Tom McDowall

Better training happens when SMEs, writers & IDs collaborate.

Share real context, frame around problems, expect iteration, and define accuracy lines early. Don’t guard turf, and help each other do great work.

🔗 bit.ly/4m0PCWB

We keep asking how to grow L&D leaders, but rarely how people get started.

As we automate junior tasks, we risk cutting off our own future.

If someone invested in you, ask: are you doing the same for others?

🔗 bit.ly/4m1tsU1

#LND #WorkplaceLearning #FutureOfWork

We talk about continuous learning, but rarely apply it to ourselves.

L&D’s future needs broader skills, not just better training.

What’s one non-L&D skill that’s made you better at your job?

🔗 bit.ly/45nBXlu

Ten years ago, I predicted SCORM would die.

It didn’t.

L&D doesn’t need better predictions; it needs better adaptability.

Forget roadmaps.
Focus on what works today, and be ready to shift tomorrow.

🔗 bit.ly/4maZux1

What’s your worst tech prediction?

#LND #LearningDesign #EdTech

If AI can build software from a prompt in minutes, why are we still making eLearning like it’s 2015?

The future is authoring tools that focus on experience, not tech. What would you do if a module took hours, not days, to build?

bit.ly/4fgwPnA

#LearningAndDevelopment #AI

Been evolving one of my fave sessions on using data in L&D. It’s now in its 3rd (and best) version. Practical, human, no fluff.
📅 29 July, 4PM BST
🎥 Free webinar
Come along.
bit.ly/44w9TvO
#LND #InstructionalDesign #Webinar #DataInLND

"Complementary capabilities."
"Enhanced value proposition."
Translation: we bought the competition.

EdTech consolidation is shrinking your options. Fewer tools, more grey menus.
New article up: what it means, and what we can do about it.

🔗 bit.ly/3UrHOB0

#LND #EdTech #LearningAndDevelopment #UX

“Start small” sounds great, but most of us don’t know what "small" actually looks like.

Today’s article explores the smallest viable project: useful, testable, and completable in 4 weeks.

🔗 bit.ly/3IKz9qG

What are you experimenting with?

#LND #UX #Experimentation

Not all SME fights are worth having.

Today's Substack looks at when to let go, when to push, and why making their life easier often leads to better training.

It's not about winning. It’s about being useful.

bit.ly/4m873UI

#LND #InstructionalDesign #Elearning

We borrowed the language of cognitivism but forgot how to think.
Today’s Substack looks at how L&D misused a revolution in learning theory, and how we can get back to designing for how people learn.
🔗 bit.ly/3UqdxCy
#LND #InstructionalDesign #LearningScience

The UX Honeycomb for L&D Six Essential Questions Every Training Experience Should Answer

Is your training truly valuable?

Today’s article unpacks the UX honeycomb for L&D, 6 questions to design better training experiences.

🔗 bit.ly/4o2Wg00

#LND #InstructionalDesign #UX #LXD #WorkplaceLearning #PerformanceSupport

Data isn’t the enemy of creativity.

Join me for a webinar on using the D.I.A.L. model to turn data into action, blending insight with intuition to make better L&D decisions.

🔗 bit.ly/44w9TvO

#LND #LearningAnalytics #InstructionalDesign #Data

We’ve always borrowed from UX, marketing, product… but how do we do it without losing what makes L&D distinct?

Today’s Substack is about curating, not copying.

🔗 bit.ly/3GRDsA0

What’s a borrowed idea you’ve made your own?

#LND #InstructionalDesign #UX #CPD

Designing for autistic users is about more than #WCAG checklists.

In today's article, I explore what digital accessibility really looks like when we stop treating users as a monolith. It’s not easy, but it is necessary.

🔗 bit.ly/4kGXXNv

#LND #Accessibility #ELearning #Digital

Data shouldn’t dictate; it should inform.
Join us for “Turning Data into Action,” a free webinar on making smarter, human-first L&D decisions using the D.I.A.L. model.
🔗 bit.ly/44w9TvO
#LND #LearningAndDevelopment #DataInLND

Intellectual honesty means examining the other side properly.
After criticising competency frameworks, I dug into research that supports them.
Turns out they CAN work when built with rigorous job analysis and validated continuously.
🔗 bit.ly/4la9oym
#LearningAndDevelopment #HR #CPD #Skills

People are drowning in AI content, and still driving hours to be in a room, together.

