Will Thalheimer is a learning expert, researcher, instructional designer, business strategist, speaker, and writer. He has worked in the learning and performance field since 1985, and is the author of Performance-Focused Smile Sheets: A Radical Rethinking of a Dangerous Art Form.
Will was the project manager for the first commercially viable computer-based leadership simulation, The Complete Manager. He led the Strategic Management Group’s product line, Leading for Business Results, increasing revenues fourfold. He has trained managers to be leaders at numerous Fortune 500 companies, teaching such topics as leadership, persuasion, conflict resolution, and business strategy. He has led change management efforts and workshops.
In 1998, Will founded Work-Learning Research to bridge the gap between research and practice, compile research on learning, and disseminate research findings to help chief learning officers, instructional designers, trainers, e-learning developers, performance consultants, and learning executives build more effective learning and performance solutions and environments.
Will’s clients have included giant multinationals, e-learning companies, government agencies, and institutions of higher learning. The short list includes Walgreens, UNUM, Microsoft, MIT, Pfizer, Allen Interactions, Type A Learning Agency, eInstruction, Monitor Group, ADP, Questionmark, Midi Compliance Solutions, Facility Einstein, Defense Intelligence Agency, The eLearning Guild, Rockwell, Raytheon, Boeing, Kodak, AGFA, AMD, PPG, Nabisco, Ericsson, Abbott, Novartis, SMG, and the U.S. Postal Service. His research and writings have led the field in providing practical research-based recommendations through his online publications (www.work-learning.com/catalog), published articles, and his industry-leading blog (www.willatworklearning.com).
Will holds a BA from the Pennsylvania State University, an MBA from Drexel University, and a PhD in Educational Psychology: Human Learning and Cognition from Columbia University.