How to Stop L&D from Dying a Slow Political Death
A no-BS guide to using Marshall Goldsmith’s smartest model to finally get L&D moving, aligned, and respected.
Alright, buckle up, because this one’s a doozy.
I’ve been reading a lot lately. Just to get the brain ticking again.
We’re unpacking Marshall Goldsmith’s Wheel of Change from his incredible Triggers and dragging it lovingly into L&D, where it belongs.
It seems simple at first glance, but the more I thought about it, the more I saw how it perfectly matches our challenges in L&D.
Now, Marshall Goldsmith uses it as part of his coaching and executive consulting practice with his clients for behaviour change, and he pairs it with his Daily Questions approach (which are active questions, and I’ll also come to it later in a different article).
And in L&D, HR, or change management, we’re often tasked with solving behaviour problems, and that is without the luxury of authority.
A new initiative rolls out, the training happens, the boxes are ticked, and…
… yet, nothing shifts.
That’s when models like this become useful. They give us language and structure, even in messy dynamics.
The version I’ve been working on has a little bit of different order in comparison to the original order. This flow has worked for me as a great guide and it is as follows here:
Accept what’s real (even if it’s inconvenient),
Preserve what’s working (don’t break it just to look busy),
Eliminate what’s getting in the way, and,
Create something new that moves the needle.
It’s a lens. A way to pause, regroup, and reset your strategy when things stall.
If you’ve ever sat through yet another meeting thinking, “Why is this so hard?” this article is going to feel like the light at the end of tunnel.
If you want change in your org (and real change, not just “we launched a platform,”) then you need to know what to accept, preserve, eliminate, and create in yourself, your team, and your strategy.
This is about stopping the cycle of great ideas dying quietly in SharePoint folders.
Let’s go.
1. Accept: Recognize Unchangeable Realities
Ah, the adage…
“You can’t control what others do and say, but you can control what you do and say.”
This has never been truer. Even if you think that the issue is very easy to address, and they’re still like:
They’re not trying to drive you crazy. It also doesn’t necessarily mean they’re incompetent.
Perhaps certain teams are resistant due to past experiences.
Maybe there's a lack of immediate resources.
The decision-maker just can’t see what’s under their nose because of other competing priorities.
Accept that some factors are and will always be beyond our control.
Acknowledging these realities allows us to focus our energy where it can make a difference.
1.1. Making Peace
Sometimes, despite our best planning, a learning initiative just doesn’t land.
Engagement is meh. Adoption is sluggish. People nod in meetings or even heartily agree with you over Teams or Slack, but do nothing different the next day.
It’s tempting to jump into fix-it mode.
Tweak the design! Add more nudges! Push harder! Do another comms! Drive cross-functional priorities!
But often, the real work starts by making peace with what we can’t change.
Here are some things related to change that you can’t control (ask me how I know):
Maybe the org is dealing with change fatigue.
Maybe there's been a string of failed initiatives, and people are jaded.
Or maybe there are too many fires, and too little trust.
In these moments, acceptance isn’t about giving up. It’s about creating room to think clearly.
We stop fighting the current and start reading the river.
This is where you say to a stakeholder,
“I know we’re competing with a lot right now. Let’s talk about what’s realistic.”
That earns credibility. It shows you're not trying to force progress at any cost, and you’re trying to make a difference.
1.2. Delaying
Now, during our change attempts, we often feel pressure to prove our value quickly.
However, I’ve come to learn that rushing is rarely strategic and beneficial in situations exactly like this one.
Delaying is underused wisdom.
You might not be able to solve a problem today, but;
You can observe it.
You can hold space.
You can gather insights.
You can plant seeds with the right people.
So when the moment’s better, things move faster.
Delay with purpose.
When we permit ourselves to wait, we move from reactive to intentional, and that shift often gets stakeholders to lean in.
Because now, they’re part of shaping the solution instead of just being asked to approve it.
2. Preserve: Maintain What's Working
Dear L&D rockstars,
You don’t need to scrap that old onboarding. Not everything needs to be reinvented.
In our line of work, it’s easy to get caught up in what’s not working. However, before we toss the whole thing out or start from scratch, it’s worth asking:
“What is going well here?”
