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Business Premises - The old Coach House

Components of Action Learning

Action Learning is a powerful problem-solving tool with the ability to build successful leaders, teams and organisations. It involves a small group working on real problems, taking actions and learning as individuals and as teams.

Six components of action learning

Action Learning is most effective when all six of these components are in operation:

  1. A Problem (project, challenge, opportunity, issue or task)
    The problem should be urgent and significant and should be the responsibility of the team to resolve.

    2.  
  2. An Action Learning group or team.
    Ideally composed of 4-8 people who examine an organisational problem that has no easily identifiable solution. The group should be diverse in background and experience.


    3.  
  3. A process of insightful questioning and reflective listening.
    Action Learning tackles problems through a process of first asking questions to clarify the exact nature of the problem, reflecting and identifying possible solutions, and only then taking action. Questions build group dialogue and cohesiveness, generate innovative and systems thinking, and enhance learning results.

    4.  
  4. An action taken on the problem.
    There is no real meaningful or practical learning until action is taken and reflected on. Action Learning requires that the group be able to take action on the problem it is addressing. If the group makes recommendations only, it loses its energy, creativity and commitment.

    5.  
  5. A commitment to learning.
    Solving an organizational problem provides immediate, short-term benefits to the company. The greater, longer-term multiplier benefits, however, are the learnings gained by each group member and the group as a whole, as well as how those learnings are applied on a systems-wide basis throughout the organization.

    6.  
  6. An Action Learning Coach.
    The Action Learning coach helps the team members reflect on both what they are learning and how they are solving problems. The coach enables group members to reflect on how they listen, how they may have reframed the problem, how they give each other feedback, how they are planning and working, and what assumptions may be shaping their beliefs and actions. The Action Leaning coach also helps the team focus on what they are achieving, what they are finding difficult, what processes they are employing, and the implications of these processes.

    7.  

Related Links

WIAL presents Focussed Paper at the 1st International Congress of Coaching Psychology, London

With reference to the book

Optimizing the Power of Action Learning: Solving Problems and Building Leaders in Real Time by Prof. Michael Marquardt

Optimizing the Power of Action Learning: Solving Problems and Building Leaders in Real Time by Prof. Michael Marquardt is the ideal companion to the certification process.