Late last year I was at a dinner with a Board I won’t mention by name. There were roughly 50 people at the event. Tables were pre-assigned and I found myself sitting across from a chap in his mid-50′s whose professional job was an accountant. He worked at a rather large firm as a partner. And no, I won’t insert any accountant jokes at this time. About halfway through the meal, the conversation at the table of 10 shifted to social media. Other than Denise (my better half) no one really had any idea of my background or my natural propensity for all things social. The point? MORE >>

This is where you stop thinking that I'm cool, if you ever did. Here it goes: I read Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People when I was a teenager. Yep, I did, and I'm not too proud to say that it had a profound effect on me, even to this day. The anecdote that I remember most is the one about one of his sons learning to play baseball. Covey and his wife realized that by jumping to defend and shelter him, they were actually feeding his weaknesses, completely unintentionally, by sending the message that he wasn't strong enough to withstand criticism. Click here to read full version MORE >>

Jay Cross, many moons ago, likened the job of a learning designer to that of a gardener. Yet too often, we treat learning as if it was a part in a machine. Just like plants, people are complicated. Each individual needs just the right combination of external conditions, previous history, genetics and nutrients in order to flourish. The gardener's role is to help get the right plant in the right place and provide the necessary environment for growth. At that point the analogy can fall down - especially when you get into pruning!). Yet all of us are natural learners. Learning MORE >>

Join me for a Google+ Hangout on Air this Saturday morning at 10:00 am Pacific time. Why isn’t L&D supporting informal learning? Informal learning is important. We need to pay more attention to it but don’t know how. That’s the conclusion of the CLO Business Intelligence Board. In the current issue of Chief Learning Officer , IDG’s Cushing Anderson reports that these CLOs think “informal learning deserves more attention because it reflects the real world outside the classroom and knowledge that is more applicable to tasks.” It’s number one on the list.) Join me to explore why. On Air. MORE >>

We have all witnessed the recent paradigm shift from linear to non-linear e-learning courses. Well, this means that instructional designers are all on their toes struggling to create non-linear designs. Creating designs that allow learners to explore knowledge through challenges [.]. eLearning Instructional Design interactive learning E-Learning instructional design Interactive E-learning Linear Non-Linear MORE >>