I learnt where organisations fail with skills. Here’s what to avoid

Over the past few episodes, I’ve been chasing one big question with Koreen Pagano, Dr. Sandra Loughlin, Eran Vaisfailr, Matthew J. Daniel, and Samantha Murray: What does it actually take to build a skills-based organisation that works in the real world?

In this wrap-up, I’m connecting the dots. “Skills-based” can mean a lot of things, and it’s easy to get stuck in frameworks, taxonomies, and tools before you’ve nailed the basics. The theme that kept coming up is simple: skills only matter when they help the business make better decisions and help people do better work. That means starting with the problems you’re trying to solve, getting serious about data quality and validation, and designing for adoption, not just architecture.

We also look ahead. The next arc shifts from internal capability building to learning beyond the walls of the organisation. We’ll discuss customer education and what it means to drive real outcomes with external audiences.

Some curious takeaways:

• Start with the business problem, not the skills framework
• Validation and data quality are the difference between signal and noise
• Adoption is the real transformation, not the technology

Episode highlights:

(00:00) Welcome to Harald’s Curious Corner

(02:23) What a skills-based organisation really changes beyond L&D

(05:26) How to align skills with actual business needs

(08:46) Creating contextual learning solutions that work in real time

(12:11) Where AI fits and the value of durable skills

(15:22) The power of user experience in skills-based learning

(17:55) What’s next: shifting from internal L&D to customer education

A look back at this arc:

How to Build a Skills-based Organisation: https://youtu.be/aj_PJ-nOThY

Why Skills Only Matter When They Solve Real Business Problems: https://youtu.be/8E2PyOgTZEU

Why Informal Learning Can’t Be Ignored: https://youtu.be/yjU1fXfGRV8

Connecting Skills with Real-World Career Paths: https://youtu.be/SuT-xXSBt3k

How to Build Experiences Users Actually Engage With: https://youtu.be/4S1rY-Eredw

How to Create Agile Organisations with Skills and AI: https://youtu.be/w6W_RbTZMmk

Connect with the guests:

Koreen Pagano on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/koreenpagano

Sandra Loughlin, PhD on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandraloughlin/

Eran Vaisfailr on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eran-vaisfailr/

Matthew J. Daniel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjdaniel/

Samantha Murray on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-murray613/

Loïc Michel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loicmichel/

Follow me on the following sites:

Harald Overaa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haraldovera/

Subscribe to Harald’s Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6901795950403186688/