Books

By Andy Lancaster

Organizational Learning Communities by Andy Lancaster - Reimagine People Development
Driving Performance Through Learning by Andy Lancaster - Reimagine People Development

Introducing My Books

Published by Kogan Page, my books are written to enable learning professionals to practically implement a performance-based culture within their organisation. The first book, ‘Driving Performance through Learning’ is the handbook you need to transform your learning and people development approach, while the second, ‘Organizational Learning Communities’ focuses on empowering social collaboration to underpin a culture of learning and performance.

Organizational Learning Communities

Empowering Social Learning and Collaboration to Improve Performance

Organizational Learning Communities by Andy Lancaster - Reimagine People Development
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About the book

Learning communities transform organisations through sharing knowledge, spearheading practice, solving problems, seeding innovation and supercharging development. So how can you develop a culture of learning in your organisation?

Organizational Learning Communities answers this question and explains how and why this approach can improve individual employee performance and drive overall business results. Written by a leading voice in the learning profession, this book contains everything that Learning and Development (L&D) practitioners need to know to successfully embed learning communities in their organisations. Following the 7Cs model of Cause, Culture, Conditions, Cadence, Content, Contributions and Credit, the book establishes the key factors that underpin thriving learning communities as well as the benefits of social and collaborative learning in the company.

This practical guide establishes strategies to drive community impact and report success to stakeholders, drawing widely on evidence-based research and real-world examples. Each chapter ends with reflective questions to support transfer to the reader’s context. This is essential reading for those involved in facilitating learning communities, or planning on pioneering one, to empower their organisation’s productivity and performance.

Reviews for Organizational Learning Communities

Gavin McQuillan, Head of Learning and Development, RBS

“Organizational Learning Communities is one of the most thought-provoking and inspirational learning strategy books and a must for any future-focused, ambitious learning and development professional. Packed full of fascinating insights and perspectives, and backed by impactful and practical strategies, it holds the keys to unlocking learning communities, one of the most important and transformational opportunities in the world of work. Andy Lancaster is extremely generous in the quality and depth of thinking shared, coupled with providing the opportunity to reflect on and develop your own perspectives. The book delivers a hands-on experience that keeps you coming back for more. It’s a critical text for learning professionals serious about creating meaningful and long-lasting impact.”

Sonali Narendran, Talent and Learning Partner, Starbucks EMEA

“The thing I love about Organizational Learning Communities is how incredibly simple and practical the advice is, whilst being grounded in significant evidence-based research. I particularly found the “So what? Now what?” sections at the end of every chapter helpful, gently nudging you as the reader to reflect and act before moving forward. Social learning is a big focus area for me, I couldn’t have asked for a better toolkit than this book. It’s like having a personal mentor walking with you as you navigate the maze of social learning with others in your organization and is definitely worth purchasing.”

Lisa Johnson, Assistant Director of Leadership, Performance and Culture, NHS Blood & Transplant

“Organizational Learning Communities is an exciting read, offering a practical roadmap for establishing and nurturing organizational learning communities. Through a blend of historical insights, learning theory and personal experience and anecdotes, Andy Lancaster convincingly advocates for the value of learning communities and their effective management. The book equips readers with abundant guidance, tips, and templates, catering to individuals at all levels of community oversight. Its accessible format allows for easy navigation and reference, with thorough citations for deeper exploration.”

Malcolm Taylor, Head of Capability, UK Health Security Agency

“Organizational Learning Communities is a must read for anyone in L&D looking to innovate in their context. It provides key insights into building a community-based learning approach that impacts organizational transformation. In a captivating, easy to read format with much practical advice, Andy Lancaster explores the profound impact that learning communities and a collaborative culture can have on organizational and individual performance. Steeped in research, the book articulates how dialogue and knowledge-sharing empowers collective intelligence, leading to adaptive strategies, the retention of organizational knowledge and sustainable growth. Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned learning leader or a just starting in the profession, this book offers fascinating and actionable insights for cultivating a connected learning culture.”

Driving Performance Through Learning

Develop Employees through Effective Workplace Learning

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Business Book Awards 2020 – HR & Management Category

Driving Performance Through Learning by Andy Lancaster - Reimagine People Development
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About the book

Deliver learning in the flow of work to optimise your L&D activities, improving performance of individuals and the overall business.

Learning and Development (L&D) professionals are uniquely placed in an organisation to improve both individual employee performance as well as the overall performance of the business. To maximise the impact of learning, activities must be aligned with the goals of the organization and delivered in the flow of work so that performance improvement is continuous. The course can no longer be the default learning option and creative workplace solutions are now vital. Driving Performance through Learning shows L&D professionals how to identify business needs and leverage learning that drives performance improvement to enable an organisation to achieve its objectives.

Beginning with an exploration of the fast-changing organisational learning landscape Driving Performance through Learning covers everything from how to diagnose needs through performance consulting conversations, using data and metrics and tracking impact to designing agile solutions by leveraging technology, facilitating social collaboration and vibrant learning communities. There is also expert guidance on curating content, embedding coaching, valuing mistakes and adopting a more self-directed learning approach. This book also defines the key characteristics of the new learning organization and the emerging roles of the future-focussed L&D team and whether these new responsibilities should be developed in-house or outsourced. This is an essential handbook for all L&D professionals seeking to transform workplace learning and drive organizational performance.

Reviews for Driving Performance Through Learning

Gemma Paterson, Head of Culture Innovation at Lloyds Banking Group

“As someone leading change in L&D and trying to drive shifts in how we do things, this book is hugely helpful from a practical perspective thanks to the focus on business outcomes, aligning with strategy and making a real impact on performance. The reflection points help me put the book’s ideas into my own organisation’s context and to question my approach. I’d recommend it for anyone looking to redefine their organisation’s learning approach and philosophy to start enabling learning to happen in the flow of work this book is hugely helpful thanks to the focus on learning making a real impact on performance. I’d recommend it for anyone looking to redefine their organisation’s learning approach.”

Perry Timms, Founder and Chief Energy Office, People and Transformational HR

“In this book, Andy reminds us that performance is key in everything we do. He has crafted the way we mesh learning and performance in one supercharged effort. How, where, when, and what we do to learn and perform are elegantly posed with examples galore and evidence-based ways to bring your learning into an enhancing performance perspective. You don’t have to be in L&D to gain from this excellent book to up your game and make a difference. But if you are, this is you on turbo!

He has crafted the way we mesh learning and performance in one supercharged effort. You don’t have to be in L&D to gain from this excellent book. But if you are, this is you on turbo!”

Mark Reilly, Head of Global Learning Content Design at McDonald’s Corporation

“In a world of fast changing work landscapes where traditional models of organisation design will need to shift, Andy makes the case for L&D to be one of the key architects and change agents in this work evolution. With pragmatic, relevant and actionable examples he shows how L&D can strategically align and integrate learning into work to drive every day and future performance.

In a world of fast changing work landscapes, Andy shows how L&D can strategically align and integrate learning into work to drive performance.”

Reimagining People Development