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When people come to Gale Mote’s presentations and workshops, they usually leave with one key question: “Where does she get that energy?” For 25 years, Gale has been designing and delivering motivational workshops and training classes for all types of industries and organizations. Her firm, Gale Mote Associates, specializes in high-performance work cultures, team development, emotional intelligence, frontline manager training, and organization development consulting. Prior to starting her own company in 1990, Gale worked for various manufacturing enterprises including Del Monte, Square D Corporation, Quaker Oats, and Norand Corporation. In 2014, Gale received one of only four President and Provost Awards for Teaching Excellence from the University of Iowa. Gale has been twice honored by the YWCA Tribute to Women of Achievement. In 2005, she was awarded the Advanced Entrepreneur Award From Women Entrepreneurs in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Gale is a four-time award winner for the Best of Cedar Rapids Award in the Industrial & Labor Consulting Services category by the U.S. Commerce Association. Gale is a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance by ATD and is also an ATD Master Performance Consultant. In addition, Gale is a Certified Coach and Facilitator for EQ-i 2.0, a psychometric assessment that measures emotional intelligence and its effect on people and the workplace. Gale is also an Authorized Partner with Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team and is an Everything DiSC Authorized Partner. Everything DiSC is a transformational tool to help you understand yourself and others to have more effective relationships. She is a graduate of Coe College with multiple degrees in business, economics, and education. Gale holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Iowa, where she is an adjunct lecturer in the Tippie College of Business Professional MBA Program.

Gale Mote

Gale Mote discusses how the flipped classroom is helping her ensure that learning experiences have a positive return on investment for everyone involved.

Why the Flipped Classroom Works for Me!

Amanda Smith talks to Nanci Appleman-Vassil and Gale Mote, who are facilitating the upcoming ATD workshop LearnNow: Flipped Classroom.

Nuts and Bolts of the Flipped Classroom

Authoring Simulation Genres: Game based models

August 2022 - TD Magazine

Game-based motivators can boost team collaboration.

Go the Extra MILE

A GUIDE TO GAME DESIGN AND MODEL BUILDING

As a legendary basketball coach John Wooden once said, “The goal is to create a correct habit that can be produced instinctively under great pressure.” To achieve this goal, he created the eight laws of learning: explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, and repetition. His approach underscores a fundamental truth—learning is not a one-time event but a continuous process of practice and refinement. As players repeatedly practice moves and game strategies until they’re instinctive, learners refine their skills through continuous application. In basketball, every dribble, pass, and shot builds toward mastering the sport. Repetition is the bridge between learning and mastery, allowing individuals to build confidence and fluidity in their skills—whether communicating effectively, leading a team, or adapting to new challenges. Wooden’s insights highlight that, like basketball, learning requires consistent effort, strategic reinforcement, and a commitment to improvement—ultimately transforming knowledge into instinctive expertise. Why Repetition WorksRepetition is the foundation for skill development. When skills and knowledge are repeated, the brain reinforces the neural pathways that make those actions easier and more automatic over time. In learning and development (L&D), this reinforcement is crucial. As Wooden highlighted, it isn’t enough to simply explain or demonstrate content; learners must actively engage, repeat, and refine their skills to master them. Only through repetition can individuals work towards this level of perfection. Additionally, repetition enhances knowledge retention. As they engage in these repetitive practices, they build long-term muscle memory and cognitive fluency until they can recite their learning content to perfection. Repetition in Practice With Learning ToolsThe best learning tools utilize repetition to enhance skill development. Video-based coaching, for instance, allows learners to refine their skills through repeated practice, self-evaluation, and iterative improvement. Research by Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Römer (1993) suggests that expert performance primarily results from deliberate practice rather than innate talent, with top performers accumulating thousands of hours of structured training over time. Through asynchronous coaching, learners can record, review, and refine their responses multiple times before submission, helping them develop fluency and confidence in communication skills like sales pitches, leadership presentations, and customer interactions. This iterative process mimics real-world situations where professionals must continuously refine their messaging to drive impact. Furthermore, when learners receive AI-driven feedback or peer reviews, they can adjust their delivery and approach more effectively. Similarly, game-based learning leverages repetition through engaging, interactive challenges that encourage learners to reinforce key concepts while having fun. Research indicates that gamification has a moderate positive effect on learning outcomes compared to traditional methods (Sailer & Homner, 2020). By allowing learners to replay scenarios, tackle adaptive challenges, and receive instant feedback, game-based learning creates an environment where repetition feels natural rather than monotonous. Whether solving puzzles, answering quiz questions, or participating in real-world simulations, learners deepen their understanding and strengthen their decision-making abilities with each attempt, while having fun. Just as repetition is essential in mastering basketball, it is equally crucial in learning. Through structured coaching and gamified practice, learners refine their skills and ultimately prepare them to execute with precision when it matters most. 

