As Ben Betts wrote in a recent blog post, ‘the LMS is the first point of entry to learning; the front-of-house of our industry.’ While that front-of-house may look a little different now than it did twenty years ago, and despite the oft-repeated claim that the LMS is dying, it remains the default gateway to digital learning in organizations. But are things about to change?

To answer that question and others, Ben joins Ross D and Owen on this week’s episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast to discuss:

· the many eras of the LMS, and how we got to where we are now;

· the forces that have shaped e-learning interfaces over time;

· how AI and other changes in the tech landscape might usher in a new era.

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Owen recommended the podcast Acquired, and Ben mentioned the website ‘There’s an AI for That’.

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtools.com/business. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.

Connect with our speakers 

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

· Ross Dickie

· Owen Ferguson

· Ben Betts

How can we help managers demonstrate care for their teams, while maintaining high standards of accountability and performance?

In this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross G and Dr Anna Barnett are joined by Joris Merks-Benjaminsen, Managing Without Power, to discuss:

• why nice managers can still provide mediocre management
• how managers can balance care for their teams with high levels of performance
• and how to build better managers.

For more from Joris, visit managingwithoutpower.com

The paper Anna discussed, on 'nondecision-making', was: Bachrach, P., & Baratz, M. S. (1963). Decisions and nondecisions: An analytical framework. American political science review, 57(3), 632-642.

Google's research into great managers (Project Oxygen) and effective teams (Project Aristotle) is available online.

During the discussion, Joris referenced the prisoner's dilemma.

We also discussed findings from our report, 'Building Better Managers'.

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Anna recommended Those People Next Door by Kia Abdullah.

Joris discussed Sinterklaas.

Ross G discussed 'sovereign AI'.

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtools.com/business. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. And our new Manager Skills Assessment.

You can also email custom@mindtools.com and Ross G will get back to you.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Dr Anna Barnett
• Joris Merks-Benjaminsen

If you work in learning and development, you probably get some direction from your senior leadership team about what to focus on and how much to spend. But, once you get into the details, you have lots of room to play.

In this week’s episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Chief Learning Officer Marc Steven Ramos joins Ross Garner and Ross Dickie to discuss:

· the strengths and weaknesses of different genAI tools

· whether tools like ChatGPT are living up to the hype

· how L&D can start experimenting, and why it’s the ideal team to do so!

Marc discussed these ideas in more detail on his Substack and in his article for Harvard Business Review (with Marc Zao-Sanders).

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Ross G recommended a warning on ‘pokies’ from The Guardian.

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtools.com/business. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.

Or become a member to support our show! Visit mindtools.com and use the offer code PODCAST15 for 15% off an individual subscription. This offer is for new subscribers only and can’t be used with any other offer.

Connect with our speakers 

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

· Ross Garner

· Ross Dickie

· Marc Steven Ramos

In Power to the Middle, McKinsey consultants Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock and Emily Field argue that the ‘middle manager’ is key to organizational success. Long maligned (often by McKinsey), the manager is in fact responsible for delivering objectives, addressing underperformance, building trusting relationships, and resolving team conflicts.

In this week’s episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross Garner, Ross Dick and Nahdia Khan discuss:

· why managers are so important

· the role of ‘manager’ vs ‘individual contributor’

· how to develop better managers

The book, Power to the Middle, is available now.

Our report, ‘Building Better Managers’, is also available now.

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Ross D recommended the podcast series Slow Burn.

Nahdia discussed cloud seeding.

Ross Garner discussed the paintings of John Atkinson Grimshaw, via @CulturalTutor.

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtools.com/business. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.

Or become a member to support our show! Visit mindtools.com and use the offer code PODCAST15 for 15% off an individual subscription. This offer is for new subscribers only and can’t be used with any other offer.

Connect with our speakers 

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

· Ross Garner

· Ross Dickie

· Nahdia Khan

This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross Garner and Ross Dickie are joined by Kathryn Hume, strategic workforce planning and L&D consultant, and author of the book Learn, Solve, Thrive.

In the book, Kath argues that learners have a responsibility for managing their own learning and outlines strategies that anyone can adopt to make that process easier.

We discuss:

· why we can’t ‘wait around for someone to teach us’

· some of the difficulties we experience when we try to learn

· the relationship between workforce planning and training.

For more from Kath, visit her website: workforcetransformations.com.au

The book, Learn, Solve, Thrive, is available now.

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtools.com/business. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.

Or become a member to support our show! Visit mindtools.com and use the offer code PODCAST15 for 15% off an individual subscription. This offer is for new subscribers only and can’t be used with any other offer.

Connect with our speakers 

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

· Ross Garner

· Ross Dickie

· Kathryn Hume