From Order Taker to Strategic Partner with Tracie Cantu

About this episode

Tracie Cantu discusses the shift from viewing the business as a customer to a strategic partner in Learning and Development.

The business is your customer. The learner is your consumer. If you’ve been thinking about it the other way round, this episode will make you think a little differently. Tracie Cantu, Senior Learning Leader and author of Running L&D Like a Business, opens with the idea that when L&D designs for the wrong “customer,” teams end up busy, but not necessarily effective. The result is often more content with outcomes that don’t match. Think learning needs to be formal? Think again. A post-it note on a monitor can be learning if it helps someone do their job, because in some cases, the best L&D output is a job aid, not a course. Governance comes up as well, which Tracie describes it as bowling alley bumper guards. The structure helps teams make decisions without waiting for approval at every step. Learning points from the episode include: 00:00 – 01:06 Introduction 01:06 – 03:29 Tracie’s book and why she wrote it 03:29 – 07:05 The difference between a customer and consumer 07:05 – 09:07 Choosing the right format for the right moment 09:07 – 13:41 AI, job loss, and the rise of L&D business partners 13:41 – 20:59 Letting go of the wheel and empowering others to self-serve…

People in this episode

Guest: Tracie Cantu

Topics covered

• Learning and Development
• Customer vs Consumer
• Governance in L&D
• AI in Business
• Empowerment in Learning

Keywords

• Learning and Development
• Customer
• Consumer
• Governance
• AI
• Job Aids
• Onboarding
• Learning Impact

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: TechSmith Corporation

Books & works: Running L&D Like a Business

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