discussed was Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood. If you want to know some background before you go in, see the Tate Murders Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_murders

You may have seen headlines claiming that the average human attention span has dropped below that of a goldfish. But what does the evidence actually tell us, and how should we apply it to learning design?

This week on the podcast, Ross D is joined by Owen and Jonathan Marshall, Head of Learning at the UK's Diplomatic Academy, to discuss:

• what we mean when we talk about 'average attention spans'
• how environment affects our ability to focus
• how L&D can win (or at least not lose) the battle for attention

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

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

The growth mindset study Owen mentioned can be found at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1466-y

'How Not to Run a Panel' by Yascha Mounk can be found on The Atlantic's website: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/how-not-run-panel/594814/

For a frustrating example of what UI means and why it matters, check out https://userinyerface.com/

Many learning interventions start out from the position that people would perform much better in their roles if they just did what we told them. But what if this approach is misguided?

What if the mistakes that people make aren't due to a lack of awareness, but because of a host of environmental factors that incentive the wrong behaviour?

On this week's episode of The GoodPractice Podcast, instructional designer and author Julie Dirksen joins Ross G and Owen to ask why behaviour change matters - and how we can nudge it along.

We discuss:

• why behaviour change should often be our goal, rather than learning
• why it's so hard to change behaviour
• techniques for encouraging behaviour change

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

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

The book the team kept referencing was Thaler and Sunstein's Nudge, available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nudge-Improving-Decisions-Health-Happiness/dp/0141040017

The podcast episode Owen recommended, on cellophane, was from 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csz2w3

Julie's website, usablelearning.com, has links to her book: Design for How People Learn. She has also launched a course at designbetterlearning.com

Ross doesn't want to link to his What I Learned This Week, because he doesn't want anyone to see the film.

The range of emotions we are allowed to show in the workplace is fairly limited. We can be happy, we can be passionate, we can be enthusiastic. But anything beyond that is often seen as unprofessional or inappropriate. Is it time we rethink the role of emotion at work?

This week on the podcast, Ross D and Ross G are joined by Emotion at Work's Phil Willcox to discuss:

• how emotion manifests itself in the workplace
• the range of emotions that are acceptable at work
• the role HR/L&D can play in creating emotional 'safe spaces'

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

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

If you're interested in digging a little deeper into the topic of emotion at work, Phil's website is a good place to start: https://www.emotionatwork.co.uk/

Nick Shackleton-Jones appeared on episode 146 — How do people learn? (Not 149, as Ross G claimed). You can find download links here: https://www.goodpractice.com/blog/podcast-146-how-do-people-learn

Ross G's holiday recommendations were: - The documentary film Apollo 11. Details online at: https://www.apollo11movie.co.uk/ - The podcast 13 Minutes to the Moon from the BBC World Service. All episodes online at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xttx2/episodes/downloads - The album of Tom Waits covers Anywhere I Lay My Head, by Scarlett Johansson, on Spotify at: https://open.spotify.com/album/2bBRv5VJOPSIHmSMhzfHXm - The book Wild Harbour by Ian MacPherson, on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Harbour-Ian-Macpherson/dp/086241234X