the conference progressed I began to see the
value of the method and how it could be used
to learn things about my own experience of
authority and leadership that l would never
get access to in a more traditional setting
(Level 2)[1].
Level 3, however, involves a major shift to a
different set of inputs and responses. It is
concerned with change, as the participant
discovers “a capacity to doubt the validity of
perceptions which seem unquestionably
true” (Palmer, 1979, p. 142). In a later study
Palmer, in collaboration with McCaughan
(1994), has extended this thinking by using
ideas from Torbert and Fisher (Torbert, 1991;
Torbert and Fisher, 1992). In this book they
have made the shift from learning in general
to explicit learning about leadership. They
note that what Palmer originally called Level
3 learning requires both involvement and
detachment. It is a sophisticated stance and
one which can be learned only through both
experience and mature reflection on experience.
If someone is to learn to lead, then this
capacity for detachment will be a distinguishing
mark:
Dysfunctional and unjust organizations can
only be transformed by men and women
who are capable of and committed to a
reflexive process of learning ..... The catch is
that ... it appears that very few people
approach life with this sort of non-attachment
to the fundamental distinctions by
which they define themselves (Palmer and
McCaughan, 1994, p. 100).