Most training doesn’t fail in the classroom — it fails after it ends.
Not because people don’t care, but because life gets in the way.
We’ve all seen it: learners nodding through a workshop, promising to “apply it,” and then… nothing. Their inbox explodes, the meeting calendar fills, and that great new skill fades before Friday.
That’s where nudges come in.
Nudges are small, timely prompts that make it easier for people to do what they’ve already learned. They’re not reminders to “go do your homework.” They’re smart, well-placed pushes that help the right behavior happen at the right moment — like a calendar ping before a one-on-one that says, “Try that new feedback model today.”
And when you approach nudging like a campaign, not a one-off message, the results stick. Think rhythm, not randomness: a quick email after training, a peer story the following week, a friendly Slack reminder when it matters most. It’s the same psychology marketers use to build habits — only this time, you’re helping people build better ones at work.
I put together a new guide called “Nudges That Make Learning Stick.” It’s a practical, no-fluff playbook with 25 real examples you can start using tomorrow. Whether you’re running leadership programs, compliance training, or microlearning campaigns, this will help you bridge the gap between knowing and doing.
Because let’s be honest — knowing isn’t the goal. Doing is.
And if you like this approach, you’ll love my book Think Like a Marketer, Train Like an L&D Pro — it’s all about using marketing’s best ideas to make learning irresistible and impossible to ignore.