People used to believe that the Earth was the centre of the universe and that the stars, planets, and sun revolved around it. Then we looked at the science and realised we were wrong. People used to believe that the L&D function was the centre of learning in the organisation and no one learnt unless… Read More Centre of the universe
Yesterday I listed a few reasons why performance slips that have nothing to do with skill. Time, clarity, process, tools, and mixed signals from above. All real and all ignored in favour of “send them on a course.” Underneath all six is one question that decides everything else: can this person do the thing, or… Read More First principles
Stop calling every performance problem a skills gap. It’s the easiest diagnosis – someone says something inappropriate, put them on a diversity course. Regularly late? A timekeeping course. Job done, box ticked, and budget spent. Except most of the time it isn’t a skills gap at all. Ask a manager why their team keeps missing… Read More Not a gap
Course requests often arrive after the diagnosis has been skipped. A workshop request rarely turns up as an open question but arrives with a solution already attached: a course; a target audience; a format and duration; and sometimes even a supplier. What is usually missing is the diagnosis that would justify any of it. The… Read More Course Before Cause
Most conversations about developing capability stop at the individual. Can this person do the thing? Has that been assessed, confirmed and recorded? It tells you nothing about whether their work allows them to use it. In each case, the skill is there, but the conditions for using it are not. Workload, authority, tooling, management support… Read More Capability in Context