Action Learning is premised on the belief that learning is not simply a matter of acquiring new skills or knowledge through reading or listening to lectures. Instead, it is about doing something differently, applying and using new skills or knowledge, or thinking differently. In other words, it is an active, experiential process.
Learning is only effective when it leads to practical applications, demonstrating that we have internalized and can utilize the new information. In other words, learning is about change. The best way to learn how to do something different is to focus on that task at hand – something we have an interest in, an issue we need to tackle, an opportunity to grasp, or a problem we need to resolve. By learning from this experience, we can acquire as much information from our successes as our mistakes.
Simply doing something different is not enough. We need to learn from what we do to progress and improve. This means understanding why certain things don’t work, learning from our successes, and understanding how they came about. Taking the time to reflect on our experiences is essential to gain the necessary insights. Action learning stresses the simultaneous achievement of actions and learning. It is a process designed to address challenges and problems. It involves five steps:
- Situation/assess
- Frame/ask
- Explore/acquire
- Reframe/appraise
- Action/apply.
Assess the situation: Understand the problem and identify the people involved. The first step in action learning is understanding how the problem or challenge you wish to address has developed. For example, is it a long-standing problem, or has it developed recently? Who else is involved in the problem? What impact does it have on them? Who else needs to be involved in solving the problem?
Frame the problem: Ask questions about the challenge and develop a shared understanding of the issue. Once you have gained an understanding of the situation, you can frame the problem. This will help you to identify the issue at hand and select the right people to work with on the challenge. This involves asking questions about the challenge and developing a shared understanding of the issue. Only then can you begin to develop possible solutions. When framing a problem, it is helpful to consider the following questions: –
- Why do we have this problem?
- What are the causes of this problem?
- What are the facts and figures associated with it?
- What are the consequences?
- What are we hoping to achieve?
- What are the constraints we are working within?
Answering these questions can help to develop a shared understanding of the problem and set the stage for finding a successful solution.
Explore options: Acquire information and knowledge about potential adaptations. Action learning is about doing something differently. After you have framed the problem, explore the potential adaptations you could make sense of. This allows you to use your experiences and offers you the chance to acquire new skills and knowledge. This might include brainstorming, meeting with others, conducting interviews, reading up on related information, and participating in discussions.
Reframe the problem: Appraise the options and select a course of action. At this stage, you will have information and knowledge about the problem, but perhaps more importantly, you have also developed a shared understanding of the issue. This might include asking yourself:
- Are the causes of this problem still relevant?
- Are the facts and figures as they were?
- Are the consequences still as serious?
Take action: Implement the chosen adaptations and monitor their effects. Action Learning is about taking new insights and putting them into action. It is less about theory, facts, and data and more about applying these things to real-life problems. We take a hands-on approach to workplace learning, allowing employees to gain real experience and skills, reflect on their own experiences, discover new things about themselves, and grow as people. It is the closest form of learning to real-life situations putting your new skills, knowledge, and insights into practice.
Action Learning is not a product but a way of doing things. Action Learning is an experiential approach to workplace learning utilizing a continuous cycle of exploration and adaptation. When action learning is done well, it is not about producing a report or a document. It is not about the ideas and thoughts we express. Instead, it is about how we create those ideas and thoughts.
It is about how we:
- Approach our challenges.
- Tackle our problems.
- Learn from our actions.
- Apply our knowledge and skills.
As David Kolb states, it is about a “way of thinking and doing.”
Related Post: Brand Development with Action Learning