That’s work in 2025 done.

It’s been a year of fewer slide decks and more honest conversations. More time spent asking what actually changes at work, and less time filling calendars for the sake of it.

As the year went on, a few things settled for me.

I’ve been saying for a long time that most learning problems aren’t really learning problems. This year reinforced it. Content is rarely the constraint. Capability shows up in systems and day-to-day decisions, not programmes. And evaluation only matters if someone is willing to act on what it shows.

I also found myself saying no more often. No to work that looked busy but went nowhere. No to “engagement” without performance. No to treating a workshop as a strategy. That space mattered. It made room to focus on what does make a difference. Small groups working on real jobs. Clear expectations. Peer accountability. Evidence over anecdotes. Conversations that are sometimes uncomfortable and useful because of it.

I’m genuinely grateful for the clients who were prepared to be honest, the community who pushed my thinking, and the many conversations that didn’t fit neatly into a framework and were better for that messiness.

I’m ending the year clearer about what Llarn is for, who I want to work with, and what kind of work is worth doing. I’m also more convinced than ever that learning needs to escape the loop it keeps putting itself in.

2026 will be about different things, done properly. The Podcast Learning Festival is one example of that. Bringing people together in spaces that matter, to do work that actually goes somewhere.

If we spoke, worked together, disagreed constructively, or learned something from each other this year, thank you. See you in January.