Maybe there's a team that's already doing this well.
Maybe one manager consistently champions learning.
Or maybe there’s a communication rhythm that people respond to.
Don’t disrupt what doesn’t need fixing. Keep people safe by not introducing anything crazy. Instead, name it. Protect it. Expand on it.
Bring it into your next stakeholder conversation:
“We’ve seen great traction in the marketing team and they’re applying it fast. Let’s dig into why that’s working.”
Suddenly, the focus shifts from fixing problems to amplifying what already works while remaining in those safe boundaries. That’s a much easier ask.
Now let’s get into how we can do it, step by step.
2.1. Psychological Safety
Preservation isn’t just about tools or processes. It’s also about trust.
When people are asked to change how they work, they need to feel safe. And that safety often lives in the familiar.
The way their manager checks in.
The rhythm of team standups.
The tone of the learning materials.
Change shouldn’t mean chaos.
It should mean building something new on stable ground.
So preserve the rituals, the language, the relationships that give people stability. That’s what helps adoption feel doable instead of disruptive.
2.2. Maintaining
Now that we know we don’t have to rush to fix everything, let’s take a breath. Not everything is broken.
There’s usually something in an initiative that’s working. This might be some process, some behaviour, some spark of momentum. However, we’re often so focused on what’s failing, we bulldoze the good stuff in the name of transformation.
Slow down. Take a breath, and look closer.
Maybe learners are showing up to sessions (even if they’re not finishing them).
Maybe one department is quietly killing it while everyone else flounders.
Maybe the content isn’t the issue, but the delivery is.
This is where we protect the parts of the system that don’t need disruption. We say to stakeholders:
“Before we rework the entire strategy, let’s keep what’s already getting traction.”
That does two things:
It keeps you from creating unnecessary chaos.
It signals to stakeholders that you’re not here to change for the sake of change. You’re here to make what’s working work harder.
2.3. Improving
Preserving doesn’t mean freezing in place. Sometimes, what’s working just needs a sharpened edge.
If a program is okay, don’t tear it down.
Make it tighter. Shorter.
More relevant.
Take something passable and make it powerful.
Maybe a manager enablement series is getting good reviews. However, no one’s applying the tools.
That’s not a sign to scrap it. It’s a sign:
To improve the post-session reinforcement,
To build in accountability,
To pair it with a real-life challenge they’re working on.
Improvement is your chance to raise the bar without raising resistance. It’s the quiet power move.
And when you say to a stakeholder:
This is already getting good feedback. What if we added just one small shift to increase impact?
You make yourself look like someone who knows how to make good things better.
That’s not just useful. That’s influence.
3. Eliminate: Cut What’s Holding You Back
Before you can do anything new—or get buy-in for it—you’ve got to make space. And that means being brutally honest about what’s wasting time, energy, and attention right now.
This is the part most teams avoid, and rightfully so.
Why?
Because letting go is uncomfortable.
However, if we don’t trim the fat, we end up piling shiny new ideas on top of outdated, bloated systems, and then wonder why nothing sticks.
Cutting isn’t reckless when done thoughtfully,
Therefore, let’s break it down: some things need to be trimmed.
Others need to be nuked.
3.1. Reducing
First of all, not everything needs to be burned to the ground. I’ve said this on my posts on LinkedIn a million times. Sometimes, it just needs to be less.
That bloated onboarding checklist that’s ten steps longer than it needs to be? Reduce it.
That leadership course with eight modules that could’ve been three? Reduce it.
That meeting to prep for another meeting about the next learning sprint? You get the idea.
In L&D, we get stuck in the habit of adding. More content. More slides. More sessions.
But more doesn’t equal better—it equals fatigue. And the more you pile on, the less anyone remembers.
Start by asking:
What’s still here just because no one questioned it?
Then go to your stakeholders and say:
We’re not removing value—we’re removing noise. Let’s make what matters easier to access and use.
That kind of clarity makes you look like a strategist, not a content machine.
3.2. Eradicating
Now let’s talk about the stuff that needs to go.
Not trimmed. Not revised.
Gone.
This is the dusty compliance course no one remembers taking.
The monthly report that no one reads.
The outdated “learning portal” that is just a glorified file dump.
