Build it and they will come. But only if you build the right 'it'.
I've been getting Field of Dreams all wrong...
At least twice over the last couple of years, I’ve referenced Field of Dreams in this newsletter. Specifically, I’ve quoted the famous line ‘If you build it, he will come.’
But I confess that, until recently, I’d never actually seen the film.
‘Build it and they will come’ is often how the line is referenced in pop culture. In posts on LinkedIn, it’s typically held up as an example of what not to do when developing an L&D strategy.
The gist of this argument is that simply creating content or deploying a platform won’t automatically lead to engagement, learning, and, ultimately, behavior change.
I generally agree with that argument, but I no longer think it’s a fair use of Field of Dreams’ most quoted line.
In case you’re unfamiliar, here’s a very brief synopsis of the film, courtesy of ChatGPT:
‘Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella plows under his corn to build a baseball diamond after a disembodied voice urges, “If you build it, he will come.” Spectral legends—led by Shoeless Joe Jackson—emerge to play, and Ray embarks on a cross-country quest that draws in reclusive author Terence Mann and sardonic ex-ballplayer Doc “Moonlight” Graham. The field ultimately reunites Ray with the ghost of his own father, turning the risky dream into a healing miracle for the whole community.’
The important thing to note here is that Ray Kinsella didn’t build any old thing. He didn’t build a football field, a basketball court, or a hockey rink.
He intentionally built a baseball diamond because it connected him to the memory of his father, and served a real need by helping him work through unprocessed grief.
After going out into the world and speaking with other people, he persuades them to join him at the diamond. Because it turns out they need it, too.
So, what does all of this have to do with L&D?
As we highlighted in one of last week’s ‘missing links’, Duolingo recently announced that it had used generative AI to develop 148 new language courses, effectively doubling the size of its content library in the space of a year.
Given it took the company twelve years to create its first 100 courses, this is a remarkable economy. But I’m not sure it’s a great model for L&D.
As AI gradually removes friction from the ‘build it’ part of learning design, the natural temptation will be to scale various types of content. Or, in other words, to build football fields, basketball courts, and hockey rinks.
If we want to get the ‘…and they will come’ part right, my view is that we should be using the slack AI creates on the development end to deepen our investment in the design and evaluation phases, making sure that what we create meets real needs and delivers real impact.
This starts with listening to the voices out in the field.
By understanding what learners care about (through focus groups, structured interviews, surveys, and observations), and aligning these insights with business goals, we can use AI to scale quality over quantity.
Because if we build the right ‘it’, they really will come.
Want to share your thoughts on The L&D Dispatch? Then get in touch by emailing custom@mindtools.com or reply to this newsletter from your inbox.
🎧 On the podcast
Collaboration is a vital skill across many fields and disciplines. But effective collaboration is about much more than just working together.
In last week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Paula and I were joined by Fraser Mcdonald, Head of Collaboration at Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) and Deputy Director of the Data for Children Collaborative, to discuss:
why collaboration is important when it comes to solving 'wicked problems';
how Mindtools worked with the EFI to develop a game that's designed to build collaboration skills;
why a game was the right solution to this problem, and how it's being deployed within the EFI.
Check out the episode below. 👇
You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify or the podcast page of our website. Want to share your thoughts? Get in touch @RossDickieMT, @RossGarnerMT or #MindToolsPodcast
📖 Deep dive — Manager Skills Framework (7 of 12)
We’re over halfway in our series of deep dives into the 12 skills that make up our Manager Skills Framework.
This week, we’re exploring recognition, with a paper on the impact of non-financial incentives on business outcomes over time.
In their study, Peterson and Luthens trained managers in hospitality to deliver performance feedback and social recognition, and then measured the impact of doing so on business units (in this case, restaurants) over nine months. They found:
Profits rose by 36%
Drive-through times (included as a measure of customer service) decreased by 25%
Turnover reduced by 10%
In a control group of managers who hadn’t developed their recognition skills, they recorded no improvements to profits, customer service, or turnover.
💰 “Money is the number one motivator” ... Is it?
Most surprisingly, non-financial incentives had a greater, positive impact on business outcomes than financial incentives.
In a third group, managers were encouraged to award bonuses to individuals in exchange for a job well done. Profits, customer service, and turnover all improved in these restaurants, but not as significantly as they did for those led by managers who learned how to recognize their people properly and without cash.
On average, these restaurants were $475 worse off per person, and still trailing behind those who hadn’t spent a penny. It quite literally pays to develop manager skills.
Peterson, S. J., & Luthans, F. (2006). ‘The impact of financial and nonfinancial incentives on business-unit outcomes over time.’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(1), 156–165.
👹 Missing links
🧑🏫 ‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’
In this moment, how should parents and teachers be educating children? What is the purpose of education in a world where a growing number of tasks can be offloaded to an LLM? In this episode of The Ezra Klein Show, Ezra talks to Rebecca Winthrop, Director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, about the ways AI could and should be reshaping the work of American schools.
🤓 Why Technical Leaders Need Strong Communicators
If you lead a product or engineering team, building your direct reports’ communication skills probably isn’t high on your priority list. But Neil Thompson believes that it should be. As Neil points out in this article, technical staff who are effective communicators are better at collaborating with other parts of the business, better at gaining buy-in from non-technical colleagues, and better at positioning the company’s products when engaging with customers.
Process by Wesley Verhoeve is one of the more fun newsletters I subscribe to on Substack. Focused on photography, it’s not often a great fit for ‘missing links’ in the L&D Dispatch, but I’ve made an exception for this edition, covering the steps Wesley has taken to reclaim his attention from his phone. His confession that ‘If I can click it, I will click it.’ is an important reminder that technology is not neutral — it is literally designed to change your behavior, willpower be damned.
👋 And finally…
A novel approach to the bedtime story:
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👍 Thanks!
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