The Mindtools L&D Podcast

Hosted by Mind Tools Ltd

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516

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Sep 2026

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About the show

The Mindtools L&D Podcast is a must-listen for anyone involved in Learning and Development or Human Resources. The weekly show features regular appearances from the Mind Tools team plus special guests to get right to the heart of issues affecting the L&D and HR communities. From learning needs analysis and evidence-based practice through to the impact of technology on work and hot topics at industry conferences, you'll get critical insights into the world of work, performance and learning.

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60 recent

September 8, 2026Episode 51244 min

512 — Learner enthusiasm, AI tutors, and a neuromyth that won't die

What research papers did you read while lounging by the pool this summer? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast , Ross D is joined by Claire and Dr Anna to review three studies that have caught our attention over the last few months. Anna's pick was Vestner and colleagues' 'A dyadic training to promote technology-related learning and development among age-diverse employees: the power of co-workers' enthusiasm' , published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology . Claire brought Kestin and colleagues' 'AI tutoring outperforms in-class active learning: an RCT introducing a novel research-based design in an authentic educational setting' , the Harvard study comparing an AI tutor with in-person active learning. Ross referenced Will Thalheimer's LinkedIn article 'The Learning Styles Challenge After 20 Years' , and Clinton-Lisell and Litzinger's 'Is It Really a Neuromyth? A Meta-Analysis of the Learning Styles Matching Hypothesis' . For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: Ross Dickie Claire Gibson Anna Barnett

September 1, 2026Episode 51140 min

511 — L&D at scale: How do you support 750,000 people?

Training one person is hard. Training 750,000 people, in more than 80 countries, spread across frontline shifts, event security and executive teams, is a different problem entirely. In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast , Ross G and Claire Gibson are joined by Brent O'Bryan, Senior Vice President of Global Training and Talent Development at Allied Universal, to explore what L&D looks like at genuinely massive scale. We discuss: Why 750,000 employees are never one audience How to choose between the LMS, the classroom and virtual training The role of AI and automation in training frontline workers at scale. Brent and Ross G first got talking about this after Brent shared The Josh Bersin Company's research on dynamic enablement. You can read the executive summary of The Definitive Guide to Corporate Learning: From Static Training to Dynamic Enablement on the Josh Bersin site. In 'What I Learned this Week', Claire shared the world's smallest Fringe venue , a chicken coop in the Pear Tree garden in Edinburgh. Brent recommended The Surprising Power of Reflection , an episode of Trevor Ragan's The Learner Lab podcast, on why reflecting after learning can beat a second round of practice. Ross G shared Garner interference , a cognitive science effect named after Wendell Garner, in which irrelevant information slows people down. For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our new website mindtools-kineo.com . There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills. Connect with our spearkers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: Ross Garner Claire Gibson Brent O'Bryan

August 25, 2026Episode 51037 min

510 — You don't have to talk to add value (Rebroadcast)

We've been talking a lot about AI on the podcast recently. So this week, we're revisting a distinctly human episode from 2024 on the value of listening. As experts, managers or leaders, we often seek to help others by talking, talking, talking. But what if we didn't talk and just listened? In this episode , Ross D and Gemma are joined by Georgie Rudd, an executive coach, to discuss the trials and delights of listening. We explore: reasons that we don't listen well t he consequences of not listening (and of listening!) how we can improve listening skills. Georgie recommended Nancy Klein as an expert on listening and techniques to improve. Time to think is a good place to start. You can find out more about Liz Wiseman's concepts of multipliers and diminishers in her book Multipliers . In 'What I Learned This Week', Gemma spoke about the widest fairy ring in the world. John Wright reports that it's around 800m across in A spotter's guide to countryside mysteries , but a quick internet search revealed this to be a questionable fact. For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our website mindtools-kineo.com . There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on LinkedIn: Gemma Towersey Ross Dickie Georgie Rudd Georgie can also be contacted via her website: https://www.ruddcoaching.co.uk/

August 18, 2026Episode 50939 min

509 — What are L&D teams really doing with AI?

