Stop Running Your L&D Department Like a Vending Machine
We've reduced organizational learning to the corporate equivalent of a vending machine:
-> insert training module
-> receive skilled employee.
-> Press A1 for management skills
-> B2 for technical capabilities
-> C3 for compliance training
This isn't just wrong. It's destroying your ability to build real organizational capability.
The Educational Theater We've Created
Every company runs the same performance:
Then we act surprised when our "trained" employees can't actually perform the skills we need. We're confusing content consumption with capability building. Imagine treating physical fitness this way - watching a 2-hour video about exercise and expecting to be in shape.
Real Learning is a Network Effect and It Happens Over Time
Here's what actually happens when an organization builds true capabilities:
Week 1-2: An employee learns core concepts with guidance and structured practice (note - a program, not just a single course)
Week 3-4: They apply it to real work, fail safely, and receive coaching
Month 2: They become proficient and start helping others informally
Month 3: They're teaching colleagues and adapting the material
Month 4: Those colleagues start spreading the knowledge further
Month 6: A network of capability exists that's far more valuable than the original investment
One properly developed employee becomes a node of expertise, creating a cascade of skill development through their organization. But this only happens when we invest in learning journeys, not just learning content.
The Hidden Cost of Quick-Fix Training
The vending machine approach to learning isn't just ineffective - it's actively harmful:
Your L&D Team Should Be Your Secret Weapon
I used to be in L&D and I can tell you that most L&D departments spend their time on:
Now imagine if they were empowered to:
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The expertise already exists in your L&D teams.
They understand adult learning. They know how to build capabilities. They're just trapped in a system optimized for content delivery rather than skill development.
Building Real Learning Programs
Real organizational learning looks different:
Structured Growth Paths: Instead of one-off courses, imagine progressive skill development. Each step builds on the last. Employees don't just learn - they practice, apply, fail safely, and improve. Think martial arts belt system, not YouTube tutorials.
Network Effects: Learning spreads through organizations like knowledge wildfires. But only when you build the right conditions. Peer learning groups, teaching opportunities, cross-functional projects - these aren't nice-to-haves, they're how humans actually develop skills.
Cultural Support: You can't tell people "learning is important" while treating it as an afterthought.
Real learning requires:
The Real Cost
Every time you hire externally for a skill you could have built internally, you're not just paying a premium - you're sending a message: "We'd rather buy talent than develop you."
This creates a vicious cycle:
Breaking Free from the Vending Machine
The winners of the next decade won't be the companies with the biggest course libraries or the most compliance certificates.
They'll be the ones who figured out how to stop measuring hours of training completed. Start measuring new capabilities deployed. The only metric that matters is whether your people can do more than they could before.
You can grow skills in organizations - yes, even management skills. One trained employee should become three. Then nine. Then twenty-seven. If your learning isn't spreading through your organization like a positive virus, you're doing it wrong. Your L&D team should be running an internal capability factory, not a content distribution center. Every program should create both skilled practitioners and future teachers.
The Path Forward
Look at your current approach honestly:
Are you building capabilities or checking boxes? If most of your "trained" employees can't actually perform the skills you've trained them on, you're just running an expensive educational theater.
Are skills spreading through your organization or staying isolated? Real learning creates ripple effects. If your training disappears into the void after completion, it's not working.
Is learning seen as critical or compliance? Ask your employees if they see learning programs as opportunities or obligations. Their answer tells you everything.
Are you developing talent or just buying it? Do you really need to hire externally for managers, when you could train your own? Management is a skill. Your hiring patterns reveal your true learning culture, regardless of what your values statement says.
The Choice
Your L&D team is either going to be your competitive advantage or your biggest missed opportunity. The technology exists. The expertise exists. The research is clear.
The only question is whether you'll continue treating learning like a vending machine, or start treating it like the strategic capability it should be.
The real world demonstrates that skills become obsolete faster every year. Your organization's ability to learn might be one of the few sustainable advantages left.
The future belongs to companies that can build capabilities faster than their competition.
What's your L&D team really building?