Off the Hamster Wheel: How L&D Can Move From Urgent to Strategic
When you can't seem to get off the hamster wheel of urgent requests but want to work strategically. What can you do?
These days, I’m often talking with Learning and Talent Development (L&TD) professionals who want to work as true strategic business partners, but they can’t seem to get off the hamster wheel of urgent requests. Working proactively or strategically sounds great in theory, but it feels more like a dream than a reality.
Why We Get Stuck in a Cycle of Urgency
Why is the move from reactive to strategic so difficult? Your situation may vary, but the most common causes I see and hear include:
A deeply rooted transactional culture. If L&D has always responded to last-minute requests and fulfilled training orders, stakeholders don’t see any reason to break that cycle. From their perspective, it works since they get what they ask for.
Pressure to do more with less. In a time when every dollar is scrutinized, many L&D teams are being asked to do more with fewer resources. That should push us to change how we work and set stronger boundaries. But instead, it often creates fear. If we say no, will we become irrelevant or expendable? So, we work harder, not smarter.
An extremely rapid pace of work. When requests exceed resources, we cram more into a day than we should and we move as fast as we can from task to task, project to project, meeting to meeting, etc. But strategic work requires intentional, focused time to create a plan and follow through proactively. At a breakneck pace, that can feel impossible. So, we just keep moving and trying to “catch up.” Ironically, this reinforces the very transactional model we want outgrow.
There my be other factors, but when we combine cultural norms and expectations with pressure, fear, and speed, strategic work feels unrealistic.
So, What Can We Do?
The goal isn’t to stop serving the business. The goal is to break the cycle of constant last-minute fulfillment and shift towards a more proactive and strategic approach.
This isn’t easy and it won’t happen overnight. But you can start moving in the right direction immediately. Here are some ideas to create change in the short term, mid-term, and long term.
Short Term: Immediate Change
Like anything else, small changes rule the day when it comes to getting started. Instead of pushing back hard on requests or attempting to stop them altogether, start by giving yourself a little more space to respond strategically and intentionally.
Create strategic time blocks. Put time on your calendar (30 minutes/day or even one hour/week to start) to pause and view your work (and requests) from a wider, more strategic lens. Ask questions to reframe your work and the choices in front of you. What’s best for the business? What will most help the business improve? What can L&TD do that will have the biggest impact?
Eliminate rapid response syndrome. I’ve definitely fallen into this one in the past. When you’re moving fast, it’s tempting to respond the moment a request hits your inbox to get it out of the queue and check it off. But immediate responses tend to be reactive and default to the quickest and easiest solutions. This type of response doesn’t take the larger business or what might make more sense long term into account. Instead, practice a new habit: don’t respond right away. Let the requests sit until you’ve had time to think them through during your strategic block. Top tip: Set a turnaround time for yourself (I try to adhere to 24 business hours), to ensure you don’t leave someone without an answer for long. It’s also o.k. to say, “I got your note, I’m working on it and will get back to you by ____.” Keep your promises.
Learn more about the business. It’s difficult to respond strategically without the necessary context. Spend a little time learning about the business goals, initiatives, challenges, key metrics, etc. Use this information to inform your responses and further questions. If you don’t have time to devote to further study, simply start paying attention more. Every interaction with a business colleague, every business meeting, and every business communication is an opportunity to pick up clues about what’s most important.
Mid-term: Shift Your Practices and Standards
As you begin to build traction, start strengthening the skills and systems that support a more strategic L&D function.
Improve performance consulting skills. Practice asking questions that uncover the pain point behind a request and determine whether training is the right solution. Strong performance consulting skills help you say yes to the right work.
Get access to strategic plans, goals, initiatives, and key metrics. What information drives business decisions where you work? Find it. Read and study this information before anyone expects you to. Then, bring related questions and recommendations to stakeholders before the urgent requests show up.
Start where you are. It isn’t always an option to push back. Sometimes you have to take the order. If this is the case, say yes, but add new elements like clearer outcomes, effectiveness measures, ties to performance, etc. You might even start just by asking some new questions. You can slightly shift your approach, adding unexpected value, even when you can’t change your request. Top tip: Ask yourself this question, “If someone who was already working as a strategic business partner in their organization had to take this order, how would they approach it? What might they do differently?
Think beyond "yes or no." You are allowed to stand in your expertise, share what’s possible, what isn’t, and what tradeoffs exist. Invite stakeholders to partner with you to determine the best solution given the current conditions. There’s almost always more than one option. Don’t be afraid to get creative.
Create operating standards. Can you name how long it takes to complete a typical, high-quality project for your team? What inputs do you need? What results do you typically see? Write it down. Share it with your team. Update your intake process to reinforce better questions and clearer requirements. Alignment begins when the team can tell one consistent story about how L&TD works with stakeholders, rather than leaving it up to stakeholders to define.
Create a mid-level L&TD strategy. Start with the overall organizational goals and challenges. Then choose one (and only one) high-impact, business-aligned project on your L&TD strategy for the year. Leave room for urgent requests because they will keep coming. Over time, you will begin to shift the ratio of strategic work to reactive requests. And always infuse measurement of your operations and evaluation of your programs so that you collect the data needed to make future decisions.
Long term: Build a Mature, Strategic L&D Function
The long-term goal is an L&D function that operates with the same maturity and intention as the rest of your business (or better). It should be grounded in business priorities, clear processes, and measurable impact.
The future looks like this:
A healthy balance between daily operational work and strategic priorities
Work is guided by an intentional plan aligned to the organization’s biggest initiatives and challenges
The team functions according to clear expectations, operating standards, and performance metrics.
There is a repeatable, well-understood process for partnering with stakeholders
Decisions are driven by data instead of anecdotes, urgency, volume, or hierarchy
You can step off the hamster wheel and move toward proactive, strategic work. But it’s a process that’s built through small steps compounding over time to create meaningful change.
Start small. Stay consistent. And keep moving toward the vision.
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To learn more about how we might work together, including assessing your team’s current status with the L&D Strategic Business Partner Team Assessment and corresponding Team Development Roadmap, contact Jess today.