Every L&D team thinks everyone else has AI figured out. Almost nobody does. Ross G recently ran structured interviews with 12 Mindtools Kineo customers, spanning tech, financial services, pharmaceuticals, energy, media and more, to find out what's really happening on the ground. In this week's episode, Ross D and Cammy Bean join Ross G to discuss his findings. We cover: Why every L&D team believes it is falling behind Where teams are continuing to invest at a time when budgets are constrained Why AI ambition keeps stalling at the governance stage During the episode, Cammy referenced a LinkedIn post titled 'L&D Overboard' by Srishti Sehgal. In 'What I Learned This Week', Cammy shared the history of Nix's Mate , a shrinking island in Boston Harbor where convicted pirates were hanged and left on display as a warning to passing sailors. Ross G recommended The Rest Is History 's interview with Paul McCartney . And Ross D recommended The West Wing Weekly 's 'Political Film Fest' review of All the President's Men . For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our website mindtools-kineo.com . There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: Ross Dickie Ross Garner Cammy Bean

August 11, 2026Episode 50843 min

508 — What will compliance training look like in the age of AI?

Outside of L&D, most people and organizations see compliance training as a box that needs to be ticked, not something that can drive behavior change. Will AI make this problem better or worse? In this week's episode, Ross D and Cammy are joined by learning designer Anisha Sridhar to explore what AI is really doing to compliance training. We discussed: why the productivity argument for AI is incomplete contextualization, and why it beats personalization in compliance how to keep slop out of your learning content. During the episode, Anisha described using the Gunning Fog index to test whether legal text is actually readable. And Cammy brought up Bret Stephens' New York Times opinion piece, I'm Begging You: Never Write With A.I. , which argues that giving up the writing means giving up the thinking. For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our website mindtools-kineo.com . There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: Ross Dickie Cammy Bean Anisha Sridhar

August 4, 2026Episode 50743 min

507 — Do learning games still have a place?

Online learning keeps sliding back to text and images. Authoring tools and AI course generators make content cheap, but it often looks like learning without ever asking the learner to think or choose. Games work the other way, running on decisions, feedback, and the chance to try again. Following our recent conversation with Julie Dirksen , we ask where games belong in the age of AI. In this week's episode, Ross G is joined by Richard Durham, Co-founder and Lead Game Designer at Tentacular Games and Great Grand High Lord of Everything at Wonder Tree Studios, and by Mindtools Kineo's own Claire Gibson, to dig into why games work for learning and whether they still earn their place. We discussed: What makes games actually work for learning Why in-person, analog game-based learning never went away Whether modern authoring tools have flattened games into quizzes During the conversation, Richard pointed to the beer game , MIT Sloan's classic supply-chain simulation that demonstrates the bullwhip effect through decisions and their consequences. He also referenced ABC Learning Design , the rapid workshop method from University College London for mapping out the activities that make up a course. In 'What I Learned this Week', Claire shared The Sumerian Game , a 1964 resource-management game created by Mabel Addis, who is credited as the first video game designer. Ross shared a piece by Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic , on a study of AI-generated books on Amazon and how their slow creep is starting to erode sales of human-written books. For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our new website mindtools-kineo.com . There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: Ross Garner Claire Gibson Richard Durham

July 28, 2026Episode 50641 min

506 — Is your AI companion a colleague or rival?

