From Cutthroat to Curious: Rethinking L&D Language

Corporate learning is filled with the kind of language that could use a helmet and a flak jacket.

L&D is a cutthroat industry. A colleague killed it in their presentation. We’re going to smash out that Q4 report. This tip will blow your mind. Just shoot me an email. You’re crushing it today. Management dropped a bomb. Let’s hack your development. We need to capture the market, conquer new frontiers, destroy the competition. And don’t forget to target learners.

Yikes.

We’ve normalised war-zone metaphors for everything from teamwork to spreadsheets. But learning isn’t a battlefield. Design isn’t a battle plan. And people aren’t enemy territory to be conquered.

What would it feel like if we used language that reflected what learning actually is?
Curious. Expansive. Collaborative. Emergent. Uncomfortable. Human.

What if, instead of crushing it, we explored it?
Instead of blowing minds, we opened them?

Language shapes experience. So maybe it’s time to put down the weapons and pick up a better metaphor.