Having the opportunity to set up a new team can be both exciting and daunting. Where would you start when it’s an L&D team?

In this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Head of People Development Daneille Ware speaks to Gemma and Ross about her approach to creating an L&D team from scratch. We discuss:

· The triggers for creating a new or evolved L&D department

· How to get started with quick wins

· Using data to support decisions

In ‘What I Learnt This Week’, Ross mentioned the two-part Star Wars related episodes of the Rewatchables called ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan.'

Gemma also talks about a podcast, but one with a very different tone. She listened to Dr Chatterjee speak to Erling Kagge about solitude on 'Feel better, Live more'.

For more from us, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning Content Hub, our Manager Skills Assessment, our Manager Skill Builder and our custom work. 

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• Danielle Ware
• Ross Garner
• Gemma Towersey

Collaboration is a vital skill across many fields and disciplines. But effective collaboration is about much more than just working together.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Paula are joined by Fraser Mcdonald, Head of Collaboration at Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) and Deputy Director of the Data for Children Collaborative, to discuss:

• why collaboration is important when it comes to solving 'wicked problems';
• how Mindtools worked with the EFI to develop a game that's designed to build collaboration skills;
• why a game was the right solution to this problem, and how it's being deployed within the EFI.

To find out more about the work Fraser does, check out the Edinburgh Futures Institute and Data for Children Collaborative's websites.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Paula mentioned that she'd been digging into the surprisingly wild history of papal conclaves.

Fraser recommended the website ToS;DR, which provides an eye-opening breakdown of what we're agreeing to when we use different websites and platforms.

And Ross D talked about a recent episode of the 99% Invisible podcast, focusing on the relationship between architecture and tax codes.

For more from us, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning Content Hub, our Manager Skills Assessment, our Manager Skill Builder and our custom work. 

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• • Ross Dickie
  • Paula Hughes
  • Fraser Mcdonald

Whether it comes to facilitating workshops, designing learning experiences, or developing campaign assets, L&D practitioners are increasingly expected to bring creativity to their roles. But how do you do this if you don't have a creative background, or if you don't think of yourself as a 'creative person'?

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Gemma are joined by Kenny Temowo, Senior Director of Talent Acceleration at SharkNinja and host of the Inside the Art of Making podcast, to discuss:

• Kenny's career journey through the creative industries, into workplace learning, and back again;
• what it means to be 'creative', and how this applies in L&D;
• how to meet consumer-level creative expectations with L&D budgets;
• how to earn the permission to be creative at work.

You can listen to Kenny's podcast, Inside the Art of Making, on Spotify. (Or wherever you get your podcasts.)

In 'What I Learned This Week', Gemma mentioned The Cloudspotter's Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney.

Ross D gave a lukewarm review of the movie Field of Dreams.

For more from us, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning Content Hub, our Manager Skills Assessment, our Manager Skill Builder and our custom work. 

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Connect with our speakers

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• Ross Dickie
• Gemma Towersey
• Kenny Temowo

Often on this podcast we've spoken about how AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are enhancing our capabilities. But do they also come at a cost?

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross Stevenson from Steal These Thoughts joins Ross G and Dr Gent to discuss:

• the relationship between tasks and skills;
• whether we are over-relying on AI;
• the long-term impact of AI use on critical thinking.

During the discussion, Ross S discussed the recent robot race in Beijing and the concept of vibe coding, via Lovable. He also mentioned Apple's sometimes-hilarious AI summaries.

Gent discussed cognitive offloading.

The paper Gent discussed was:

Gerlich, M. (2025). AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking. Societies, 15(1), 6.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross G shared how you can use a sausage to interact with your smartphone screen.

For more from Ross S, visit Steal These Thoughts.

For more from us, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning Content Hub, our Manager Skills Assessment, our Manager Skill Builder and our custom work. 

You can also subscribe to our newsletter.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Dr Gent Ahmetaj
• Ross Stevenson

What are the benefits of podcasts for learning? How does L&D respond to people leaving the profession? Should we get rid of email?

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross G is joined by Anna and Ross D to answer your questions!

During the discussion, Ross D referenced our post 'If your podcast isn't available on mobile, does it make a sound?', and Cal Newport's Deep Work.

Ross G referenced the AI 2027 forecast. He also discussed (and wrote about) Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke's recent edict on the use of AI.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Anna discussed PowerPoint transitions, from Luis Urrutia.

Ross D discussed his new (tidier) LinkedIn URL. Find out how to edit your own.

Ross G discussed the former residents of London Bridge.

For more from us, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning Content Hub, our Manager Skills Assessment, our Manager Skill Builder and our custom work. 

You can also subscribe to our newsletter.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Dr Anna Barnett
• Ross Dickie

What drives your delegation decisions? Is it what's best for the business? Is it what's best for your team member? Is it what's best for you?

In this week's edition of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross G, Ross D and Dr Anna discuss:

• Why managers sometimes delegate tasks that they know are too difficult
• How the organization's culture shapes those decisions
• How to help managers delegate better.

The paper we discussed throughout this podcast was:

Maas, V. S., & Shi, B. (2023). The effects of target difficulty and relative ability on managers’ delegation decisions. Management Accounting Research, 60, 100851.

Ross G also referenced:

Crossley, C. D., Cooper, C. D., & Wernsing, T. S. (2013). Making things happen through challenging goals: Leader proactivity, trust, and business-unit performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(3), 540.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D discussed the concept of 'moving day', as reported on by The Atlantic.

For more from us, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning Content Hub, our Manager Skills Assessment, our Manager Skill Builder and our custom work. 

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Dr Anna Barnett
• Ross Dickie

Many organizations treat 'inclusion' and 'wellbeing' as separate issues, but Dr Serena Huang - author of The Inclusion Equation - argues that the two are intrinsically linked. And, that data is how you can make better decisions about how to make a positive impact on both.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Serena joins Ross G and Dr Anna to discuss:

• Why these two areas are inseparable
• Why data in this space isn't as 'unmeasurable' as it seems
• Two approaches to data gathering that you can start using today.

During the discussion, Dr Anna referenced ProPublica's reporting on the bias they discovered in software used to predict future criminals.

Ross referenced the work Mindtools did with Burberry, around 'allyship'.

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Ross discussed the origin of the term 'Bluetooth', which he learned from The Rest is History podcast.

Dr Serena's book, The Inclusion Equation, is available now.

For more from us, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. 

And to speak to our Insights team (including Dr Anna) about your learning measurement needs, just send her a note on LinkedIn or email custom@mindtools.com

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Dr Anna Barnett
• Dr Serena Huang