We didn't think we'd last a week
As we hit 400 episodes of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, we look back at some of our more bonkers editions.
Gather round, kids. I want to take you back to the year 1998 PS (Pre-Streaming), and the day that Friends aired its first clip show: ‘The One With The Invitation’.
Cheap-to-produce and a welcome break from filming for cast and crew, clip shows were a staple of the late 90s. They offered a chance to remind viewers just how far our beloved characters had come, at a time when you could only spend time with them for 30 minutes, once a week.
And they would typically use a clunky framing device (like the one I’m using now) to introduce those clips.
So as we hit episode 400 of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast this week, eight years on from our launch in May of 2016, I wanted to revisit some of our more unusual recordings.
The one in the pub…
100th Episode Special: Podcasters in Pubs Getting Pints
Release date: June 19, 2018
Back in 2018, Jerry Seinfeld was sweeping the interwebs with his fun new interview format: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. And so, to better align with Scottish stereotypes and avoid accusations of copyright theft from Mr Seinfeld, we decided to film a one-off special titled ‘Podcasters in Pubs Getting Pints’ (hat tip to my wife Amy for the title).
Filmed by Ross D and our colleague Tracey, and featuring yours truly having a bev with Owen Ferguson and James McLuckie, we used it as a chance to reminisce about favourite episodes, favourite guests and ‘What I Learned This Week’.
Watching it back now, my main reaction was: ‘My goodness, don’t they look young?’
🎤
The one on the stage…
150 — Live from London: The past, present and future of learning
Release date: June 18, 2019
Over the years we’ve produced five live episodes, recorded on stage at events and complete with audience participation.
I picked this one because I remember thinking for the first time that I no longer felt like an imposter.
In large part this was because we had three excellent guests: Michelle Parry-Slater, Gemma Critchley, and Andy Lancaster (who we kept joking at the time was writing a book, and who has now written several).
Ross D couldn’t make it unfortunately, but we made sure that his presence was felt by all involved.
📖
The one with the crossover…
189 — Grit and Mindset: Emotion at Work Crossover Special
Release date: April 6, 2020
It would be remiss of me not to mention Phil Willcox in this post. Our friend Phil has appeared on our show more than any other guest, and done us the honour of producing episode 400 on our behalf.
Episode 189 was a crossover between our Mind Tools L&D Podcast and Phil’s own Emotion at Work show. Some might say it was the greatest crossover since Jessica Fletcher turned up on Magnum P.I.
And it’s a fun discussion where we cover the merits and controversies surrounding Angela Duckworth’s concept of ‘grit’ and Carol Dweck’s concept of ‘growth mindset’.
🎞️
The one with a documentary style…
250 — Documentary Special: What can L&D learn from product management?
Release date: June 22, 2021
The podcast team here at Mind Tools love documentary-style podcasts like Serial, Freakonomics or Jon Ronson’s excellent Things Fell Apart. So, for episode 250, we thought we would try to produce one of our own.
We interviewed four champions of product management in L&D: Myles Runham, Sukh Pabial, Danny Seals and our friend Gemma Paterson (slight name change since episode 150).
Then we edited those recordings into a single narrative, with links from myself.
It was far harder than we expected, and we’ve never done it again. Kudos to those who do!
🐦⬛
The one with Edgar Allan Poe…
Episode 317 — Halloween Special: Edgar Allan Poe and ‘unity of effect’ in learning design
Release date: October 25, 2022
Most weeks we try to discuss questions that we think have broad appeal to L&D professionals as a whole. But, every now and again, we like to indulge ourselves with topics that we’re almost certain no one else cares about.
A fine example of this is the time when Ross D and myself wanged on for 40 minutes about an 1846 essay by the poet Edgar Allan Poe.
We wanted to explore the idea that every aspect of a learning experience should contribute to a single defined outcome. What Poe (in another context) described as the ‘unity of effect’.
It was incredibly pretentious but, looking back now, I’m most thrilled by the Poe-inspired show notes we wrote just before ChatGPT was available:
Once upon a midnight dreary, Ross G pondered, weak and weary
Whether Ross D might consider him a dry and awful bore—
If he proposed some gentle chatting, sprinkled with some caveating,
A pod with almost no formatting, on an essay he’d adored.