And worst of all? The learning metrics that sound important but mean nothing like “total hours spent in training,” as if boredom equals ROI.
Eradicating isn’t about ego or disruption. It’s about freeing up space—mental, emotional, and operational—for things that drive behaviour change.
When you eliminate dead weight, you give learners focus. You give stakeholders clarity.
And you give yourself the freedom to stop maintaining things just because they’ve always existed.
So here’s your script:
This has run its course. Let’s cut it and redirect the energy toward something that works.
You don’t need permission to tidy up the learning ecosystem. You just need the guts to say,
This isn’t helping anymore.
4. Create: Build What Moves You Forward
Once you've made space, cleared the noise, trimmed the fat, and stopped clinging to what no longer serves, it’s time to build. This is the part everyone wants to jump to first, but without accepting, preserving, and eliminating. You don’t want to layer fresh paint over a crumbling wall.
Creation in L&D isn’t just about adding shiny new programs, but more about building with intent, and it should check these three boxes:
Things that solve the actual problem.
Things people want to use.
Things that shift behaviour.
Some of that will look like adding, and some of it will mean inventing from scratch. Either way, it starts with clarity, not content.
4.1. Adding
Sometimes, the answer is more, but only if it’s more of the right thing.
You’ve accepted limitations.
You’ve protected what works.
You’ve cleared space.
Now you’re in a position to layer in high-impact additions that fill a gap. Not because someone asked for “more training,” but because there’s a strategic reason to build.
This could mean:
Adding a quick reference guide where people are fumbling post-training.
Adding a manager prompt to reinforce learning in team meetings.
Adding a Slack nudge, not another 90-minute workshop.
Here’s the trick: treat every addition like it costs real money, even if it doesn’t. If it doesn’t deliver a clear outcome or move someone closer to action, it doesn’t cut it.
This is where you say to stakeholders,
“We’re adding this because it directly solves [X]. Not because we need to look busy.”
That’s how you show up as a partner, not a content machine.
4.2. Inventing
Now and then, the solution doesn’t exist yet. That’s when you invent.
This is the part where L&D gets to stop reacting and start designing.
Maybe the problem isn’t a knowledge gap, and it’s a feedback vacuum. So you build a habit-building framework for managers.
Maybe the issue isn’t that people aren’t learning, but it’s that no one’s connecting it to the day job, and there’s no immediacy. So you create a learning-to-application loop with real-world challenges.
Inventing doesn’t mean throwing spaghetti at the wall. It means having the courage to ask:
“What would work here? Even if we’ve never done it before?”
And then building that.
This is where L&D stops being order-takers and becomes strategic operators.
While there’s some value to delivering requests, it’s not the only thing you should be doing.
And with this approach, you’re solving problems people haven’t figured out how to name yet.
So… What’s Your Next Move?
This isn’t just another model to file away for later. The Wheel of Change gives us something better: permission to think like adults in a system that too often treats L&D like a suggestion box.
You don’t have to fix everything.
You don’t have to redesign the entire strategy overnight.
But you do need to get clear on four things:
What needs to be accepted?
What deserves to be preserved?
What has to go?
And what’s worth building from scratch?
Your superpower is in how you think and in how you help others see.
Not in the tools, or the decks, or the LMS.
And if this framework gets your wheels turning? Good. That’s the point.
Let’s make learning work like it’s supposed to.
And if you lost track of the book, here it is: Triggers by Marshall Goldsmith
If you want to talk through how to apply it to your own mess of stakeholders, legacy systems, and half-baked initiatives?
You know where to find me:
I promise: I’m not giving surface-level advice or selling anything. This is just real talk and actionable strategy.
Let’s learn from each other!
Transparency Bit (Because, You Know, The Internet)
Sometimes I use affiliate links, e.g. like the one for that book I recommend (not just affiliate-hunting). If you buy through it, I might earn a tiny commission. We’re talking coffee money, not private island vibes.
You don’t have to use the link, though. Google the book, buy it wherever, or borrow it from your cat’s therapist or your local library. It doesn’t change what I recommend or how much it costs you.
I’m just following Amazon’s rules and trying to fund the writing snacks and the Turkish black tea.