I've been thinking a lot about Alexander Stubb's address at the UN. His ideas around values, interests, and power really got me thinking about how we work with and around others. This got me thinking about Julian Stodd's work on the shadows we cast. 🔗 bit.ly/4nKTOu6 #LND #HR #Leadership

Compliance training works when it’s hyper-contextual: the exact actions, decisions, and processes people face in their role, nothing else. That’s today’s article in my week-long series. What’s the most irrelevant detail you’ve sat through? 🔗 bit.ly/4mzQNvr

Why is compliance training, with budget and leadership backing, still the part of L&D we’re most embarrassed by? First in a four-part series on how we can do better. 🔗 bit.ly/4nQh225 What’s the first word you’d use to describe compliance training?

What does community really mean in L&D? How do we tell the difference between a genuine space built for members & a sales funnel with a shiny label? Check out the full article: bit.ly/46mVPpe #LND #Community #Networking

Not every L&D event is worth your time. Before booking I ask: - what type of event is it, - whose interests come first, - and how honest are they about it? My latest article explores how I decide where to show up. 🔗 bit.ly/46DRf7g #LND #CPD #Events #Conference #Exhibition

When was the last time a podcast actually changed how you worked? In L&D, podcasts only shine when part of something bigger, campaigns, CPD, or culture change. I’ve shared practical ways to make that happen. Link in comments. 🔗 bit.ly/4nB7wzz #LND #InstructionalDesign #Podcasting #ELearning

🎥 Video doesn’t need to be high-budget or high-stress. Join our free webinar on 25 Sept, 16:15 BST, to learn how to create confident, engaging learning videos without a studio setup. 🔗 bit.ly/3VjuT4C #LND #Webinar #CPD #InstructionalDesign #ContentCreation

Just read the WCAG 3.0 draft. No more A/AA/AAA, now Bronze–Gold. Moving from pass/fail to a spectrum of progress Feels like accessibility growing up, covering more needs and more tech. Exciting step forward. What do you think of the shift? 🔗 bit.ly/3VjuT4C

🎙️Final call! Our webinar on podcasting for workplace learning is today. Sounds Like Learning: Creating Impactful Podcasts for the Workplace ⏰16:00 BST We’ll cover when podcasts work in L&D, and how to create them without expensive gear. 🔗 bit.ly/45ZNRn9 #WorkplaceLearning #Podcasts #LND

Our Access All Learners webinar was a fantastic success last week, and I'm pleased to be able to share the full recording with you all today. bit.ly/4pcT4iR The audience questions were wonderful, and they will form the basis of an article I will share later this week. #LND #Accessibility #A11y

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed there was no #CPDWeekly newsletter yesterday. I usually write the newsletter on Sunday evening, pulling together my thoughts from the previous week, content catch-ups, the editorial, and of course, all the events for the coming week. 1/9

Most orgs start AI adoption with vendors and demos. The smart ones start with principles. Decide what matters: transparency, oversight, integration, before tech. That way, vendors fit you, not the other way round. 🔗 bit.ly/47NX82M #LND #AI #DigitalLearning #EdTech

Teresa Torres’ Continuous Discovery Habits is written for product teams, but L&D has a lot to learn from it. Stop one-off needs analyses. Talk to people regularly. Test assumptions. Treat every solution as an experiment. 🔗 bit.ly/4fXwsyt #LND #LearningAndDevelopment #ProductThinking

The debate rumbles on: should training be easy or hard? The truth is in the messy middle. Keep access simple, make the learning challenging. Desirable difficulty builds capability; pointless friction just wastes effort. 🔗 bit.ly/4fTW0gd #LND #LearningScience #InstructionalDesign

In nearly every team I work with, assessments look the same: 80% pass mark, 5–10 MCQs, maybe a quiz bank. Comforting, but not useful. Criterion-referenced testing shows if people can do the job. 🔗 bit.ly/45AYmNt #LND #Assessment #LearningAndDevelopment #PerformanceImprovement

Training is theatre. 🎭 In our latest webinar, The Stories We Tell, we explored how acts, arcs, and tension can turn workplace training from forgettable to unforgettable. Catch the full recording and see how Vonnegut’s story shapes and theatrical principles can transform training 🔗 bit.ly/4oSbWn7

