Skills, Capabilities & the Chaos In Between: Why L&D Must Do Less to Do More

There’s never been more pressure on learning teams to respond, react and roll out. The pace of change inside organisations — from shifting tech to evolving priorities — is relentless. Every week brings a new ‘must-have’ skill or ‘essential’ programme, and L&D finds itself in the crosshairs: overloaded, under-resourced, and struggling to separate what’s urgent from what’s important.

But amidst the noise and constant motion, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: it’s not about delivering more training — it’s about enabling better performance.

From Skills Lists to Capability Thinking

Many organisations still operate under the assumption that jobs are defined by long lists of skills. You’ll see role descriptions asking for someone who’s part graphic designer, part video editor, part facilitator — and oh, can they manage the LMS too?

But work doesn’t really happen in neat lists. The reality is more fluid. Tasks and tools evolve. Context changes. And focusing too tightly on fixed skills can limit flexibility just when it’s needed most.

That’s why we advocate for capability thinking.

Capabilities reflect outcomes, not just activities. They give people the tools and mindset to navigate complexity, adapt under pressure, and deliver results even when the playbook changes. Skills may be part of that, but they’re just one layer. Capabilities endure — because they’re grounded in behaviours, beliefs, and context.

Why Learning Teams Should Say No (More Often)

Here’s a question every L&D team should be asking: what are we saying no to?

Because if everything is a priority, nothing is. Saying yes to every training request, every course idea, every stakeholder ask — without challenging the need or assessing the impact — leads to overload. And worse, it erodes trust in the function’s strategic value.

Sometimes, the right answer isn’t a course. It’s clarity. It’s communication. It’s better tools or processes. L&D must move beyond being the team that always delivers, to being the team that delivers what matters.

That shift starts with understanding the real business problem — and being bold enough to say, “This isn’t learning.” Or, “Not right now.”

L&D as Basecamp, Not the Rescue Team

Too often, learning teams are expected to drop in with solutions when something breaks. But the real value lies in getting ahead of the crisis — equipping people to prevent the problem before it arises.

We see L&D’s future not as a training provider, but as a basecamp — the support hub that gets teams ready to scale whatever challenges lie ahead. That means focusing on fundamental capabilities, not trend-chasing. It means curating what already exists, rather than reinventing the wheel. And it means giving people the confidence to self-direct, not spoon-feed.

Reframing Learning’s Role

So, how do you get there? How do you shift from reactive to proactive?

Start by stripping it back:

• Relevance first. If it doesn’t help someone do their job better today, tomorrow, or next quarter, why are you building it?

• Design for reality. Micro-formats, optional content, search-friendly. It’s got to fit into flow of work — or it won’t stick.

• Align to outcomes. What’s the capability gap, and how does this initiative close it?

• Support thinking, not just knowing. Capability is about judgement and adaptability — not just information.

Relevance, Durability, Transferability

When choosing what to invest in, learning teams should ask three simple questions:

1. Is it relevant? Will this help people do their jobs better now?

2. Is it durable? Will it still matter six months from now?

3. Is it transferable? Will it support development across roles, teams, or future opportunities?

This lens can prevent the all-too-common trap of delivering for the loudest voice in the room, or getting swept up by a temporary trend.

Where We Go From Here

It’s easy to overengineer learning. It’s also easy to oversimplify it.

Real impact lies in striking the balance — between strategy and pragmatism, between individual needs and organisational goals, between what people want and what they actually need.

Let’s stop measuring L&D by how much it delivers. Let’s start measuring it by what changes as a result.

Because skills might get people through today — but capabilities will carry them through what’s next.

Want more?

You can listen to the full conversation in this episode of The Learning Reinvented Podcast.

It's honest, practical and (as usual) a little bit provocative.