Leaders, Stop Confusing Clicks With Capability

I’ve seen it too many times. A new LMS gets rolled out with fanfare—hundreds of modules uploaded, dashboards flashing, completion rates climbing. Leaders celebrate. Yet on the ground, nothing changes. Service doesn’t improve. Managers still struggle with feedback. Teams still freeze under pressure.

Why? Because clicks aren’t capability.

An LMS is a tool, not a teacher. It can track progress, but it can’t prepare a supervisor to handle a guest complaint at midnight. It can’t coach a new manager through their first tough conversation. It can’t replace the wisdom of a mentor who has walked the path before.

When I worked with shipboard teams, I saw the difference. Crew who only “completed” e-modules rarely applied the knowledge under pressure. But when the same crew had a role-play, a huddle, or a simple debrief with peers, they performed better, faster, and with more confidence.

Real learning doesn’t live in a system. It lives in conversations, in practice, in reflection, and in those messy, unrecorded moments when people choose to grow.

So the question is: Does your LMS open doors for that kind of growth, or does it simply tick boxes?

As L&D leaders, our job is not to worship platforms—it’s to enable people. Systems should support learning, not limit it. And capability should always matter more than completion.

Where have you seen the real difference—inside the LMS, or outside it?

#LearningAndDevelopment #LeadershipDevelopment #LearningCulture #CapabilityBuilding #FutureOfWork #PeopleDevelopment