A slack tide is the short period in a body of tidal water when the water is completely unstressed, and there is no movement either way in the tidal stream. It usually occurs when there is about to be a change in the direction of tidal stream – up or down river.

I mentioned to someone recently how it felt like we were in a period of slack tide in learning and development right now. We’ve had the lowering of the tide as organisations looked at what they needed and chose to remove, reduce, and recalibrate their approaches.

What there isn’t though, is a sign of when that tide is going to rise again. There are many factors why it’s slack – PESTLE anyone? – and that’s a concern.

What if the body of water of L&D has drifted so far upstream to become non-tidal?

What is the slack water we’re in right now is an L&D pond?