The learning crisis facing organisations and professionals at this time

By 2026, most organisations will claim to be “learning organisations,” yet few will adapt at the pace their environment demands. Despite rising investment in learning technology, leadership programmes, and continuous development initiatives, progress has not kept pace with the speed and complexity of change. The greatest threats ahead are not technological, but structural, cultural, and cognitive barriers that many organisations and professionals have yet to confront.¹ 

“Unless organisations and professionals face the speed and scale of change coming at them, learning will become performative rather than transformative, and relevance will erode quickly,” said Michael Gullan, CEO of G&G Advocacy, an eLearning consultancy specialising in employee development and educational marketing. 

Five threats facing organisations 

1. Learning decoupled from strategy 

Many organisations still treat learning and development as a support function rather than a strategic engine. Courses are commissioned reactively, frameworks rolled out without context, and programmes often fail to address real business priorities. Research consistently shows that learning initiatives that are not aligned with strategy don’t deliver measurable impact.²

Do this!  “Make learning a strategic contract, not a catalogue of courses. Tie every major learning initiative to one or two explicit business outcomes, with executive endorsement and clear measures of success. If it fails to advance the business strategy, then interrogate the learning outcomes,” said Gullan. 

2. The illusion of continuous learning 

Many initiatives create the appearance of development. But activity is not learning. Completion metrics mask shallow engagement and don’t account for integration and application. Studies show that when learning is not applied, performance remains unaffected.³ 

Do this! “Shift from completion metrics to evidence of capability. Look for demonstrated skills through projects delivered and changed behaviours. Build reflection and application into learning design, not as an afterthought,” Gullan advised. 

3. Over-automation of development 

AI will transform learning design and delivery, but many organisations are automating before deciding what should remain human. Coaching, sense-making, ethical judgement, and leadership growth require friction and dialogue. In 2026, organisations that outsource too much development to algorithms will have efficient systems but hollow cultures: technically capable, yet strategically fragile. 

Do this! “Use AI to scale production, but integrate human-led interactions, such as coaching, leadership development, and collective sense-making. Design learning ecosystems where technology supports thinking instead of replacing it,” said Gullan. 

4. Managers can be the weakest link 

Managers are now expected to coach, develop, manage performance, and support well-being, yet investment in their growth and development has not kept pace. This creates a bottleneck that can collapse organisational learning. In 2026, the greatest threat may not be budget, but underdeveloped managers who cannot translate intent into practice. 

Do this! “Treat managers as the primary learning engine. Prioritise their development and equip them to coach, give feedback, and build their teams,” Gullan said. 

5. Poor learning feedback 

Despite advanced analytics, many organisations struggle to learn from experience. Lessons are documented and forgotten, insights are siloed, and failures are forgotten. True learning organisations capture knowledge from action, feed it back into systems, and adapt behaviour accordingly. Those who don’t will repeat the same mistakes more quickly and on a larger scale. 

Do this! “Turn experience into data, and data into decisions. Build simple, repeatable mechanisms to capture lessons from projects, failures, and successes, and mandate their use in future learning design. Reward learning from failure as much as delivery,” suggests Gullan. 

Five threats facing professionals 

1. Skills obsolescence outpacing identity 

Employees’ skills are changing faster than their identity. Many still define themselves by roles or expertise that are becoming irrelevant. In 2026, the risk is not only outdated skills, but outdated self-concepts that block future learning. 

Do this! Redefine your professional identity around adaptability, not expertise. Ask, “What am I becoming?” rather than “What do I know?” Treat identity as evolving and deliberately build skills beyond your current role. 

2. Passive dependence on organisational learning 

Professionals who rely solely on their employer for development are increasingly vulnerable. Organisational priorities shift, budgets fluctuate, and roles disappear. Access to learning is often mistaken for responsibility.  

Do this! Take ownership of your development. Build a personal learning strategy aligned to future roles and emerging skills, not just current job requirements. Use organisational resources, but don’t wait for permission to learn. 

3. Cognitive overload and shallow mastery 

Information has exploded, but attention has not. Many professionals learn about many things without mastering any. The result is brittle competence and surface-level knowledge that collapses under pressure. 

Do this! “Choose depth over volume,” said Gullan. Prioritise critical skills and pursue mastery through practice and feedback. Stop consuming information that does not improve performance. 

4. Learning without application 

Too much development happens in isolation from real work. Courses are completed and certificates earned, yet behaviour remains unchanged. Without application, feedback, and reinforcement, learning decays rapidly. 

Do this! Apply what you learn within a few days or lose it. Link every learning activity to a real challenge and seek immediate feedback. If learning cannot be applied quickly, it’s probably premature. 

5. Lack of reflection 

Constant connectivity and performance pressure leave little space to think. Yet reflection is where learning consolidates, and meaning emerges.   

Do this! Make reflection part of your learning goals. Build regular pauses to ask what’s being learned and how behaviour is changing. Reflection is how insights are nurtured. 

The way forward 

The defining challenge of our time is not whether organisations and professionals are learning, but whether they’re learning the right things, in the right ways, for the right reasons. Learning must move beyond course delivery to capability building, beyond metrics to meaning, and beyond speed to sense-making. Organisations that thrive will treat learning as a disciplined, strategic, and deeply human.

References: 1. World Economic Forum. The Future of Jobs Report 2023. Geneva: World Economic Forum; 2023.  2. Garvin DA, Edmondson AC, Gino F. Is yours a learning organization? Harvard Business Review. 2008;86(3):109–116.  3. Baldwin TT, Ford JK. Transfer of training: A review and directions for future research. Personnel Psychology. 1988;41(1):63–105.