From the Court to the Classroom: The 8 Laws of Learning

When Apple released the first iPhone in 2007, it turned the mobile world on its head. It eliminated the physical keyboard, untethered the internet, democratized photography, and let you pick the apps. Why was this so genius? Because they didn’t just iterate on the mobile device concept; they gave you an “everything machine.” They weren’t selling functions; they were providing possibilities. The iPhone wasn’t a contented improvement over existing technology; it was a reimagining of what’s possible. Before the iPhone hit the market, the device-du-jour was arguably the Motorola Razr. Its slim, dark lines screamed coolness when opened one-handed. But you simply had a Razr. Just like everyone else. And 4-4-3-3-5-5-5-5-5-5-6-6-6 just spelled "hello." The iPhone destroyed that overnight. You made the iPhone what you wanted it to be. You took your own photos and made them backgrounds. You installed and used the apps of your choice. You defined the device instead of it defining you. So, why this trip into digital nostalgia? Because we are again at a time when the scales are about to tip and the world shifts. Artificial intelligence (AI)—call them bots, enhancements, or features—is showing up in nearly every piece of software. Even my browser now tries to predict and write for me. (Don’t fret; a real-breathing human wrote this piece.) Likewise, the learning and development space is seeing a rising tide of features like content generation, tone analysis, writing improvements, question creation, and more. While these remarkable functions make designers’ work easier and more efficient, I would argue they are the “default apps” of our day. Put another way, they are akin to the “Snake” game on my original Razr. Before your hackles flare, let me clarify. I loved that Snake game. I spent more hours chasing apples than I care to confess because the app was simple and fun and provided exactly what it was designed to do—just like the AI features showing up in our software. There is unquestionably a desire and necessity for features and functions like these. Sometimes you just need an easy button; sometimes generating 10 questions is the perfect starting place. But what happens when information technology approves a different LLM than the one leveraged in your software? What happens when the generated content is only marginally helpful? What happens when your security team questions the data privacy behind the provided features? These questions drive me to beg for possibilities instead of just features. Because we deal in proprietary content in the corporate learning space, and the need for security, governance, and accountability are paramount, we cannot be satisfied with only single-function, pre-defined solutions. Nor can we continue with right-conscious to secretly copy/paste into the LLM of our preference before the cobra-like questions above rear their heads. So, what is the solution? A rethinking. A reimagining. By no means am I calling for a replacement of single-function solutions. I love the default apps on my phone. What I’m asking for is that software companies also start thinking about possibilities. I appreciate easy buttons, but as an organization, I want to be able to choose and define which AI features show up. I want to bring the services most useful to my team into their workflow. I want to fine tune the results from these tools for a better fit. And I want to choose the LLM that empowers these features. Essentially, I want to determine the best solutions instead of having the software determine them for me. For an example of this type of forward-thinking, look at Xyleme’s Sidekick implementation. It is all about empowering organizations through possibilities. L&D recognizes the value behind personalized learning, and that the best way for someone to improve is to meet their learning needs. That’s all I’m asking for in how we continue the rush of AI implementation. Don’t let your vision be clouded by where we’ve been. Be brave enough to offer possibilities—because the software solution that allows me to choose the AI, determine and meet the needs of my employees, and leverage the services we need, just iterated on the same type of magic that made the iPhone so revolutionary.Now, please excuse me. I must go beat my high score on Snake.

