You know that sinking feeling when you launch a learning program and... crickets?
I was nodding along hard during Harold's session when he described L&D teams building "amazing programs" and just expecting people to show up. We've all been there. You spend months perfecting your LMS, curating content, getting stakeholder buy-in, and then you're shocked when engagement is flat.
Harold called this "castles in the air" - and honestly, that stung because it's so accurate. We build these beautiful learning experiences in isolation, forgetting that we're competing with TikTok, urgent Slack messages, and the daily chaos of people's actual jobs.
But here's what hit me most: Harold didn't just call out our blind spots. He connected them to bigger patterns that are quietly sabotaging L&D teams everywhere. When someone says "all content is created equal" or "AI will fix everything," they're revealing fundamental misunderstandings about how learning actually works.
Above is the recording from Harold's L&D MythBusters session. Below are my takeaways on why these four myths are so dangerous - and the practical frameworks you need to avoid them completely.
Stop marketing your programs like they're mandatory medicine
Harold's first myth - "build it and they will come" - exposed something most L&D teams won't admit: we're terrible at marketing.
Think about it. You launch a new learning platform and send one email announcement. Maybe a Slack message. Then you wonder why people aren't engaging. Meanwhile, your marketing team sends 7 touchpoints just to get someone to download a white paper.
The reality check: Your learning programs are products. Period. And products without marketing die quiet deaths in the digital graveyard of unused tools.
Here's your new marketing playbook:
