Learning Uncut Ep 68: 2020 Year In Review - Amanda Ashby

Welcome to the final episode of Learning Uncut for 2020. I started Learning Uncut two and a half years ago with Karen Moloney and Amanda Ashby. Our goal was to help learning professionals in Australia and New Zealand share real stories about their work inside organisations. At the end of 2019, twelve months ago, when Karen and Amanda decided to put their energy into other projects I was faced with a choice about whether to continue with the podcast alone. I’m not sure that I ever would have started a podcast solo, and I knew by then how much effort was involved with creating each episode. However, I could see how much value there was in sharing stories of the great work that is being done by L&D teams that I decided to keep going.

Thank you to my new production team – producer Natalie DeBon Govic, editor Dave Stokes, and marketing manager Letitia Grzes. With their support I’ve been able to bring you not only 25 regular fortnightly stories, but also the special Disruption and Emergent series to support L&D professionals respond effectively to the pandemic.

From 19,000 downloads at the start of 2020, we now have well over 70,000 downloads across 103 countries. Approximately 1/3 of downloads are from our Australian listeners and a further 1/3 from the United States. It has definitely been worth continuing the podcast, with stories now being shared from around the globe. Thank you to all Learning Uncut listeners for your support of the podcast.

Amanda Ashby is back to help me review the stories featured in the regular fortnightly episodes this year. Amanda works at PwC in Sydney leading digital learning and learning technology. Amanda is an active member of the Australian Learning and Development community and remains a strong friend of the Learning Uncut podcast. I thank Amanda for her thoughtful preparation to look back over the year with me and reflect on themes, insights, and favourite episodes.

I’ll be taking a very short break over Christmas, with the podcast returning in three-weeks time on 5 January with a Professional Development special.

Thank you for being part of the Learning Uncut community in 2020. Have a wonderful Christmas. Connect with loved ones in any way you can amidst current constraints. Above all, take care of yourself and stay well.

Episode Highlights

• What a great year for Learning Uncut! Digging into the data – episodes, downloads, listener base.
• - Most popular episodes and rising stars.
• The big shift when our United States discovered Learning Uncut.
• How the conversations shifted during 2020 – pre-COVID, the COVID reaction, and beyond. How digital maturity helped some L&D teams to respond.
• Going to gemba – the value of getting out into the work environment, tapping into tacit knowledge and using human-centred design approaches.
• Practical approaches for L&D teams of all sizes including micro-credentialling, high impact on a low budget and working as a distributed team.
• Our favourite episodes – no spoilers! You’ll have to listen.
• What we’ve both applied from podcast episodes to our own work practices.
• What the podcast episodes say about the L&D profession including community, opportunity, performance impact, technology, sustainability and vulnerability.
• The search for topics and guests for 2021

Enjoyed the Emergent Series Episodes? Check out the Emerging Stronger Masterclasses and Community

If you are an L&D professional who is in a place to make or influence change in your organization take a look at Emerging Stronger. Emerging Stronger will help you to look at problems and opportunities in a fresh way in order to make change happen in your organisation and drive business value.

Brought to you by Learning Uncut Emergent Series co-hosts - Michelle Ockers, Laura Overton and Shannon Tipton. We’ll be joined by experts from the podcast series to guide you through a hands-on experience with peers from other organisations to identify and take breakthrough actions. This masterclass series and ongoing community of peers will help lift your credibility and build the business reputation of L&D.

Use this link for more information.

Full Episode

Listen to the full episode and access transcript and additional resources on the podcast website or your favourite podcast platform.

Do you have an idea for a podcast episode?

Don’t be shy! If you’ve done something that’s had an impact in your organisation, or know of someone who has, reach out to Michelle. It may be innovative. It may be something L&D has been doing for a while, and you’ve done it well. 

I’ve had requests for stories about leadership development, curation, the use of data, evaluation and workforce planning. However, any topic related to a real solution or approach you’ve taken in your work is of interest, so long as we can explore it as a case study on the podcast.

Independent L&D professionals and vendors are welcome too – just bring us a real client case study and be prepared to keep it real. Client approval is essential. Better still have someone from the client organisation join us and showcase your partnership.

Contact me at [email protected] or via LinkedIn DM.

Remember … you can join in the conversation about all Learning Uncut episodes on LinkedIn and Twitter using #LearningUncut.

Learning Uncut has accounts on Twitter and Instagram. Find and follow them at @learninguncut.