Podcast Summary – Critical Thinking, Invisible Learning, and the Future of L&D with Marc Donelson of Spectrum
Meet Marc Donelson
Spend a few minutes with Marc Donelson and you quickly understand why he has spent nearly thirteen years leading learning at one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. As the Director of Curriculum Development for Spectrum, Marc supports enterprise-wide corporate functions including HR, IT, legal, compliance, and other central operations where clarity, consistency, and performance matter deeply.
He describes his work simply. “Every day it is a new challenge. It is never boring.” What fuels him is the intersection of people, technology, and thoughtful design. Across the conversation, he brings a grounded, practical view of what learning looks like today, and the skills instructional designers need to thrive in a world shaped by AI, complexity, and constant change.
How Marc Found His Way into Learning
Unlike many learning leaders whose careers started in public education or HR, Marc’s introduction to L&D came from a single college course that changed everything. The class was called Computer Assisted Learning, and it operated like a consulting lab. Students chose a professor from a list on the whiteboard, partnered with them as a project client, and built the online learning materials the professor needed.
That early exposure to client conversations and negotiation shaped him. “I loved that process of consulting with a customer or a client and having those conversations,” he recalls. Those experiences made it clear that learning was a place where technology, creativity, and collaboration met in meaningful ways.
He became an eLearning developer, fell in love with tools many seasoned professionals remember well, and laughs at how much time he spent mastering software that is now part of L&D history. “I used to love Authorware and Director,” he says. “I dedicated some time to learning how to do it because I knew if you are going to get a job doing this stuff, you better know how to do it well.”
From there, he moved into instructional design, then performance consulting, and eventually into leadership. He credits much of that journey to leaders who saw his strengths, encouraged him to experiment, and gave him space to grow.
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What Has Changed in L&D
Marc has lived through multiple waves of transformation. Authoring tools, LMS platforms, virtual learning, mobile learning, and now AI have each shaped expectations for how learning is designed, developed, and delivered.
The biggest changes he sees are technological rather than instructional. Principles, he explains, remain stable. “Instructional design principles are the same as they always have been,” he says. “Being able to write learning objectives and engaging activities and giving people practice and not just talking at them. Those principles have not changed in years and years and years.”
Technology, however, is a different story. Generative AI is creating a shift unlike anything L&D has seen. Five years ago, he notes, people predicted VR and AR would transform learning. Those tools have added value in pockets, but they did not reshape the industry at scale. AI, he believes, is different. It is already altering timelines, expectations, and workflows.
But the presence of AI does not diminish the need for skilled learning professionals. “I do not think AI is going to take any of our jobs,” he says. What will change is the value placed on those who know how to use AI well. Designers who combine foundational principles with strategic use of AI will stand apart.
Where Learning Is Headed in the Next Five Years
Marc sees the future of learning unfolding in three major directions.
1. More reliance on technology
Whether it is AI, workflow automation, or new authoring capabilities, technology will continue to accelerate what learning teams can do. The differentiator will not be who adopts the newest tool, but who uses it thoughtfully. “If leveraged well, it can do some great things,” he says. But without strong instructional skills, it will simply help teams produce lower quality training faster.
2. The rise of invisible learning
One of the most compelling concepts Marc introduces is what his team calls invisible learning. Instead of requiring employees to swivel between systems, he wants learning to sit directly inside their workflow so seamlessly that they do not realize formal learning is happening. He uses GPS as the perfect analogy. You follow its directions several times, and then suddenly you know the route on your own. “You do not need the performance support anymore,” he notes. Learning in the future should work the same way.
This shift represents a movement toward in the moment learning, performance support embedded in the flow of work, and simplifying the learning path from knowing to doing.
3. Borrowing from modern media
Marc believes L&D can learn a lot from film, television, and digital media. When studios have millions riding on whether a viewer stays engaged, they invest heavily in understanding attention. L&D rarely has those resources, but we can observe and apply what works. “What is that first 30 to 60 seconds that is really going to grab your attention?” he asks. Strong openers, narrative flow, and visuals that match how people consume content today help learning feel fresh rather than burdensome.
