Back in late 2019-early 2020 I wrote a series of essays about the field of L&D and didn't do anything with them. Looking back through my drafts there's not much I need to change about them. They still seem relevant years later, at least to me. This publication will start off with those unpublished thoughts and then we'll see what happens from there. If anyone finds them interesting I'll write more. Heck, if no one reads them I may just keep screaming into the void as some kind of therapy.
So, what is the future of organisational learning and development (L&D)?
The Future of L&D is unknown
Well, here’s the thing: I have no idea what the future of L&D is.
I know that may be disappointing to read from someone who created a publication called The Future of L&D but let’s be real – nobody knows.
Not the analyst talking about what the next hot thing will be. Not the multi-national billion dollar consulting firm with their latest white paper. Not the vendor predicting a future that just happens to coincide with their product. Not even that dude who posts every day on LinkedIn with way too much certainty about what the future holds.
It’s not only unknown, it’s unknowable. We can’t know what the future holds. Yet it’s fun to talk about, isn’t it?
That’s what this is about. Not what exactly the future will be, but how we talk about it and what we say. You see, by talking about the future we do shape it in some way.
If you work with many L&D teams you’ll see this. Take for example, when gamification was the most trendy topic years and years ago. I remember many of my clients would ask for it right off the bat, well before any discovery or analysis was done. I’d also speak to some L&D leaders who would say things like “Whatever you’re going to propose, make sure it isn’t gamified.”
Neither approach is particularly helpful. It’s just as close minded to automatically forsake the latest fashionable thing as it is to mindlessly seek it out.
The Future of L&D is not one thing
Gamification. Cohort Based Courses. AR and VR. Microlearning. Performance Support. AI.
I’ve seen each of those and many more touted as the future of L&D.
You probably have too.
Of course one type of tech or delivery method or fad isn’t going to be the future. It’s compelling though, isn’t it? This one thing is going to save us! This one thing is going to make our lives easier and change the world!
These are all options. Options that may or not suit our needs based on the requirements, conditions and constraints in whatever it is we’re currently doing.
The Future of L&D is not one single future
L&D isn’t one thing but we talk about it like it is. I’m even making that very mistake in the name of this publication and all throughout this essay.
In reality, each L&D department is different. Every business is different. The staff, the culture, the work, the level of technological proficiency, the values, the goals.
The way we approach workplace learning should depend on our own specific context. Even within one organisation, you’ll find that different approaches work for different functional areas or regional offices. Even if we embrace all the methods and modalities available to us, it’s still not one size fits all.
The Future of L&D is complicated and varied and that’s perfectly okay
Yes, it’s easier to sell one thing over “It depends.”
Yes, it’s natural to want to package ideas into neat little categories and label each as good or bad.
And yes, life might be easier if someone could just give us all the answers and improve our lives with a snappy LinkedIn post.
But isn’t it way more exciting and interesting to be able to shape your very own future of L&D?
One that really helps the people you’ve been hired to help?
A future that involves problem solving, critical thinking and your very own continued upskilling and development in order to do a variety of new and exciting things using all manner of techniques and technologies?
That Future of L&D sounds like a lot of fun.
P.S. If you’d like to hear me repeat myself I was recently on the BLOC podcast talking about similar themes and more: L&D Trends and Wrapping up 2022
Thanks for the post Matt.
A little refreshing too.
To be honest, I thought it was quite presumptuous of you to announce what the future of L&D was - very unlike the Matt Smith I know, so I was curious.
Turns out you didn’t disappoint.
I’m hungry for more, and you also got me thinking about doing a similar exercise, even if it just ends up entertaining myself in a couple of years.
Cheers