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13 Learning and Development Quotes to Spark Inspiration

The moment you put the finishing touches on an amazing course is a feeling like no other. But the journey to get there isn’t always easy. When I’m starting a new project and feeling stuck, I like to read the perspectives of industry leaders to give me the little kickstart I need to spark the right idea. So I put together 13 great learning and development quotes to help jumpstart your creativity as you plan for your digital learning in 2016.

Jack Welch quote about learning

1. An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly is the ultimate competitive advantage. — Jack Welch, former General Electric CEO [Tweet This]

Quote about how play helps us do serious things better

2. It’s play that makes people unafraid to fail and confident to try new things. It’s play that helps us do serious things better because we enjoy them and feel a sense of joy in our achievements. — Jake Orlowitz, Head of the Wikipedia Library, Wikimedia Foundation [Tweet This]

Quote about the importance of training employees

3. The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay. — Henry Ford, Founder, Ford Motor Company [Tweet This]

Mary Poppins You find the fun and the job's a game

4. In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and — SNAP! — the job’s a game! — Mary Poppins, gamification pioneer [Tweet This]

Quote about the importance of graphic design in learning

5. If learners think it looks bad, you may have lost a good percentage of the battle in getting them to pay attention. — Patti Shank, Director of Research, The eLearning Guild [Tweet This]

Change the culture through learning

6. What we need to do is change the culture through better design. — Jake Orlowitz, Head of the Wikipedia Library, Wikimedia Foundation [Tweet This]

Churchill quote about learning

7. Where my reason, imagination or interest were not engaged, I would not or could not learn. — Sir Winston Churchill [Tweet This]

Information must be organized well to be helpful

8. Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit. — C. William Pollard, Chairman, Fairwyn Investment Company [Tweet This]

Learning is like a journey

9. Learning experiences are like journeys. The journey starts where the learning is now, and ends when the learner is successful. The end of the journey isn’t knowing more, it’s doing more. — Julie Dirksen, learning strategy and design consultant [Tweet This]

To not mess with intrinsic motivation

10. Do not mess with intrinsic motivation. Amplify it instead to create delight. — Jake Orlowitz, Head of the Wikipedia Library, Wikimedia Foundation [Tweet This]

Gamification incentivizes behaviors you want

11. To me, gamification is finding the way to incent the behaviors that you want your team to have. — Dave McDermott, Director of Sales Enablement, Kelly Services [Tweet This]

If employees don't feel valued, neither will customers

12. The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. And if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers. — Sybil F. Stershic, marketing and organizational advisor [Tweet This]

Learning can emerge as spontaneous order

13. Learning can emerge as spontaneous order at the edge of chaos. — Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology, Newcastle University [Tweet This]

So the next time you find yourself needing a design boost or a little extra motivation, look for help from people who have some advice to give.

Need to talk it out with an expert at an award-winning training company? Contact us about your next project.

ABOUT ALLENCOMM

AllenComm provides award-winning learning and technology services for workplace learning and development. Consistently ranked as one of the top firms of its kind, AllenComm develops custom solutions in leadership development, compliance, onboarding, sales enablement, and skills development.

Our enterprise clients select us for their most critical and transformational initiatives based on our expertise in learning, technology, and creative media. Our 40+ years of experience have given us a unique perspective—one that allows us to work across multiple industries while also gaining insight into an industry’s specific context and learning challenges. Our value is demonstrated by the value realized by our learning solutions. Most clients realize a decrease in overall learning time while increasing learner performance.

