Harald’s Curious Corner

Learning should not be measured by how much information we deliver. It should be measured by whether people can perform better in the moments that matter.

In this episode, I speak with Clark Quinn, Executive Director at Quinnovation, Co-Director at The Learning Development Accelerator, advisor to Elevator 9,  and author of Designing for Learning in the Real World. Clark brings decades of experience in learning science, instructional design, and performance-focused learning. His perspective is clear. Organisations need to move beyond content delivery and start designing experiences that create real behavior change.

We talk about why traditional training approaches often fail, why learning requires practice and feedback instead of just information, and how L&D teams can shift from order takers to performance architects. We explore the role of AI in learning, why technology should support human judgment rather than replace it, and why grounding learning programmes in science matters more than ever.
Clark leaves us with an important challenge: stop measuring whether people enjoyed learning and start measuring whether learning actually changed outcomes.

Some curious takeaways:
  • Design learning around performance, not just content delivery
  • Measure outcomes, not learner satisfaction scores
  • Use AI thoughtfully while keeping humans in the loop

Episode highlights:
(00:00) Welcome to Harald’s Curious Corner
(01:41) What is learning, and why is it so misunderstood?
(03:32) Debunking myths: learning styles and the "accidental instructional designer"
(04:45) L&D's identity shift: from facilitator to performance architect
(05:54) Event model vs. content model of learning
(08:35) Why liking a course doesn't mean it actually works
(11:06) Are we measuring the wrong things, skill gap or competence gap?
(12:56) The pharmacist vs. the doctor: two tales of L&D
(14:12) Do the analysis first, don't prescribe before diagnosing
(17:23) Entertaining learners vs. motivating learners
(22:13) Building "super fans": what L&D can learn from marketing
(25:29) How people actually want to learn (and when long-form still matters)
(28:07) Is L&D doomed by AI?
(41:51) What separates genuine learning-tech value from hype

Connect with the guest:
Clark Quinn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinnovator/ 
Explore Quinnovation: https://www.quinnovation.com/
Explore The Learning Development Accelerator: https://ldaccelerator.com/
Check out Elevator 9: https://www.elevator9.com
Explore Clark’s book, Designing for Learning in the Real World: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Learning-World-Clark-Quinn-ebook/dp/B0GX2WQG85 

Follow me on the following sites:
Harald Overaa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haraldovera/ 
Subscribe to Harald’s Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6901795950403186688/

What is Harald’s Curious Corner?

Harald’s Curious Corner is where curiosity meets connection.

Harald chases that question with a guest, gathers perspectives from voices across the industry, and then steps back to reflect on what it all means. The show unfolds like a story arc, part exploration, part roundtable, part reflection, blending imagination with analysis.

The result: trusted insights, meaningful conversations, and forward-looking takeaways that shine a light on where learning is headed next.