Reflections from ATD
Reflections from ATD 2024
It’s been a month since we attended the Association for Talent Development (ATD) 2024 conference in New Orleans, where over 9,000 professionals, including inspiring figures like Matthew McConaughey, NYT Best-selling Author Daniel Pink, and Tennis royalty Venus Williams, gathered to share their wisdom and experiences.
The energy and insights we gained continue to resonate with us, and we’d like to share some key takeaways that could benefit your organization:
Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Industry leaders emphasized the critical role of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in driving business success. While EI (or EQ) has been a popular concept for a while, its universal significance across cultures, industries, and geographies was a major highlight at the conference. It’s clear that EI is crucial for building high-performing teams and organizations.
AI was also a dominant topic at the conference. The myriad possibilities with AI in learning underscore the role technology will play in making us faster, more efficient, and creating more opportunities. However, the key insight for us lies in the symbiotic relationship between EI and AI. As we move forward, professionals and organizations will benefit when EI fuels AI with the right inputs and filters algorithmic responses through a layer of human instinct, conscience, and sensitivity.
Heightened self-awareness and, consequently, a heightened EQ can be leveraged to utilize AI in a manner that drives excellence in every way.
Learning Access is Not Equal to Adoption
A critical question posed at the conference was: How do we get learners to want to learn or accept learning? Despite the widespread availability of great content through LMS solutions, adoption remains a significant challenge for many professionals and organizations. The shift must be from extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation, where the yearning for learning “comes from within.”
There is a noticeable trend towards bite-sized, in-depth learning opportunities. This approach not only enhances efficiency but also supports continuous growth and business performance. Our insight is to create learning environments that foster engagement and bring people back to their natural selves.
Sticky Habits for Transformation
Human-centric learning design, especially when contextualized, non-threatening, and non-judgmental, can significantly boost retention and engagement, fostering lasting positive habits.
Insights from Keynote Speakers
As professionals dedicated to making human skills engaging and impactful through 20–90-minute situational gameplay—an approach that taps into our natural instincts—these themes resonated deeply with us.
We look forward to bringing more insights to you as the L&D landscape evolves. We’d love to discuss the shifts you’re experiencing in your organization’s learning journey.
It’s been a month since we attended the Association for Talent Development (ATD) 2024 conference in New Orleans, where over 9,000 professionals, including inspiring figures like Matthew McConaughey, NYT Best-selling Author Daniel Pink, and Tennis royalty Venus Williams, gathered to share their wisdom and experiences.
The energy and insights we gained continue to resonate with us, and we’d like to share some key takeaways that could benefit your organization:
Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Industry leaders emphasized the critical role of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in driving business success. While EI (or EQ) has been a popular concept for a while, its universal significance across cultures, industries, and geographies was a major highlight at the conference. It’s clear that EI is crucial for building high-performing teams and organizations.
AI was also a dominant topic at the conference. The myriad possibilities with AI in learning underscore the role technology will play in making us faster, more efficient, and creating more opportunities. However, the key insight for us lies in the symbiotic relationship between EI and AI. As we move forward, professionals and organizations will benefit when EI fuels AI with the right inputs and filters algorithmic responses through a layer of human instinct, conscience, and sensitivity.
Heightened self-awareness and, consequently, a heightened EQ can be leveraged to utilize AI in a manner that drives excellence in every way.
Learning Access is Not Equal to Adoption
A critical question posed at the conference was: How do we get learners to want to learn or accept learning? Despite the widespread availability of great content through LMS solutions, adoption remains a significant challenge for many professionals and organizations. The shift must be from extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation, where the yearning for learning “comes from within.”
There is a noticeable trend towards bite-sized, in-depth learning opportunities. This approach not only enhances efficiency but also supports continuous growth and business performance. Our insight is to create learning environments that foster engagement and bring people back to their natural selves.
Sticky Habits for Transformation
Human-centric learning design, especially when contextualized, non-threatening, and non-judgmental, can significantly boost retention and engagement, fostering lasting positive habits.
Insights from Keynote Speakers
- Matthew McConaughey: His keynote on balancing power and humility was both infectious and profound.
- Daniel Pink: Emphasized the importance of knowing what not to do, creating rituals, taking breaks, and making courageous decisions.
- Venus Williams: Shared her insights on mental fortitude.
As professionals dedicated to making human skills engaging and impactful through 20–90-minute situational gameplay—an approach that taps into our natural instincts—these themes resonated deeply with us.
We look forward to bringing more insights to you as the L&D landscape evolves. We’d love to discuss the shifts you’re experiencing in your organization’s learning journey.