Services

  • Training Consulting: Our learning and development consulting practice focuses on change readiness, needs analysis, and the learning tech ecosystem. Many of the success factors for a learning initiative take place before and after the design and development of a learning program. We ensure the alignment, readiness, and integration necessary to realize the full value of your investment.
  • Instructional Design: Our custom solutions team designs and develops innovative learner experiences for eLearning, instructor-led training, and blended solutions. We deliver experiential learning across all formats and modalities, including online tutorials, gamification, microlearning, simulations, project-based learning, and much more.
  • Learning Tech Ecosytem: Our learning technology services support the performance, analytics, and interoperability of the learning tech ecosystem. We provide the expertise to support engaging learner experiences (LX), manage the LX, and track valuable analytics. We are also platform-agnostic, working with any commercial LMS, LCMS, LXP, authoring system, or HRIS.
  • L&D Talent: We provide specialized staffing, outsourcing, and placement for any role or function on your learning and development team. Our clients have access to an extensive network of learning experts, instructional designers, and instructional writers who meet our high standards for quality. We can augment the output of your existing team, expand access to learning experts, or quickly respond to unforeseen changes in resourcing needs.

representative talent profile

instructional writer

Position(s): Lead or supporting writer
Years of Instructional Experience: 2+
Number of Completed Projects: 15+

Key Skills: Instructional Writing, Technical Writing, Instructional Design, Content Curation, eLearning Development, Curriculum Development, Course Authoring, Storytelling, Learning Assessment, Editing, Proofreading, AI Prompt Engineering

Media Skills: Use of stock media libraries

Strengths: Problem-Solving, Clear and Concise Writing, Tone and Style, Formatting, Consistency, Creativity, Communication, Active Listening, Research, Brainstorming, Collaboration, Attention to Detail, Adaptability

Career Highlights:

  • Scripted over 100 hours of learning content and supporting materials for different modalities for both US and global audiences  
  • Adapted writing style and reading grade level to suit design specifications and learner needs in several different industries (finance, healthcare, manufacturing, etc.) 
  • Used generative AI to supplement source content and to accelerate the writing process (without plagiarism) 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

learning experience designer

Position(s): Learning Experience (LX) Designer or Strategist
Years of Instructional Experience: 7+
Number of Completed Projects: 30+

Key Skills: Learner Experience Design (LXD),  Instructional Design, Learning Assessment,  Hybrid Learning, Learning in the Flow of Work, Project-Based Learning Methodologies, Cohort and Social Learning, Learner Experience Platforms

Media Skills: LX journey maps and representations of other interconnected or integrated learning strategies 

Strengths: Systems Thinking, Stakeholder Communication, Instructional Design Strategy, Learning Theory, Training Effectiveness

Career Highlights:

  • Designed personalized learner experience (LX) journeys for an organization of 30k (with 5 tiered tracks) 
  • Curated existing LXs that could be leveraged in new learning journeys for other roles, with measurement at key milestones to evaluate progress and success 
  • Wrote up the specifications for branching scenarios, question libraries, options for audio/visual media, and more, connecting each learner experience to a personalized journey 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

instructional media specialist

Position(s): Lead or supporting graphic designer, lead motion video artist
Years of Instructional Experience: 6+
Number of Completed Projects: 40+

Key Skills: Visual Design, Illustration, UX/UI Design, Storyboarding, Animation, Audio Engineering

Media Skills: Engaging illustrations, 3D models, character design, storyboarding, live-action and motion graphic video creation, audio recording and editing, client branding, and more to enhance media and create engaging touchpoints that resonate with learners 

Strengths: Brainstorming, Collaboration, Visual Communication,  Color Theory, Typography, Layout and Composition

Career Highlights:

  • Completed projects with extreme attention to fonts, colors, spacing, and more that ensured integrity with client branding requirements 
  • Designed and integrated media based on project-specific content that reflected the learner audience, established realistic learning environments, allowed for hands-on practice in virtual environments, and promoted diversity and engaging storytelling
  • Created quick-reference illustrations learners could access on the job to help them make fast, effective decisions   

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

lms admin

Position(s): Admin or sub-admin for Learning Management System (LMS)
Years of Instructional Experience: 5+
Number of Completed Projects: 15+

Key Skills: LMS Configuration, User Management, Course Management, System Maintenance, Reporting, Data Analysis, System Integrations