Together, these three trends point toward a future in which learning becomes more embedded, more adaptive, and more aligned with how people naturally engage with information in their daily lives.
The Leaders Who Made a Difference
When asked about his most influential mentor, Marc shares a story of timing, trust, and leadership done well. His former manager gave him something he had not experienced before: freedom to create in the way that suited him best.
That support helped him step into his first leadership role, even when it felt overwhelming. Marc recalls moments when his manager would laugh, look at him, and say, “Remember, you asked for this?” Those interactions helped him develop resilience, clarity, and a leadership style rooted in support rather than control.
He now brings the same philosophy to his own team. He is intentional about identifying the right moments to let people experiment, make mistakes, and learn. Some lessons, he believes, must be learned through experience rather than direction.
What Skills Matter Most Today
When Marc considers the most important skills for today’s workforce, he narrows it down to two: partnering and critical thinking.
Partnering
Across his career, Marc has seen that most challenges in learning projects are not caused by weak design skills. “Very few people struggle because they do not know how to do their jobs,” he explains. The difficulties come from misaligned expectations, unclear ownership, or breakdowns in stakeholder communication.
It is a skill he wishes universities taught more intentionally. “I do not remember ever taking the class on how to partner with stakeholders,” he says. Yet it is essential. Strong partnering skills help projects stay on track, strengthen relationships, and build trust across the business.
Critical Thinking
The second skill, critical thinking, is becoming more important as AI becomes more powerful. Marc references another podcast guest, Michelle Le, whose comments on AI resonated fully with him. “AI is a tool that will give us something to work from,” he says. What matters is what we do with it.
Critical thinking allows designers to evaluate whether AI generated content reflects good learning science, whether it meets business needs, and whether it requires refinement. “We have really got to be much more critical,” he explains. Instead of letting AI accelerate mediocre content, designers must elevate the quality of the output by applying expertise that AI cannot replicate.
This is not just an L&D need. Marc believes the entire world could benefit from more critical thinking. With so much information and misinformation circulating, the ability to question, verify, and evaluate sources is essential.
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How Marc Stays Current
Marc is refreshingly candid about the sources he relies on. For him, learning does not start with academic journals or long form reports. It begins with what he sees on LinkedIn. “What draws my attention is what people are posting,” he says. If something interests him, he goes deeper. His next stop is usually YouTube, where he can hear different perspectives, watch explanations, and gather context quickly.
He balances this with internal publications at Spectrum that help him stay connected to the business environment around him. “You have got to keep up with what your business is talking about,” he notes. Without that insight, it is impossible to build learning that truly supports organizational goals.
Books That Shape Leadership
For aspiring learning leaders, Marc offers two recommendations: Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek and The Servant Leader by Ken Blanchard. He laughs when he admits he is a “big Simon Sinek fan,” but the themes resonate deeply with his view of leadership. He sees leadership as service, removing obstacles so people doing the work can focus on what they do best.
He evaluates his own effectiveness by looking at the outcomes of one-on-one conversations with his team. “If I walk out with more action items than they do, that is usually a good sign,” he says. It is a simple but insightful way to measure whether he is truly supporting his teams or inadvertently creating barriers.
Final Thoughts
Marc Donelson brings a blend of humility, clarity, and steadiness that is rare in a field that evolves constantly. His belief in invisible learning challenges teams to think differently about access, support, and workflow. His emphasis on partnering and critical thinking speaks to the skills that will matter most in a future shaped by AI and rapid change. And his reflections on mentorship and leadership show how powerful it can be when leaders create space for people to grow.
At Spectrum, Marc is shaping learning that does more than provide information. He is building experiences that fit seamlessly into work, help people perform confidently, and evolve with the technology around them. Listen to the podcast today.
This habit helps him connect learning initiatives to real business conditions. When learning leaders understand the pressures their stakeholders face, they can design experiences that resonate and feel timely.
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