Here’s a terrifying thought to start your day: What if our entire profession is just one good algorithm away from extinction? It’s not a prediction, but it’s not unthinkable either. And if we’re being honest, most of us are making this up as we go. Artificial intelligence (AI) could transform work for the better…or gut it. We don’t know. But we can’t keep covering that uncertainty with corporate optimism. The stakes are too high.
That’s what I want this column to be—a place to talk about what’s really happening, whether about technology, the changing landscape of leadership, organizational politics, or how we each need to rethink how we personally change to better serve the people we support. Let’s have this be a space to strip away the platitudes and stare down the questions that matter: Where is the Learning and Development (L&D) profession headed? How do we prepare people for jobs that don’t yet exist—or for losing the ones they have?
I’ve spent years as a Chief Learning and Talent Officer, writing books on the future of work, speaking at global conferences, and working with companies to ready their people for whatever comes next. One thing has never changed: Our mission is to help people build the skills to stay employed—and employable— in a world that won’t stop shifting under their feet.
THE SIGNAL AMID THE NOISE
This page won’t pretend to have all the answers. In fact, I’ll guarantee it won’t. But I will bring you what I’m hearing from organizations, the signal amid the noise, and the challenges we share across industries. I’ll ask questions worth wrestling with, even if they’re uncomfortable. Especially if they’re uncomfortable.
In a future column, I’ll report on TEDAI San Francisco, October 21-22—sharing what some of the sharpest minds in tech are predicting, and what it might mean for enabling people in the future workplace. Check the Training magazine page on LinkedIn for details on live coverage (bit.ly/3Ji62vl). That’s just the start. The real work will be the conversation we have here about where to focus—on the tried-and-true foundations of training or on innovations we haven’t yet imagined.
This column may be called Last Word, but let’s be honest— there’s no such thing. The future will keep rewriting the ending. The best we can do is face it together, sleeves rolled up. The question is: What will we choose?
Do we focus on the tried-and-true foundations of training or innovations we haven’t yet imagined?
