Learning Leaders Digest #110

Here's what's interesting this week.

Jun 22, 2026

Last week’s poll asked what usually kills training after the session ends.

Thirty percent of respondents said learners simply don’t have a real chance to practice what they learned.

That result doesn’t surprise me.

Most trainers understand that people learn by doing. The problem is that once the session ends, the real world takes over. The whirlwind of life blows and the new learning is often blown away by it. The opportunity to try something new gets pushed to tomorrow. Then next week. Then never.

The irony is that many organizations spend enormous amounts of time designing the training event and almost no time designing what happens afterward.

The session is rarely where learning succeeds or fails.

The days and weeks that follow usually decide that.

That’s one reason I spend so much time talking about transfer, reinforcement, manager involvement, and practice. The best session in the world can’t overcome a workplace that never gives people a chance to use what they learned.

Now let’s look ahead.

AI is changing the profession. Budgets are shifting. Expectations continue to rise. And many trainers are being asked to do more with less.

That got me wondering...

This Week’s Poll

What concerns you most about the future of Learning & Development?

AI will be used to replace thoughtful learning design rather than improve it
L&D will be asked to prove business impact with fewer resources
Organizations will prioritize speed over learning quality
Training teams will be expected to do more work with smaller staffs
The profession will become more focused on content creation than performance improvement

Click your answer, then tell me why. I’m especially interested in hearing what keeps you up at night about the future of our profession.