What if better workplace learning meant less instruction and more experience? Jo Living challenges traditional approaches to L&D, arguing that meaningful behaviour change comes through practice, reflection and real decision-making. From poker simulations to immersive experiences, she explores how organisations can bridge the gap between knowledge delivery and workplace performance.
Companies invest billions each year on learning and development, yet much of it fails to change behaviour in any meaningful way. The issue is not resources or intent, it’s that most workplace learning is designed to be consumed, not applied.
Many organisations struggle to translate learning into measurable improvements in performance
In the UK alone, employers spend tens of billions each year on training and development, yet the return on that investment is increasingly questioned. Research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) consistently shows that many organisations struggle to translate learning into measurable improvements in performance, while employees often report that training feels disconnected from the realities of their day-to-day roles. The scale of the investment only makes the gap between learning and behaviour more difficult to ignore.
Mind the learning gap
Traditional formats like presentations, online modules and workshops are largely passive. Employees sit through presentations absorbing key messages in the moment and quickly return to the pressures of day-to-day work where those lessons are rarely recalled, let alone implemented. Knowledge is delivered, but seldom embedded. Resulting in a persistent gap between what people are taught and how they actually perform when it matters.
This gap becomes most prominent in high-stakes moments. Decision-making in the workplace rarely happens in controlled, low-pressure environments. It often involves uncertainty, incomplete information and time pressure. Yet these are the exact conditions which L&D programmes fail to replicate. Employees are trained in theory, but not in judgement.
This missing action opportunity
As a result, organisations continue to invest in learning that does little to shift real-world thinking. The problem is not just inefficiency but missed opportunities. If learning doesn’t translate into action, then it cannot meaningfully improve performance.
Some organisations are beginning to experiment with a different approach. Rather than focusing on content delivery, they are designing learning experiences that require active participation, decision-making and reflection. Experiential models aim to simulate the kinds of environments in which employees actually operate in, forcing individuals to engage with risk, ambiguity and consequences in real time.
Within my own work, I’ve focused on using poker simulations and strategic gameplay as a framework for experiential learning. While unconventional, it creates a structured environment in which people are forced to make decisions under uncertainty, manage risk and act with incomplete information. Rather than being told what good decision-making looks like, participants experience it in real-time and then reflect on the consequences alongside others.
Social learning elements
This kind of immersive learning also creates something that traditional formats often lack; shared experience. Colleagues develop a common language around decision-making, risk and behaviour. Learning becomes something that is not only understood individually but reinforced collectively. Importantly it is also engaging. When learning is interactive, enjoyable and even fun, it is far more likely to be remembered and applied.
The shift is subtle but significant. Instead of asking employees to absorb information, organisations are asking them to practise judgement. Instead of removing pressure, they are introduced to it in a controlled way. And instead of treating it as a one-off lesson, they are embedding it in experience.
If companies want to see real behaviour change, this shift is essential. The modern workplace does not reward those who simply know the right answers but rewards those who can make the right decisions in uncertain conditions. Learning and development needs to reflect that.
Until it does, the gap between knowing and doing will remain.
Jo Living is the Founder and CEO of Aces High
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