Table Of ContentAction Learning and its Applications
Action Learning and its
Applications
Edited by
Robert L. Dilworth
Associate Professor Emeritus, Virginia Commonwealth University
and
Yury Boshyk
Chairman, Global Executive Learning Network,
and the Annual Global Forum on Executive Development
and Business Driven Action Learning
Selection and editorial matter © Robert L. Dilworth and Yury Boshyk 2010
Individual chapters © contributors 2010
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-57641-4
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Dedicated to Robert L. Dilworth (1936–2009), Brigadier General,
scholar, friend of Reg Revans and mentor to many – one of
traditional action learning’s greatest practitioners.
Contents
List of Tables, Figures, Boxes and Illustrations xii
Preface xiv
Acknowledgements xix
Notes on Contributors xxi
Part I Sector Overviews
1 Action Learning in Health care 3
Cheryl Brook
Introduction 3
Background: The U.K. National Health Service 4
Action learning practice in the NHS 5
Some limitations and difficulties 7
Action learning in an NHS Trust: A case example 8
Discussion 11
Conclusion 12
2 Action Learning in Education 15
Robert L. Dilworth
Introduction 15
The context within which action learning occurs
in the United States 16
Action learning in secondary school systems 17
Action learning programs in higher education 23
Conclusion 38
3 Transformative Action Learning in the U.S. Government 43
Robert Kramer and James L. Kelly
Introduction 43
The US$4 billion comprehensive exam 45
The problem 46
Enter Chinook 47
Results 49
Transformative learning 53
4 Action Learning in the Military 55
Robert L. Dilworth
Introduction 55
Some case examples 56
The Army as a learning organization 61
Conclusion 66
vii
viii Contents
5 Action Learning in the Business World: Past,
Present, and Future 68
Yury Boshyk
What kind of action learning? And what does
the term mean? 68
Reg Revans and “traditional” action learning in
the business world 69
The “Americanization” of action learning in the
business community 71
Action Reflection LearningTM (ARL): Swedish and U.S. Variations 74
Business driven action learning 77
The future of action learning in the business community 86
6 Action Learning, Community, and Civil Society 99
Verna J. Willis
Introduction 99
Identifying agents of action learning 100
Civil society 102
Community development 103
Action learning and “development work” 104
The critical realism of action learning 105
Further examples 109
Action learning as a beacon for civil society 110
Conclusion 112
Part II Themes
7 The Practical Primacy of Questions in Action Learning 119
Marilee G. Adams
Introduction 119
Action learning and the primacy of questions 120
Revans on learning and questions 121
The power and purposes of questions 123
The importance of questions “versus” answers 123
Questions, learning, and reflection 125
Linking questions with action and results 125
A team discovers missed questions 128
Conclusion 129
8 Process in Action Learning Teams: Similarities
and Variations 131
Michael Huge and John W. Bing
Introduction 131
The nature of teams 131
Contents ix
Action learning teams as a distinct subcategory of teams 133
Examining process within action learning teams 134
Process as mediated by culture on action learning teams 138
Conclusion 142
9 Action Learning and Organization Development 144
W. Warner Burke and Debra A. Noumair
Problems of definition 144
Comparing action learning and
organization development 147
A special case of action learning 149
Conclusion 152
10 Action Learning and the Learning Organization:
Building Learning Capacity in Individuals,
Groups and Organizations 154
Judy O’Neil, Karen E. Watkins and Victoria J. Marsick
Our approach to action learning 155
Individual level of the learning organization 155
Team level of the learning organization 158
Organization level of the learning organization 160
Conclusion 163
11 Action Learning and Action Research 166
Verna J. Willis
A few important fundamentals 166
Pioneer figures and their orientations 168
Exemplars for comparison of action learning
and action research 171
Easy lessons from the examples 174
Charting “news of difference” between action
learning and action research 175
12 Future Search as Action Learning 179
Marvin R. Weisbord and Sandra Janoff
Kurt Lewin’s legacy 179
A short history of future search principles 181
Future search as a learning model 183
A philosophy and theory of facilitating 185
Future search as a cross-cultural phenomenon 185
Case study: Children of Southern Sudan 185
Results and critical factors 188
Learning from a learning event 189
Crossing cultures is counterintuitive, unless ... 189
Conclusion: A comment on the “future” 190
x Contents
Part III Perspectives
13 Action Learning through the Lens of Action Learners 195
Robert L. Dilworth, Verna J. Willis, Karen M. Videtec,
Mariana Garban, Lillie Graham Sapp, Marvin R. Weisbord,
Fran Szabo, Judy O’Neil, Victoria J. Marsick,
Karen E. Watkins, Sandra Janoff and Isabel Rimanoczy
My friend Reg 195
Experiencing action learning (my thoughts) 197
Adventures in action learning 199
A view from Romania 201
Action learning for a lifetime 202
Learning by doing, doing by learning 203
My experiences with action learning 205
Our experiences in action learning 207
My action learning experiences 208
Revans’ legacy 209
Experience of action learners 209
14 From the Frying Pan to the Fire – And Back Again:
An Action Learning Story from General Electric 211
Stephen R. Mercer
Part I: The frying pan 211
Part II: The fire 217
Epilogue: The frying pan again 223
15 My Experience with Business Driven Action Learning 226
Alasdair Philip
Foundations of learning 227
Our organization 227
“Outside-in” perspectives 228
Our external environment 228
Value creation 228
Leadership 229
16 Making Space for Reflection in Action Learning 231
Geert R. Egger
So, what is the problem? 232
Making space for reflection 235
Conclusion: A final reflection 240
17 Action Reflection Learning: Tales of Two Journeys 242
Isabel Rimanoczy and Victoria J. Marsick
Victoria Marsick’s story 243
Isabel Rimanoczy’s story 247
Contents xi
18 Looking to the Future of Action Learning 256
Robert L. Dilworth
Introduction 256
The strategic view 257
The basic context 258
Meeting the challenge 259
The issue of problem diagnosis versus
implementation of solutions 266
A suggested future state for action learning 269
Conclusion 274
Appendix: Robert L. Dilworth: His Life and Legacy (1936–2009) 276
Verna J. Willis
Glossary 286
Robert L. Dilworth
Index 295
