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London · 29 September 2026

What if we're wrong about performance?

What if skills aren't the issue, and a learning programme is no longer the answer?

Charles Jennings · Alex Boulting

Chiswell Street Dining Rooms

What the conversation explored

Charles Jennings and Alex Boulting opened a conversation about whether organisations are too quick to diagnose performance issues as skills problems.

  • when learning is the answer
  • when it is not
  • diagnosis before intervention
  • what organisations are learning about performance
  • Charles Jennings asked why learning programmes aren't always the answer.
  • Alex Boulting asked whether we are misdiagnosing performance problems as skills problems.

Contributors

  • Portrait of Charles Jennings

    Charles Jennings

    Charles Jennings is a workplace learning and organisational performance expert with over 40 years’ experience, including a partner of the 70:20:10 Institute and serving as Chief Learning Officer at Reuters and Thomson Reuters.

  • Portrait of Alex Boulting

    Alex Boulting

    Alex Boulting is an Organisational Development leader with over 20 years’ experience across GSK, IBM, Amnesty International and Transport for London.