Individual, Team and
Organizational Learning
Solving a particular reengineering problem may be
worth $1 million to the company. Applying that knowledge
throughout the organization may be worth $10
million. And if the team members apply the new leadership
and team skills developed in the action learning
program, that learning may be worth $100 million over
the course of the team members’ careers.
Thus, the learning that occurs in action learning is
more valuable than solving the problem itself.
Group members are advised from the very first session
that they have a responsibility for their own, their
group’s and their organization’s learning. They understand
that time will be set aside for learning, and that
the action coach will carve out and manage this time.
(In the next article, we will explore in greater depth the
responsibilities of the action coach.)
How Action Learning Generates Learning
In action learning, the group creates knowledge
through 1) concrete experience; 2) observing and
reflecting on this experience; 3) forming generalizations
from experiences; and 4) testing the implications of
those generalizations.
Through these four stages of knowledge creation, the
learning takes place at two levels: the first level is the level
of the actual problem-solving task; the second level is the
level of reflection on how the group worked together.
For example, the concrete experience mentioned above
involves solving the problem. Clearly, the group learns
as it finds the strategies to resolve the problem. But, at a
second level, the group is also learning through the
group experience required to resolve this problem. For
example, the group learns how to interact effectively,
overcome disagreements, and tackle other group issues.
At the observation and reflection stage, the group
observes and reflects at the first level on the strategies
chosen to resolve the problem. Will those strategies work?
But at this stage as well, the group reflects at the second
level on the skills that they learned in the process:
group skills, such as decision making and group interaction,
as well as individual learnings.
Forming generalizations involves, at one level, generalizing
the specific solutions developed in the group to
address other problems. At the second level, it involves
generalizing the group skills learned in the process.
Finally, the test and experiment stage involves testing
the strategies to resolve the problem at one level, while
at the second level, the group reflects on whether its
new behaviors and values acquired in the action learning
process will help them work on additional problems.
Competencies Developed in Action Learning
As mentioned before, the competencies developed in
action learning involve individual, group and organizational
skills and knowledge.
Individually, group members learn such skills as critical
reflection, inquiry and questioning, systems thinking,
active listening, self-awareness, empathy, problem
solving, decision making, presenting and facilitating.
The learning process leads to becoming aware of, and
changing as necessary, one’s beliefs, values and basic
assumptions.
Leadership skills are another important set of skills
learned through action learning. For instance, action
learning initiatives help group members build what is
now known as emotional intelligence, which consists of
five primary abilities: self-awareness, managing emotions,
motivating oneself, empathy and handling relationships.
Every leadership skill just listed can be
demonstrated and used in the action learning setting.
Action learning also develops group skills. Action
learning groups quickly mold into high-performance
work teams. For example, all high-performance work
teams have certain characteristics, such as clear and common
goals, a willingness to work with others, and the
courage to question others. Action learning develops
these attributes. Since the first stage of the action learning
project is defining the goal, for example, the outcome is a
clear and common goal for the team. And since one of
the ground rules of action learning is that all statements
are in response to questions, the courage to question others
is quickly developed in even the shyest participant.
Finally, action learning builds learning organizations.
Learning organizations have four components: increased
learning skills and capacities, a transformed organizational
culture and structure, an involvement of the entire