❄️
The one(s) with George Bailey…
And finally, an honorable mention to all of those Christmas episodes that none of you ever listen to:
26 — Holiday Special: Our L&D Christmas wishes - Recorded in the style of Bing Crosby and David Bowie’s video for ‘Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy’. As bad as it sounds.
76 — What I Learned This Year (a Christmas special) - Includes live performance of ‘Last Christmas’ on piano by our colleague Stef.
126 — Christmas Special: Have I Got L&D News For You - A fine example of some panelists having fun, while others take it incredibly seriously. I had forgotten that we used recordings of Owen saying ‘Handschuhschneeballwerfer’ and ‘Fremdschämen’ as buzzers.
176 — It's a Wonderful Lifelong Learning - The moment our Christmas specials became truly unhinged, with the first appearance of “George Bailey”.
226 — Christmas Special: Blankety Blank - Another adapted version of a popular quiz format. Half the guests didn’t understand the concept.
276 — A Mind Tools Christmas Carol - An exploration of the past, present and future of learning, with Owen as Scrooge and “George Bailey” in the role of Bob Cratchit.
325 — Christmas Special: Home Alone - What would WE do if left for Christmas in the L&D department of a large organisation? When our colleagues return, what will they find?
375 — Rockin’ Around The ChatGPT - Another classic example of developing a title, then working backwards from there to produce an episode. Our first AI guest, and of course “George Bailey” once again to share his take on our new robot companions.
If this hasn’t put you off, we’d love to help you build better managers! Email custom@mindtools.com or reply to this newsletter from your inbox to find out how.
🎧 On the podcast
Digital learning content offers a scalable, always-on option to help your people build their skills and overcome workplace challenges. But often these libraries get dusty, bogged down by out-of-date content with little relevance, or hidden away in a dark corner of the intranet where no one can find them.
In our final episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast before our anniversary milestone next week, Virgin Money’s Martin Ritchie joins us to share how his organization leverages and promotes the Mind Tools content library.
Listen to the full episode for more! 👇🏽
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
What skills does your organization need? In the coming weeks, we’ll be publishing our report into the key capabilities that managers need to make a measurable difference to the performance of their teams.
Zooming out from that, though, our friends at Filtered have run an assessment of the 100 skills most in demand by corporates: based on Google search results and how frequently they appear in skills frameworks.
What struck me most, looking at the report, was the prevalance of skills in the top 10 that I would group under the broad heading of ‘getting people to do things’, including: project management, team management, programme management, and people management.
These are key skills for managers but, as our own research shows, these tactical capabilities are underpinned by emotional intelligence and the ability to set expectations, develop your people and motivate them.
Much more on that in the coming weeks!
Filtered, 2024. ‘100 Skills Every Corporate Needs’
👹 Missing links
📷 AI jobs are at risk from humans
Here’s a fun story for fans of humanity. Photographer Miles Astray entered a competition for artificially generated images, and won with his human-made snap of a flamingo hiding its head (playfully titled ‘Flamingone’). Unfortunately, he was disqualified for breaking the rules. But it’s nice to know we still have something to offer, for now at least.
🧑🏽💼 What’s most important to you at work?
Perhaps it’s a response to the rise in automation, but the top answer in Amazon’s Future of Work & Career Development study, conducted by Ipsos, was career development training (86%). That’s higher than company culture (84%) and flexible working (75%). The headline finding from Amazon is that 61% of respondents believe that on-the-job-skills training is more valuable than a traditional degree.
I recently discovered Jon Ronson’s podcast Things Fell Apart, thanks to a recommendation from our colleague Becky. It’s an exploration of the ongoing culture wars, but from the point of view of a dispassionate observer. Ronson sees his role as describing the evolution of these discussions, rather than participating in them. It’s beautifully produced, captures stories with incredible twists, and is a top recommendation from me.
👋 And finally…
This snarky clip on what’s appropriate to say in an office setting is both funny, and a nice insight into the ever-evolving nature of language.
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👍 Thanks!
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George Bailey remains an unhinged highlight of my year. And I’m certain a lowlight of Owen Ferguson’s 😉