Learning Leaders Digest #118

Here's what's interesting this week.

Aug 17, 2026

Welcome back, Learning Leaders.

One idea has been showing up in my reading, writing, and conversations a lot lately.

The trainer shouldn’t be doing all the work.

We can explain something perfectly, build beautiful slides, tell great stories, and cover every important point. But none of that guarantees participants will remember what we taught, think differently because of it, or use it when they get back to work.

At some point, the learner has to take over.

They have to retrieve the idea. Question it. Connect it to something they already know. Make a decision with it. Practice it. Explain their reasoning. Try it again.

That can feel uncomfortable for trainers because it means giving up a little control. We may cover less material. The room may get quieter while people think. Participants may struggle before they get the answer.

That’s not necessarily a problem.

Sometimes that struggle is where the learning is happening.

This week’s Digest has more ideas, research, and resources to help us think about what participants are actually doing during the learning experience, not just what we’re presenting to them.

Here’s what’s interesting this week.

What I’m Reading

I’m still working my way through Courageous Training, and this week I’ve been thinking about its idea of creating a clear “line of sight” between training and performance. Instead of starting with what participants should know, the authors push trainers to work backward from the result the organization needs, identify the behaviors that would produce it, and then determine what people need to learn or practice to perform those behaviors. That sounds simple, but it changes the design conversation. A course stops being a collection of useful content and becomes one part of a deliberate path toward better performance.