Episode 447 — Hard science, soft skills: L&D in the space sector
The Mindtools L&D Podcast
Armed with a STEM qualification or two, you might think technical brilliance is all one needs to succeed in the space sector. Is this the case though? In this week’s episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Anna are joined by Victoria Craig to discuss: the importance of ‘soft’ skills in a ‘hard’ science environment; sector-specific skills gaps; how L&D can bridge these gaps. In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Ross reminisced about playing a Sega game called Mickey Mania. Take a look at the . For more from us, visit . There, you'll also find details...
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446 — Think Like a Marketer, Train Like an L&D Pro
The Mindtools L&D Podcast
Effective marketers have an uncanny way of knowing what we want and convincing us to click ‘Like’, add to Checkout and in under 20 seconds, buy their thing. Clever. Meanwhile, over in L&D, we find it more difficult to motivate someone to take action or change their behaviour. So, what does marketing do that we don’t? In this week’s episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross G is joined by Bianca Baumann and Mike Taylor, authors of Think Like a Marketer, Train Like an L&D Pro: Strategies to Ignite Learning. They discuss: ...
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445 — Setting up a L&D team
The Mindtools L&D Podcast
Having the opportunity to set up a new team can be both exciting and daunting. Where would you start when it’s an L&D team? In this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Head of People Development Daneille Ware speaks to Gemma and Ross about her approach to creating an L&D team from scratch. We discuss: · The triggers for creating a new or evolved L&D department · How to get started with quick wins · Using data...
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444 — This game will make you a better collaborator
The Mindtools L&D Podcast
Collaboration is a vital skill across many fields and disciplines. But effective collaboration is about much more than just working together. In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Paula are joined by Fraser Mcdonald, Head of Collaboration at Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) and Deputy Director of the Data for Children Collaborative, to discuss: why collaboration is important when it comes to solving 'wicked problems'; how Mindtools worked with the EFI to develop a game that's designed to build collaboration skills; why a game was the right solution to this...
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443 — So, you've decided to be creative...
The Mindtools L&D Podcast
Whether it comes to facilitating workshops, designing learning experiences, or developing campaign assets, L&D practitioners are increasingly expected to bring creativity to their roles. But how do you do this if you don't have a creative background, or if you don't think of yourself as a 'creative person'? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Gemma are joined by Kenny Temowo, Senior Director of Talent Acceleration at SharkNinja and host of the Inside the Art of Making podcast, to discuss: Kenny's career journey through the creative industries,...
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442 — Is AI making us dumber?
The Mindtools L&D Podcast
Often on this podcast we've spoken about how AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are enhancing our capabilities. But do they also come at a cost? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross Stevenson from Steal These Thoughts joins Ross G and Dr Gent to discuss: the relationship between tasks and skills; whether we are over-relying on AI; the long-term impact of AI use on critical thinking. During the discussion, Ross S discussed the recent in Beijing and the concept of . He also mentioned Apple's sometimes-hilarious . Gent discussed . The paper Gent...
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441 — Podcasts for learning and the end of email
The Mindtools L&D Podcast
What are the benefits of podcasts for learning? How does L&D respond to people leaving the profession? Should we get rid of email? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross G is joined by Anna and Ross D to answer your questions! During the discussion, Ross D referenced our post '', and Cal Newport's . Ross G referenced the forecast. He also discussed (and ) Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke's recent edict on the use of AI. In 'What I Learned This Week', Anna discussed PowerPoint transitions, from . Ross D discussed his new (tidier) LinkedIn URL. . Ross G discussed the...
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440 — Terrible task? Just delegate it!
The Mindtools L&D Podcast
What drives your delegation decisions? Is it what's best for the business? Is it what's best for your team member? Is it what's best for you? In this week's edition of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross G, Ross D and Dr Anna discuss: Why managers sometimes delegate tasks that they know are too difficult How the organization's culture shapes those decisions How to help managers delegate better. The paper we discussed throughout this podcast was: Maas, V. S., & Shi, B. (2023). . Management Accounting Research, 60, 100851. Ross G also referenced: Crossley, C. D., Cooper, C....
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439 — Leveraging data for inclusion and wellbeing
The Mindtools L&D Podcast
Many organizations treat 'inclusion' and 'wellbeing' as separate issues, but Dr Serena Huang - author of The Inclusion Equation - argues that the two are intrinsically linked. And, that data is how you can make better decisions about how to make a positive impact on both. In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Serena joins Ross G and Dr Anna to discuss: Why these two areas are inseparable Why data in this space isn't as 'unmeasurable' as it seems Two approaches to data gathering that you can start using today. During the discussion, Dr Anna referenced on the...
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438 — Where culture and learning collide
The Mindtools L&D Podcast
We might think that what makes our team culture great (or awful) is different from what supports our learning and development. Are they so different, though? In this week’s episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Gemma are joined by L&D professional turned Culture Manager, Lois Ratcliffe to discuss: what ‘culture’ is and how it gets measured; what it takes to have a good feedback culture; the features of a learning culture. Lois refers to the three layers of organisational culture proposed by Shein. To find out more...
info_outlineAnother year, another Christmas Special! We've scraped the barrel of festive ideas and selected Love Actually, the "greatest Christmas movie of all time", as the unfortunate premise of this year's audio horrorshow.
In this edition, Ross G will be asking questions that are very loosely based on the Richard Curtis classic, with answers from Ross D, Anna and Owen.
Including:
- In Love Actually, grumpy husband Alan Rickman gets into trouble when he buys a necklace for a woman who isn't his wife. If you were to buy a gold necklace for another profession, other than L&D, what would it be and why?
- Creepy romantic Andrew Lincoln spends Love Actually pining after Keira Knightley: The wife of his best friend. What aspect of L&D do you secretly love, but know that you can never be involved with?
- Spurned husband Colin Firth spends Love Actually learning Portuguese to be with the woman he loves. What L&D language do you plan on spending the Christmas season learning?
- Aging rocker Bill Nighy performs his single 'Christmas Is All Around Me' naked on TV, to celebrate it taking the Christmas Number 1 spot. What's your great ambition for 2025?
During the discussion, Ross D referenced our newsletter 'Every learning intervention you design should be award-worthy'
Ross G referenced the Mitchell & Webb sketch 'Are we the baddies?'
Anna recommended our 'critical thinking' Skill Bite course.
The papers Anna discussed were:
- Carter, J. W., & Youssef-Morgan, C. (2022). Psychological capital development effectiveness of face-to-face, online, and Micro-learning interventions. Education and Information Technologies, 27(5), 6553-6575.
- Carpenter, S. K., Pan, S. C., & Butler, A. C. (2022). The science of effective learning with spacing and retrieval practice. Nature Reviews Psychology, 1(9), 496-511.
In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D revealed a shocking truth about Darlene Love's 'All Alone On Christmas'.
Ross G recommended A Christmas Carol, as read by Hugh Grant.
For more from us, including details of our new Manager Skill Builder, visit mindtools.com.
There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.
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