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ATD Blog

An Electric Unveiling: Science and Talent on the Move

Monday, May 19, 2014
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Were you in attendance at this year’s ASTD International Conference in Washington, D.C.? If so, I hope you were able to enjoy the Science of Learning community’s terrific new content track, the special Best of T+D giveaway, and a surprisingly sought-after brain-shaped stress ball. If not, I’ve decided the single best word to describe our premier conference event would have to be electric

That word choice sounds a little hokey perhaps, but if you think about what electricity can technically be—energetic, luminous, magnetic—it might start to make sense. For some, including me, the feeling was generated by the launch of this community, the Science of Learning (fondly, “SciLearn”), coupled with the inauguration of the Association for Talent Development  - the new identity and brand for ASTD.  As the SciLearn Community Manager I look upon these twin launches as especially key because I think that SciLearn community members will have a unique opportunity to take talent development into exciting directions.

Revolutionary research findings, especially surrounding so-called “brain science,” are everywhere and making great inroads in our organizations. In responsible hands, new theories and data on how human beings work, learn, behave, and develop can be a great gift to people. We know that without evidence (which can include everything from academic research papers, to literature reviews, to the variety of analytics we capture and track internally), we are essentially throwing the proverbial noodle against the wall to see if it sticks. Tony Bingham, in his latest post about the ATD transition, talks about talent development as providing “a structure around which organizations can organize their training and performance improvement strategies,” with the ultimate implementation being the decision of your own organizations or clients. As researchers, scholar-practitioners, data consumers, and outright fans of the sciences, we have a responsibility to make sure that that implementation is based on what we can observe, explain, and predict, not just what we’ve always done, or worse, what sounds nice. We owe our talent (i.e., our people) far better.

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In literature as in science, the language of beginnings implies inevitable forward motion. It is my goal to help the Science of Learning Community become one of ATD’s most valued partners at every step of the journey. Your voices, expertise, and contributions are central to jump-starting this partnership and maintaining the energy so many of us witnessed in D.C. last week. So please do not hesitate to reach out to me to share your ideas about content, news-coverage, trends, and anything else that’s important to you.

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