Harold I wish I could disagree with you but your final line "Learning will not be marginalized, but the learning trades, like scribes of old, will be." rings all too true.

The key word there: marginalized. Pushed to the edges. You're right.

At the 2010 Learning Technologies Conference I said that our profession would in 3 years be at a crossroads where we could choose to change and get more engaged, or carry on and put ourselves at risk. At risk not of extinction but of something much worse: irrelevance. I think we're getting there now. L&D is close to being marginalized, forced further into the Training Ghetto of induction and compliance, while the rest of the organisation gets on with skills, knowledge and performance support.

However, there are bright spots of great practice out there. Learning Leaders doing a great job - let's give them the exposure they deserve and help in sharing what they're doing. 'Good' in L&D today looks very different to what it looked like last century - that's something that needs to be shared widely, and rapidly.