L&D’s Playbook for the Digital Age

Build a Modern L&D Team

Organizations are facing an era of rapid acceleration. As new technology and digital strategies are integrated, workers at all levels will be required to build capability much faster than before, navigating more complex systems and processes. Yet, learning and development (L&D) has lagged in this area, as too many L&D functions still focus on transactional interactions across a broad and complex portfolio while starved for resources.

In L&D’s Playbook for the Digital Age, Brandon Carson makes the case that it’s time to reorient L&D, take a more proactive role in enabling the workforce, and create a new framework for developing skills and capabilities. L&D leaders must realize theirs is one of the most critical business functions and must be appropriately funded and resourced to realize the performance gains that are crucial to the business.

L&D cannot be caught standing still and, in fact, needs a new playbook to navigate the radical and complex transformation the digital age is demanding. Stemming from the sports world, a playbook ensures the players know their roles, connect as a team, and understand the winning strategy and how to execute the game plan. For L&D, a playbook can help build alignment across the team and with stakeholders by being flexible as business needs change.

Carson walks you through the steps to formulate how a new playbook could help the alignment of your L&D function—whether it’s restructuring, new skilling, or rescoping. He asks readers to speak the language of business instead of the language of learning. For example, does your workforce repair aircraft or do they enable safe flight? In other words, can you be the visionary your organization requires?