Have you ever seen an absolutely stunning piece of digital learning and thought, "Wow, I need to up my game!"?

I have. And it’s exhilarating. Seeing great design—something truly innovative, visually engaging, and deeply effective—lights a fire in my belly. It pushes me to create something even better, to refine, to rethink, to take learning to the next level.

But here’s the problem: we don’t see enough of it.

The Learning and Development (L&D) industry is too secretive. Companies hold their best work close to their chest, keeping it locked away as if sharing it would somehow diminish its value. The result? Designers, developers, and instructional experts are working in silos, trapped within their own creative bubbles. We’re all out here trying to create impactful, engaging learning, but without exposure to fresh ideas, we risk stagnation.

And that’s a problem. A big problem.

The Creativity Crisis in Digital Learning

Let’s be brutally honest: L&D has a creativity problem. Not because there aren’t brilliant designers, storytellers, and strategists in this space (there absolutely are), but because we’re not sharing enough of what good looks like.

When you work in isolation, you unknowingly recycle what you’ve done before. You tweak, you refine, you iterate—but you don’t revolutionise. And if an entire industry is operating like this, we’re just creating new versions of what already exists, rather than taking bold steps forward.

Imagine if graphic designers never saw each other’s work. If filmmakers never watched other films. If musicians only ever listened to their own compositions. The quality of creative output would plummet.

And yet, in L&D, this is what happens all the time.

We have the same authoring tools. The same access to technology. The same knowledge of how people learn. But without fresh inspiration, without seeing what others are doing and how they’re pushing boundaries, we’re not pushing ourselves hard enough.

What Happens When We Share?

When we see truly exceptional learning design, it raises the bar for everyone. It makes us rethink what’s possible. It forces us to innovate.

💡 Think about the last time you were inspired. Maybe it was a beautifully animated course, a seamless user experience, a unique interaction that made you go "Whoa, I’ve never seen that before!".

That moment of inspiration is what drives progress.

And progress in L&D isn’t just about prettier courses. It’s about better learning. More engagement. Higher knowledge retention. Real behaviour change.

The best work challenges us. It motivates us. It forces us to step up and think, "How can I make something even better?"

But for that to happen, we need to see the best work out there.

Breaking the Secrecy: How We Change the Game

So why is learning and development so secretive?

Some argue competitive advantage—that if we reveal our secrets, we lose our edge. But let’s face it: the real magic of digital learning isn’t in the tools—it’s in the execution. It’s in the design thinking, the storytelling, the psychology behind it. And that? That can’t be stolen—it can only be inspired.

Here’s what needs to change:

1. Show Your Work

Why aren’t we showcasing full course previews more often? Not just screenshots and "Look, we used Storyline again!" posts. I mean real, in-depth looks at what makes a course effective.

🎬 Share video walkthroughs—showcase how your learning flows, how users interact with it, and why it works.

💡 Write case studies—not just about what you built, but why. What challenges did you solve? What design decisions did you make? What was the impact?

2. Create Spaces for Inspiration

Imagine if there was an online gallery of the best e-learning designs. A creative playground for L&D professionals to explore and get inspired.

🌎 Open-source e-learning repositories where developers and designers can share templates, layouts, and interactions.

💡 Industry-wide design showcases—not just awards ceremonies, but interactive events where L&D teams demonstrate their best work and discuss the thinking behind it.

3. Compete on Creativity, Not Secrecy

Competition isn’t bad—it’s essential. But let’s compete on creativity. Let’s push each other to be better, design better, think better. Let’s set the bar higher.

This isn’t about handing out blueprints for success—it’s about fueling innovation. Because when we compete with great ideas, bold execution, and jaw-dropping experiences, learners win.

Final Thought: The Future of L&D Depends on This

If we keep everything behind closed doors, we will fail to inspire the learners of tomorrow.

We’ll keep making nice-looking, functional, but ultimately forgettable learning. The industry will plateau. Creativity will dwindle. And the learning experience? It’ll suffer.

But if we open the doors—if we share, if we challenge each other, if we compete with creativity—we will push digital learning to heights we’ve never seen before.

And that? That’s the future we should all be striving for.

🔥 What do you think? Should L&D companies be more open about their best work? Let’s talk. Let’s inspire. Let’s create. 🚀