From Features to Possibilities: Why AI in Learning & Development Needs an iPhone Moment

Since the beginning of this decade, we’ve been experiencing a digital acceleration that has forced us to rethink corporate training. With the COVID-19 pandemic pushing everything online in a matter of months, the need to renew virtual formats that develop our teams’ talents has become even more apparent. As we’ve learned from the Contradictions of Corporate Training 2021 report, employees’ main complaints about online training in its current form are that it’s boring and lacks interactivity. HR and L&D professionals already know this, with more than half of those surveyed confirming that simulations of real-life cases would improve the effectiveness of their training. Game-based learning has positioned itself as the best solution to meet everyone’s needs. In the Game-Based Learning in Action whitepaper, we learn what makes game-based learning the most effective methodology for online corporate training, and we hear from some of the HR and L&D managers at companies that are already successfully implementing it.Game-Based Learning in Action: The Three Keys to SuccessTo get the most out of game-based learning, a program must include these three indispensable components:Quality content that’s directly applicable to employees’ jobsElements of gamification paired with an interesting story to keep learners engagedReal-life simulations that provide immediate and personalized feedbackQuality content is essential in any corporate training course. The content is what the employees will be learning, so it needs to be useful to them and to their jobs. In recent years, there’s been a trend toward learning soft skills. Skills such as critical thinking or emotional intelligence are becoming more important to the modern workplace. Game-based learning is particularly well-suited to teaching these skills because it provides experiential learning. An effective game-based learning course will include applicable educational content, with a solid theoretical base and practical cases that allow learners to practice the relevant skills. But once we have the right content, how can we guarantee employees stay motivated and engaged enough to finish the course? Here’s where storytelling and gamification step in.When creating a serious game for a training program, it’s essential to have an interesting story that will keep learners engaged from start to finish. Wanting to know what happens next and how the story ends ensures employees remain engaged and finish the course. And, of course, it wouldn’t be game-based learning without gamification. At the end of the day, gamification makes the course fun. Along with the story, it’s the game mechanics that keep learners motivated to finish the course. Gamification and storytelling increase completion rates and knowledge retention, guaranteeing the success of the training program. The final component of an effective game-based learning program is real-life simulations with personalized feedback. Simulations allow employees to put the knowledge they learn in the course into practice in real-life situations. From this experience, learners gain knowledge on the consequences of their actions in a safe environment, which means they can experiment with different decisions and see different outcomes, leading to a more practical understanding of the knowledge and more confidence in their skills. Being able to see the direct consequences of their decisions gives them direct and personal feedback that they can use to course correct. This ensures no bad habits are internalized and employees understand what they are learning, not simply memorizing. When all these elements work together, we get the kind of corporate training that meets everyone’s objectives and delivers tangible results.In the words of Natasa Basic, FastForward and management trainee program manager at Coca-Cola HBC, who is already implementing a successful game-based learning program, “It is the fine blend of all the elements of game-based learning that makes the Gamelearn serious games impactful, both on experience and development of the learner: quality content for each skill being developed, interwoven with an interactive storyline and gamification that makes learning more engaging and fun, as well as personalized feedback and materials that the learner can download and keep for future reference as a reminder and inspiration for further application in real day-to-day work what they have been learning and practicing in the simulated environment.”

Implementing a Successful Game-Based Learning Program for Corporate Training

Just like the coin flip, we can’t control all the variables in sales. But with better data providing deeper insights to the performance and productivity of the sales organization, we can improve our odds of success beyond 50/50.

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