This week’s #CPDWeekly is out: 📖 Editorial on how we misuse research 🎥 Webinar replay: The Stories We Tell 📝 New Substack articles on compliance, benchmarking, UGC, badges, and theatre in training 📅 Events, calls for speakers, and ticket discounts 🔗 bit.ly/4myIdOA #LND #CPD #Webinar #Newsletter

“What’s past is prologue.” Shakespeare knew transformation needs structure. Training does too. Not performance, but invisible architecture that builds tension, deepens it, and resolves it into real change. 🔗 bit.ly/3JOnSWP #LND #InstructionalDesign #BehaviouralDesign #UX #PerformanceSupport

The iDeas Podcast is back Got a big idea for L&D? Culture, accessibility, performance, alignment… whatever makes people go “oh, that’s interesting.” 30 mins, just you + me chatting. No sales pitches. Drop me a message if you’d like to join. #LND #Podcast #Community

Are badges just digital gold stars? Often, they reward clicks, not capability. Log in, badge. Watch a video, badge. Done well, micro-credentials prove skills, support growth, and motivate development. Do badges in your org drive real growth, or just fuel consumption? 🔗 bit.ly/4oHlIZ7 #LND

UGC isn’t about how much content gets made, it’s about whether it helps people do their jobs better. Stop only tracking volume, start tracking impact. How are you measuring performance from UGC in your org? 🔗 bit.ly/3HAI5io

Spent yesterday at an L&D co-work in Leeds with Kim, Rebecca, Arash, Mike & Steph. A day of shared problems, fresh perspectives, and free user testing! How do you stay connected with peers, and what’s the biggest lesson you’ve gained from it? #LND #Collaboration #Community

Do you know if your learning designs are getting better over time? Internal benchmarks give you a way to track improvement, not just tick boxes. If you don’t have one, now’s the time to start. 🔗 bit.ly/45J6rP1 #LND #Impact #LearningAndDevelopment

Ever wondered how long captions can be delayed? Or what ARIA labels are for? Or what to include in alt text? We’ll cover these and more in my free webinar: Access All Learners 📆 28 August, ⏰ 16:00 BST. 🔗 bit.ly/4oHqKF5 #LND #Accessibility #A11y #InstructionalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment

AI has changed everything and somehow nothing in the workplace. Yes, it can draft strategies, scripts, graphics and summaries in seconds. But unless the way we work changes, the performance needle barely shifts. 🧵 A quick thread…

Compliance training isn’t an obligation; it’s an opportunity for performance improvement. Map it to tasks, embed it in workflows, and deliver support just-in-time. Stop pushing info, start engineering performance. 🔗 bit.ly/3Jneauq #LND #InstrucitonalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment

Yes, compliance training. The face you just pulled is why it’s one of our biggest missed opportunities. Universal reach, budget, leadership backing, if it’s boring, the problem isn’t compliance. It’s the training, it's us. 🔗 bit.ly/3JeDxyF

Today is the day! At 4pm I will be running "The Stories We Tell", one of my favourite sessions to run. It would be amazing if you could come and join us. As always, it's 100% free and all about helping you develop, in this case, the skill of storytelling. 🔗 bit.ly/4mqgaRh

How do you measure training impact? Not LMS logins. Not made-up ROI slides. Start with whether it’s even a training problem. Then track metrics close to the work, and measure the chain: knowledge → behaviour → contribution to results. Check out the full article below. 🔗 bit.ly/4fBEFIJ

The build vs buy choice isn’t about cost per course; it’s about what changes performance. Build for context, buy with purpose, bookend for impact, and go hybrid when it makes sense. The priciest training? The kind that doesn’t work. 🔗 bit.ly/3HtRzvH

Most skills frameworks sound good, but don’t tell us if people can do the work. Start with tasks, make skills specific, and assess them in real contexts. That’s how we move from training to true performance. Check out the full Substack article 🔗 bit.ly/41ulVVC

Better training happens when SMEs, writers & IDs collaborate. Share real context, frame around problems, expect iteration, and define accuracy lines early. Don’t guard turf, and help each other do great work. 🔗 bit.ly/4m0PCWB

We keep asking how to grow L&D leaders, but rarely how people get started. As we automate junior tasks, we risk cutting off our own future. If someone invested in you, ask: are you doing the same for others? 🔗 bit.ly/4m1tsU1 #LND #WorkplaceLearning #FutureOfWork

We talk about continuous learning, but rarely apply it to ourselves. L&D’s future needs broader skills, not just better training. What’s one non-L&D skill that’s made you better at your job? 🔗 bit.ly/45nBXlu

