Can I take your order?

This is a question that you might hear in a fast food restaurant.

However, when a request for training comes to the L&D team and we provide it – we’re effectively asking the same thing.

Do we want to be thought of as the people who create training or design content? Or do we want to be known as the people who solve problems in our organisations?

If it’s the second question, then we need to really determine the problem we are trying to solve. This means starting with curiosity and not content.

Here’s some ideas about how that can happen and questions you can ask.

Look at the current state.

What’s happening now? How has the need been identified? What data is available to validate the ‘problem’?

Determine the desired future state.

What should be happening? What do people need to be able to do? What are the business goals?