409: Using Data to Drive Decision-Making

We’ve reached a point in history where it’s essentially a given that learning products will make use of technology to deliver, support, or deepen learning. Geoff Stead has dedicated his career to building learning tools that sit in what he calls the messy middle between the power of new technologies and real human learning needs. He’s currently chief product officer at MyTutor, and he’s co-author of Engines of Engagement: A Curious Book About Generative AI. In this episode, number 411, Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele talks with Geoff about the changes he’s seen in how technology supports learning. The discussion encompasses mobile learning, the seismic shift that is generative AI, just-in-time learning, his optimistic view of the future of learning, the potency of low ego and high curiosity in collaborations, how he thinks about innovation, and common barriers to and accelerators of innovation. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode411.

Capacity deals with the people and the technology a learning business has in place, and capacity has a quantitative and a qualitative aspect. How well can the people and the technology do the work, and how much can the people and the technology do? Artificial intelligence has the potential to change both the quality and the quantity of work that a learning business does, and so, in this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 410, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele focus on barriers to the adoption of AI and the potential accelerators. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode410.

There are many ways to look at data. Two views that can be clarifying for learning businesses are the performance view and the potential view. You can use data to understand how you’re doing currently. How is your learning business performing? You can and should also use data to understand possibilities. How could you be doing? What products and services might you add or sunset or change? In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 409, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele discuss using data in decision-making. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://leadinglearning.com/episode409.

Effective marketing is integral to a learning business’s success. But doing marketing well requires care and thought. In this episode, number 408, Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele talks with Michelle Brien, vice president of marketing at Matchbox, who approaches her work with care and thought and authenticity. Celisa and Michelle talk about how Michelle defines marketing, the central role value plays in marketing, the rise of digital and content marketing, the potential for generative AI in marketing, and the fundamental importance of understanding your audience. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode408.

The third sector of education can be difficult for learners to navigate, and pathways can help learners. Having guides along the pathways can help even more. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 407, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele draw on a recent guided trekking experience to offer six takeaways about the value of guides that learning businesses might apply as they work to better serve their learners. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode407.

In the Tagoras Learning Business Maturity Model, strategy is one of the five fundamental domains learning businesses need to work on and in to mature and be successful. To help with your essential strategy work, in this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 406, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele talk about “Part Two: How to Realize Nondisruptive Creation” of Beyond Disruption: Innovate and Achieve Growth Without Displacing Industries, Companies, or Jobs by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode406.

We often hear learning businesses say they want to better engage their learners. But what is engagement, and how does it work? In this episode, Leading Learning Podcast co-host Jeff Cobb digs into those questions with Clark Quinn, executive director of Quinnovation and author of Make It Meaningful: Taking Learning Design from Instructional to Transformational. Jeff and Clark talk about engagement and motivation; learners’ cognitive, affective, and conative involvement; and how the cognitive aspect gets more than its fair share of emphasis. They also talk about the role of emotion in learning, about practice and feedback, and about how the ability to make better decisions is ultimately the desired outcome of most learning experiences. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode405.

Strategy is one of the five fundamental domains in the Learning Business Maturity Model. And most learning business leaders know that strategy is important. But truly understanding strategy and formulating intelligent strategy? That’s trickier. To help with that understanding and formulation, in this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 404, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele offer an audio book report on Beyond Disruption: Innovate and Achieve Growth Without Displacing Industries, Companies, or Jobs by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne of blue ocean fame. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode404.

You can think of this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast as an origin story. Co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele talk about the relationship between Leading Learning and Tagoras, about what Tagoras is and does, and about the start of Leading Learning. Along the way they touch on the kinds of things that learning businesses need to be able to do, whether through the skills and knowledge of their internal team or by looking for outside support. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode403.

If anything, we should all be able to agree that generative artificial intelligence is a curious thing, worthy of reflection and exploration. Julian Stodd is a researcher, an artist, an explorer, a writer, and captain and founder of Sea Salt Learning, which helps organizations set strategy and change direction. He is also a firm believer in working out loud and a previous Leading Learning Podcast guest. In this episode, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Julian about ideas from Engines of Engagement: A Curious Book About Generative AI, which he co-wrote with Sae Schatz and Geoff Stead. Julian’s perspective on AI is both technical and philosophical, specific and expansive, and, of course, curious. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode402.