If you're rolling out AI licenses, how do you get people to use them? For AI learning designer Emily Valencia, there are two key requirements: that people can experiment safely, and that they can share results with others. In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast , Ross D and Matt meet with Emily to discuss: What organizations get wrong about AI rollouts What effective AI adoption looks like Whether we should really see AI as a coworker (or whether this framing is one of the obstacles we've created for ourselves) During the discussion, Matt referenced recent news that an OpenAI experiment went rogue . Find out more about Emily at emilyvalenciaai.com In 'What I Learned this Week', Matt discussed the always-round-the-corner nature of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) . Emily discussed Anthropic's partnership with Detroit Public Schools. Ross D discussed the documentary Rafa . For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our new website mindtools-kineo.com . There, you'll find out how our AI Skills Academy supports practical, hands-on AI upskilling for the enterprise: four weeks, role-specific use cases, governance built in from week one. Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Sign up to The L&D Dispatch now. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: Ross Dickie Matt Mella Emily Valencia

July 21, 2026Episode 50543 min

505 — Are your managers killing your AI strategy?

There are at least four factors that influence the success of AI adoption in your organization: training your people, clarity of compliance guidance, how people are rewarded, and the influence of managers. In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast , we're exploring the last of these. In his book, Leading with AI - How to build high performance teams with AI as your sparring partner , Joris Merks-Benjaminsen presents an action-focused framework for helping managers adopt AI. In our discussion, we focus on: whether AI can replace managers how to help managers get started with AI why embracing AI is a mindset shift, beyond just 'writing good prompts' During the discussion, we referenced Google's Project Oxygen . This was led by Laszlo Bock, who wrote Work Rules! about his experiences. The woman who "married" her ChatGPT companion was covered by Forbes . To pick up a copy of Joris' book, visit managingwithoutpower.com . In 'What I Learned this Week', Ross G discussed AI's preference for negative parallellisms . For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our new website mindtools-kineo.com . There, you'll find out how our AI Skills Academy supports practical, hands-on AI upskilling for the enterprise: four weeks, role-specific use cases, governance built in from week one. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: Ross Garner Ross Dickie Joris Merks-Benjaminsen

July 14, 2026Episode 50446 min

504 — Becoming a skills-based organization

As AI transforms the way work gets done, many organizations are trying to understand the skills they need today, as well as the expertise they'll need tomorrow. In this week's episode, Cammy and Gemma are joined by skills expert Koreen Pagano to unpack the rise of skills-based organizations. We discussed: What becoming 'skills-based' in an organization might look like The benefits and challenges of shifting towards a skill-based approach The impact of AI on this shift, skills development and managers. You can pre-order Koreen's forthcoming book, Rewiring Your Organization for AI , and buy her published books Building the Skills-Based Organization and Immersive Learning: Designing for Authentic Practice . In 'What I Learned this Week', Cammy shared a non-fiction book recommendation for Shakespeare was a Woman and Other Heresies . Koreen described the lives of a family of eagles which she's been following on the Big Bear Bald Eagle cam. For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit our new website mindtools-kineo.com . There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: Gemma Towersey Cammy Bean Koreen Pagano

July 7, 2026Episode 50340 min

503 — The Eras Tour: Part 4 (AI takes over)

In the final part of our 500th anniversary 'Eras Tour' retrospective, we conclude by saying farewell to our human co-workers and embracing the technology that will ultimately destroy us all: Artificial Intelligence (AI). Ross G and Dr Anna B are joined by our most frequent guest of all time, Donald H Taylor, to discuss: how AI took over Don's annual 'Global Sentiment Survey' the mindset shift that L&D professionals need to embrace to adapt to change whether, 10 years after we first asked this question, L&D is truly dead? During the discussion, Ross referenced the ultimate hidden banger in our back catalogue: 357 — L&D governance (the ultimate juggling act) . He also referenced an August 2025 report which found that 95% of AI pilot programs deliver no value. In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross discussed the incredible longevity of sharks . Don referenced a conversation with his AI reports co-author Egle Vinauskaite. You can find their reports on Don's website . See also: donaldhtaylor.co.uk Like the show? You'll love our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch now. And if you're currently building AI skills in your organization, we can help! Check out our AI Skills Academy to find out more. Or drop us a note on LinkedIn, we'd love to hear from 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 Don Taylor