Live events. In-person workshops. Human connection is resurging.

Not a rejection of AI, but a reminder: presence matters.

Check out today's Substack

bit.ly/4ljpvJL

#LND #LearningDesign #AI #WorkplaceLearning

On the absurdity of "defining" a desired culture I was reflecting over the weekend on the curious ritual that is commonplace when new CEOs take over. Let's examine it from a different perspective.

Just read this from @senselabs and it hit the nail on the head.

The idea that senior leaders can define a company culture still gets wheeled out like it makes any sense at all.

I bought into it early in my career. Now I find it hilarious, if it wasn’t doing so much damage.

📖 bit.ly/4kHOwyg

LIVE Webinar | Unboxing Powtoon's Unified AI Video Platform Register for this live webinar. Empower Your Enterprise Communications with Advanced AI.

L&D teams are being asked to do more, in-house. Faster, cheaper, better.

I’ve been working with Powtoon on tools to make that actually doable.

They’re unboxing something new on 25 June. Worth a look.

🔗 bit.ly/3HLSqHW

#LND #LearningDesign #DigitalLearning #AI #InstructionalDesign #Powtoon

Mobile learning can be brilliant.
But if your learning strategy depends on people using their own phones, it’s not brilliance, it’s exploitation.

If the org doesn’t pay for the device, they shouldn’t benefit from it.
Training is work. Work deserves tools, time, and respect.

bit.ly/4lbHAcx

#LND

How to Make Your Business Skills First (with Examples!) Join us for a refreshingly practical session with Charlie Kneen from industry partner, Solvd Together, where we’ll cut through the noise surrounding “skills-...

Check out this webinar from The Learning Network and Solvd Together!
bit.ly/4l90IYy

#LearningAndDevelopment #Skills #AI #InstructionalDesign

“How do we navigate AI’s role in learning if we can’t wrestle with autonomy, agency, or machines in human affairs?”

L&D can’t thrive in isolation. The best practice is broader thinking.

Read beyond your niche. It’s how we sharpen ours.

bit.ly/4l5fsI4

#LND #LearningDesign #Philosophy #AI

Oh, and there's a link to today's Substack article in the comments exploring this and the desperate need for professionalisation across our industry.

#LND #LearningAndDevelopment #PerformanceSupport #OrganisationalChange #SystemsThinking #WorkplaceLearning #InstructionalDesign

So here’s my question:
What do you think is really stopping us from making the big changes we all say we believe in?

Is it leadership? Capability? Culture? Confidence?

I’d love to hear your take.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: if we don’t shift from knowing to doing, from theory to system-level change, we’re not evolving. We’re stagnating.

Industries that stagnate rarely get the privilege of staying essential.

And still, many of us keep doing the same things. Not because we’re lazy or incompetent, but because systemic change is hard. Because it often means going against what stakeholders expect. Because it’s easier to survive than to lead.

We know content ≠ performance.
We know learning styles are nonsense.
We know most training requests are symptoms, not root causes.
We know evaluation stops at completion metrics.
We know professional standards are all over the place.

For an industry obsessed with change, we’re oddly reluctant to change ourselves.

In most sectors, if you know a better way to do things and choose not to do it, you're held accountable. But in L&D? We write a blog post about it and carry on regardless.

bit.ly/4l7e5IT

The CEO reads about microlearning on a flight.
Everything becomes 3-minute modules.
The politics of learning culture often have nothing to do with learning.
bit.ly/4mYbzqh
#LearningAndDevelopment #LND #InstrucitonalDesign #Culture

90% of workplace training fails to transfer to actual work.
The problem isn't the training. It's the system around it.
Managers who don't support new skills. No opportunity to practice. Zero follow-up.
We're measuring satisfaction while behaviour stays unchanged.
bit.ly/45lOOWX
#LND #Learning