I saw a post last week by Martin Couzins about “shadow L&D” in organisations.

Martin is spot on about identifying shadow L&D but it isn’t an opportunity or threat. It’s the REAL L&D.

Real because where people REALLY learn – in the flow of work, through questions, side chats, and quick experiments.

Formal L&D often tries to “engage” people and count completion as engagement.
Shadow L&D doesn’t need to engage. It’s already happening.

What we call “shadow” is often learning that doesn’t wait for permission. It’s adaptive, fast, and shaped by what the work needs, not what the L&D function is asked to push.

The challenge for L&D isn’t to control it – and let’s be honest, you can’t. It’s to notice it, learn from it, and connect it to the wider system without killing what makes it work.

When people create their own networks, share knowledge, and use AI to solve problems, that is learning.
And it’s usually more accessible than what we plan for them.

We shouldn’t fear the shadows. We should be working in them.

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#WorkplaceLearning #LearningCulture #InformalLearning