In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Keith Lillico, Associate Director of Global Learning Development at a Fortune 100 Pharma Company, where he leads enterprise-scale learning initiatives.
We discussed how he's taking a different approach to learning design, focusing not on chasing shiny new tech, but on understanding the deeper psychological drivers that make people genuinely want to learn.
His approach addresses a problem in corporate learning: billions are spent annually on programs that fail to engage learners because they focus on delivery methods rather than motivational design. Keith shows how understanding psychological drivers creates learning that people actually want rather than simply tolerate.
These 6 insights stood out most from our conversation:
- Tap Into Individual Intrinsic Drivers
- Study Why People Joined the Company
- Design Engagement as a Wave Pattern
- Spark Curiosity Intentionally
- Remember the Ethics of Learning Design
- Invest in Strategic L&D Skills
1. Tap Into Individual Intrinsic Drivers
In Keith's Words: "I look at motivation in this sense of who they are as a person, what motivates them on their own. I don't wanna force motivation. I don't wanna fake something up, you know? 'Oh, here's your pizza party.' That's always the joke. But look at that learner of who you are as a person outside of work. Because what happens with people is they'll do what they have to to get by at work, but outside of work is where they chase their passions, where they engage in stuff."
Instead of relying on external incentives that generate temporary compliance, L&D teams should figure out what naturally energizes their learners in their personal lives. This means looking beyond standard employee data and truly getting to know your people to understand passion points and design learning experiences accordingly.
Genuine engagement comes from connecting work-related learning to natural motivations that already exist. While most organizations continue to deploy pizza parties, points, and badges, Keith advocates for a deeper understanding of personal motivators.
2. Study Why People Joined the Company
In Keith's Words: "If you take a closer look at it and you look at why people join your organization or look at why people are there, you can start to find at least some of the commonalities. If you work for an aspirational organization that wants to help make an impact in the world, I would say a decent amount of the people there are driven by high idealism. That won't cover everyone, but that will cover a large portion."
Even in large organizations, the act of choosing to work somewhere reveals motivational patterns that L&D can leverage. By identifying why people selected your organization or function, you can design learning that resonates with these shared values.
Rather than trying to custom-design for thousands of individuals, Keith looks for the motivational patterns that already exist. People self-select into companies and roles that align with their values, making this a powerful lens for designing learning with built-in engagement.
3. Design Engagement as a Wave Pattern
In Keith's Words: "When you think about engagement, it's rarely this straight line or the straight upward line with a learner. It's kind of like this wave of, 'Oh, I'm engaged. Oh, I'm not engaged. Oh, I'm engaged.' And you have to have those waves at the right points to keep them engaged before they just close out the program or completely tune you out."
Learning programs should be designed with strategically placed motivational peaks rather than attempting to maintain constant engagement. By understanding different motivational drivers, L&D teams can map these "waves" to ensure that just as one group might be losing interest, a new engagement trigger pulls them back in.
Keith maps out engagement patterns, recognizing that different motivation types will respond to different triggers at different times. By alternating these triggers, he ensures that as one group's motivation dips, another's rises—creating a sustainable learning journey that keeps everyone moving forward.
4. Spark Curiosity Intentionally
In Keith's Words: "I love and I'm obsessed with countdown clocks. And the reason why is because the psychology behind it's way more complex than anyone will ever imagine. You could just put in the clock in the corner and have it count up and not tell anyone why it's there. That's a whole different motivator because everybody's gonna take that differently. Some might be like, 'Oh my gosh, I have to hurry through it.' Others might be like, 'Yeah, I don't care.' Or others might be like, 'What's going on there?'"
Ambiguity can be a powerful motivational tool when used ethically. While most learning designs try to make everything explicit, strategically introducing elements that learners must interpret themselves can drive engagement through curiosity and personal meaning.
This approach transforms learning from passive consumption to active interpretation, but requires careful implementation to avoid confusion or anxiety.
5. Remember the Ethics of Learning Design
In Keith's Words: "Training is inherently manipulative. People take manipulation as a bad word and I see why. But in essence, you see a state that someone's not achieving that you want. You apply levers and pressures on them to get them to the state that you want or they need to be at. With that, we have an ethical responsibility to not take it too far."
Learning professionals need to acknowledge that they are applying psychological principles to influence behavior, and with that comes significant ethical responsibility.
Organizations should establish ethical guidelines for learning design that balance effectiveness with respect for learner autonomy, to help people achieve what is truly right for them.
6. Invest in Strategic L&D Skills
In Keith's Words: "In the future, we're gonna see the role of the developer disappear in all honesty, and I hate to say it because I started out as a developer and that's where my heart lies a lot. But the person who is actually making the content or making it beautiful is going to disappear because AI's gonna be so easy to develop it. If you're looking to move forward and stay relevant in industry, that's where you have to shift is into that strategic role."
As AI automates much of L&D execution-oriented tasks, L&D professionals need to build skills around learning strategy, evaluation, and brain science rather than just content development or delivery.
L&D professionals must evolve into strategic partners who understand the "why" of learning rather than just the "how." The future belongs to those who can connect learning initiatives to business outcomes, prove behavioral change, and apply motivational science at scale.
Until next time,
Vince
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