Leading Learning Podcast 476: Who Decides? Bringing Sanity to Managing Your Learning Portfolio
Apr 14, 2026
Discussion about how fragmented decision making scatters learning offerings and creates duplication. Conversation on distinguishing input from formal decision rights to reduce chaos. Overview of a four-step portfolio management loop and who should be accountable for making moves. Practical advice on clarifying roles, communicating expectations, and aligning choices to strategy.
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How Dispersed Authority Fragments Learning Portfolios
- Dispersed decision-making leads to fragmented portfolios with duplication, inconsistent pricing, and weak prioritization.
- Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb note committees, volunteers, and departments often act independently, causing accumulation of scattered offerings over time.
Order Taking Keeps Learning Staff From Strategic Work
- Treating education staff as order-takers creates opportunity costs by keeping them busy with requests instead of strategic work.
- Celisa Steele describes staff often asked to 'make this webinar' without vetting modality or outcomes.
Input Is Not The Same As Decision Rights
- Input from committees and SMEs is valuable but not equivalent to decision rights about modality, pricing, or product form.
- Jeff Cobb argues staff—especially education leaders and instructional designers—should convert input into business and design decisions.