Ten years ago, I predicted SCORM would die. It didn’t. L&D doesn’t need better predictions; it needs better adaptability. Forget roadmaps. Focus on what works today, and be ready to shift tomorrow. 🔗 bit.ly/4maZux1 What’s your worst tech prediction? #LND #LearningDesign #EdTech

If AI can build software from a prompt in minutes, why are we still making eLearning like it’s 2015? The future is authoring tools that focus on experience, not tech. What would you do if a module took hours, not days, to build? bit.ly/4fgwPnA #LearningAndDevelopment #AI

Been evolving one of my fave sessions on using data in L&D. It’s now in its 3rd (and best) version. Practical, human, no fluff. 📅 29 July, 4PM BST 🎥 Free webinar Come along. bit.ly/44w9TvO #LND #InstructionalDesign #Webinar #DataInLND

"Complementary capabilities." "Enhanced value proposition." Translation: we bought the competition. EdTech consolidation is shrinking your options. Fewer tools, more grey menus. New article up: what it means, and what we can do about it. 🔗 bit.ly/3UrHOB0 #LND #EdTech #LearningAndDevelopment #UX

“Start small” sounds great, but most of us don’t know what "small" actually looks like. Today’s article explores the smallest viable project: useful, testable, and completable in 4 weeks. 🔗 bit.ly/3IKz9qG What are you experimenting with? #LND #UX #Experimentation

Not all SME fights are worth having. Today's Substack looks at when to let go, when to push, and why making their life easier often leads to better training. It's not about winning. It’s about being useful. bit.ly/4m873UI #LND #InstructionalDesign #Elearning

We borrowed the language of cognitivism but forgot how to think. Today’s Substack looks at how L&D misused a revolution in learning theory, and how we can get back to designing for how people learn. 🔗 bit.ly/3UqdxCy #LND #InstructionalDesign #LearningScience

Is your training truly valuable? Today’s article unpacks the UX honeycomb for L&D, 6 questions to design better training experiences. 🔗 bit.ly/4o2Wg00 #LND #InstructionalDesign #UX #LXD #WorkplaceLearning #PerformanceSupport

Data isn’t the enemy of creativity. Join me for a webinar on using the D.I.A.L. model to turn data into action, blending insight with intuition to make better L&D decisions. 🔗 bit.ly/44w9TvO #LND #LearningAnalytics #InstructionalDesign #Data

We’ve always borrowed from UX, marketing, product… but how do we do it without losing what makes L&D distinct? Today’s Substack is about curating, not copying. 🔗 bit.ly/3GRDsA0 What’s a borrowed idea you’ve made your own? #LND #InstructionalDesign #UX #CPD

Designing for autistic users is about more than #WCAG checklists. In today's article, I explore what digital accessibility really looks like when we stop treating users as a monolith. It’s not easy, but it is necessary. 🔗 bit.ly/4kGXXNv #LND #Accessibility #ELearning #Digital

Data shouldn’t dictate; it should inform. Join us for “Turning Data into Action,” a free webinar on making smarter, human-first L&D decisions using the D.I.A.L. model. 🔗 bit.ly/44w9TvO #LND #LearningAndDevelopment #DataInLND

Intellectual honesty means examining the other side properly. After criticising competency frameworks, I dug into research that supports them. Turns out they CAN work when built with rigorous job analysis and validated continuously. 🔗 bit.ly/4la9oym #LearningAndDevelopment #HR #CPD #Skills

People are drowning in AI content, and still driving hours to be in a room, together. Live events. In-person workshops. Human connection is resurging. Not a rejection of AI, but a reminder: presence matters. Check out today's Substack bit.ly/4ljpvJL #LND #LearningDesign #AI #WorkplaceLearning

Just read this from @senselabs and it hit the nail on the head. The idea that senior leaders can define a company culture still gets wheeled out like it makes any sense at all. I bought into it early in my career. Now I find it hilarious, if it wasn’t doing so much damage. 📖 bit.ly/4kHOwyg

L&D teams are being asked to do more, in-house. Faster, cheaper, better. I’ve been working with Powtoon on tools to make that actually doable. They’re unboxing something new on 25 June. Worth a look. 🔗 bit.ly/3HLSqHW #LND #LearningDesign #DigitalLearning #AI #InstructionalDesign #Powtoon