L&D Must Challenge Requests, Not Just Respond to Them

In my experience over the past 30 years, I still observe many L&D teams spending far too much time trying to fix problems that were never really learning problems in the first place.

Leaders ask for communication training, resilience workshops, or accountability sessions, and L&D responds with energy and good intent. Yet the issues they are trying to solve are almost always deeper than the request suggests.

The real cause is rarely the skill the workshop was designed to address. It might be unclear expectations, inconsistent leadership, a culture that confuses people, or processes that create friction. None of these are solved by a slide deck or a classroom session. But L&D is still expected to try.

The Trap of Responding Instead of Diagnosing

This is the trap the profession falls into. L&D becomes busy, but not valuable. We deliver sessions, gather feedback, share attendance figures, and hope the organisation sees progress. Yet when behaviour does not shift and performance remains unchanged, the quiet conclusion is that learning did not work. The truth is that the wrong problem was diagnosed from the start.

L&D has to stop accepting requests at face value. Until we do, we will continue to create activity without impact.

The Work Begins with the Right Questions

The shift happens when L&D slows the conversation down. When we stop reacting and start asking questions that uncover what is really going on. The most influential L&D teams do not ask what course someone wants. They ask what outcome they are trying to achieve and what is blocking it. They explore whether the issue is capability, clarity, culture, or leadership.

These are not easy conversations. They can be uncomfortable. They require confidence. But they transform the role of L&D from provider to partner, and that is where the real value lies.

Where the L&D Academy Creates the Shift

This is the foundation of the TwentyOne Leadership L&D Academy. The Academy exists to build L&D professionals who think like capability consultants. People who can diagnose issues, not just deliver solutions. People who partner with leaders at a strategic level. People who influence culture, shape behaviour, and support performance in ways content alone never can.

The Academy does not teach people to run better workshops. It teaches them to become indispensable.

If your organisation wants L&D to solve the right problems and drive real behaviour change, the TwentyOne Leadership L&D Academy is where that shift begins. Email me matt@twentyomeleadership.com