Media Skills: Network and tech-stack diagrams to communicate system architecture and integration 

Strengths: Troubleshooting and Analysis, Learning Analytics, User Administration, Technical Proficiency, Documentation, Adaptability

Career Highlights:

  • Managed a curriculum of more than 1,450 course offerings in the LMS for more than 10,000 learners 
  • Uploaded, tested, and ensured the readiness of new and relaunched programs 
  • Created and maintained reporting workflows to meet stakeholder needs 
  • Provided on-demand support to the learning team to answer questions and promptly address concerns 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

learning project manager

Position(s): Learning project manager, project lead, or coordinator
Years of Instructional Experience: 5+
Number of Completed Projects: 35+

Key Skills: eLearning Development, Resource Coordination, Project Management (PMP Certified), Agile and Waterfall PM Methodologies, Budgeting and Forecasting, Scheduling, Quality Assurance

Media Skills: Visual reporting of project plans via Gantt charts and other standard formats

Strengths: Problem-Solving, Communication, Active Listening, Collaboration, Decision-Making, Attention to Detail, Adaptability, Time Management, Risk Management, Budget Management, Team Coordination and Delegation

Career Highlights:

  • Managed concurrent award-winning projects without missing deadlines or wasting resources 
  • Completed several projects earlier than the expected timeline and under the anticipated budget 
  • Built strong relationships with returning client partners for multi-phase initiatives or course maintenance projects 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT (SME)

Position(s): Industry-specific specialist
Years of Instructional Experience: 5+
Number of Completed Projects: 5+

Key Skills: Content Curation, Specialized Content Development, Industry-Specific Expertise, Domain Expertise (e.g., Leadership, Onboarding, Compliance), Content Review

Media Skills: Recommendation and review of technical diagrams or industry-specific images

Strengths: Specialized Content Knowledge, Content-Gathering, Simplifying and Organizing Complex Material, Brainstorming, Collaboration, Documentation of Source Content, Decision-Making, Technical Content Review

Career Highlights:

  • Helped create, gather, and organize over 50 hours of content for projects with specific industry or learning needs and contextual nuances
  • Facilitated the decision-making process and collaboration between internal and external teams to consolidate feedback into actionable next steps 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

LEARNING STRATEGIST

Position(s): Lead strategist or performance consultant
Years of Instructional Experience: 7+
Number of Completed Projects: 20+

Key Skills: Needs Analysis, Learning Theory, Learner Experience Design, Learning Analytics and Measurement, Performance Mapping, Behavioral and Performance Analysis, Content Curation, Curriculum Analysis, Change Management

Media Skills: Curriculum maps, learner experience journeys, and conceptual program wireframes

Strengths: Big-Picture Thinking, Critical Thinking and Analysis, Problem-Solving, Creativity, Stakeholder Communication, Research, Design, Collaboration, Facilitation

Career Highlights:

  • Conducted a comprehensive learning needs analysis for customer services representatives that included both product knowledge and interpersonal skills development 
  • Prioritized alignment of business and learner needs, such as high-impact accessible design solutions within budgets or agile timelines, for award-winning projects
  • Designed strategies for measuring performance and results over time to inform continued client success 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

Instructional Designers

Position(s): Lead or supporting designer
Years of Instructional Experience: 3+
Number of Completed Projects: 15+

Key Skills: Instructional Design, Adult Learning Theories, eLearning Development, Learner Experience Design, Curriculum Development, Course Authoring, Writing, Learning Assessment

Media Skills: Simple graphic design using stock imagery, audio production

Strengths: Adaptability, Problem-Solving, Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, Technical Proficiency, Attention to Detail

Career Highlights:

  • Led the design and development of an onboarding program for new manufacturing employees
  • Scripted technical instructional content for high-tech, product knowledge training
  • Developed hybrid materials for both instructor-led training (ILT) and microlearning tutorials

Technical Skills: