What will the future of L&D be? Do you happen to know? I don’t. And I think anybody who confidently paints a picture of what L&D will look like a decade from now doesn’t know either.
I actually don’t think the future is quite… the future. I believe the future of L&D is painted right now, in the present, by everyone who’s courageous enough to step outside the traditional boundaries of our roles.
Over the past 6 years, I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of these people. They don’t have things figured out. They feel, like everybody else, that we live in a very messy world. A world where the past of L&D and its future are meeting, creating a lot of confusion. But all of them agree on a couple of things:
— Content creation is not the future of L&D
— Being clear about the problems we’re solving is crucial
— AI isn’t just changing our roles operationally, but it’s also challenging our identities
— The answer isn’t to wait for clarity from someone else, but to embrace experimentation
Over the past year, I’ve collected these stories in a book called L&D Rewired: How learning & development professionals are breaking their own rules to stay relevant. It’s coming out soon, which honestly makes me equally excited and anxious.
While this book doesn’t give you a clear-cut answer about the future, it might help you answer a few other questions:
— What will we do with all the time we save by adopting AI?
— What are some of the mindsets, skills, and behaviors that every L&D should embrace?
— What skills should I bring to my L&D team if I have an opening right now?
L&D Rewired presents ways in which L&D can provide value that will (hopefully) be evergreen. Framing problems, creating experiences that elicit emotion and human connection, supporting behavioral change, using facilitation to create clarity and alignment, and adopting AI with intention are all explored through examples, research, and personal experiences.
It’s the book I wish I had when I started in L&D. It’s a love letter to the community we’ve built around Offbeat. And an invitation to conversation and to building our future together, starting today.
I’m looking forward to you reading it and sharing your thoughts and stories. 💜 It’s out soon, so stay tuned by joining our waitlist here.
Congrats!🍀 can’t wait to read it!