PODCAST: Messy design, onboarding, and L&D programme management at Google, with Ashley Thomas.

Are you setting out to solve the right problem with your learning design? For Ashley Thomas, this is the question we need to be asking ourselves when we find ourselves in the weeds and design gets messy.

On the road to her current role as L&D Programme Manager at Google, Ashley has seen every facet of the worlds of education and L&D. Through studying a Master’s in Higher Education Administration and a decade of experience in designing and managing L&D programmes, she has gained an appreciation for the imperfect nature of the design process, and the implications that has for creating learning.

Ashley provides us with a look under the hood of L&D programme management and design at Google with fascinating insights that demonstrate her candour in sharing her own personal strategies as much as her experience in L&D. Reminding us that the people designing learning are as human as the learners themselves, Ashley articulates the importance of remembering that thinking outside of the box, trying new things, and being kind to ourselves are cornerstones of working in design just as much as our personal lives.