Developing deep group reflection within a Critical Reflection Action Learning set

This account of practice describes how a manufacturing company in the North of England transformed their approach to problem-solving and action through the use of a Critical Reflection Action Learning (CRAL) methodology. The company, who had been in business for over 25 years, experienced problems due to a diminishing customer base and substantial changes in customers’ buying behaviour. The account presented here is based on a 12-session CRAL project I carried out as part of my Ph.D. Research at the University of Hull Business School [Shepherd, G. 2011. “An Inductive Exploration of Group Learning and Knowledge Generation through Group Reflection and Psychoanalysis.” PhD Thesis, University of Hull Business School]. This paper describes how the organisation changed the way in which they tackled complex, messy problems through the adoption of a CRAL technique using their own hand-drawn images as the focus for their individual, group and critical reflective efforts. As the action learning set improved their reflective practice, the group began to understand and untangle the complex links between the problems they were experiencing and the way in which the business environment had changed. The group completed the project with a more nuanced appreciation of the problems they experienced and developed their own unique problem-solving style, which mixed reflective questioning with emotional honesty.     

Enhancing the practice of social work

This account of practice focuses on my learning and development as a new Action Learning Facilitator. It reflects on my thoughts and feelings as I began to facilitate my own sets a year or so ago. It will discuss and reflect on topics such as communication, feedback, expectations (both mine, the set members and the organisations), values, ethics, power and confidentiality. It opens with a personal reflection on my experience of becoming a set facilitator and then explores other aspects of my learning. It draws out, in particular, the links between Action Learning and social work and the ways in which the principles that underpin each of these are complementary and mutually enhancing.     

Solving wicked problems through action learning

This account of practice outlines the Oxyme Action Learning Program which was conducted as part of the Management Challenge in my final year of the MSc in Coaching and Behavioral Change at Henley Business School. The central research questions were: (1) how action learning can help to solve wicked problems and (2) what the effect of an action learning program is on the individual set members, the set and the organization as a whole. This paper also describes my personal development as a facilitator of change and ends with key learnings and recommendations for future action learning programs.     

Staying mindful in action: the challenge of ‘double awareness’ on task and process in an Action Lab

Action Learning is a well-proven method to integrate ‘task’ and ‘process’, as learning about team and self (process) takes place while delivering on a task or business challenge of real importance (task). An Action Lab^® is an intensive Action Learning programme lasting for 5 days, which aims at balancing and integrating individual challenges and business challenges, as well as the ‘Action’ and the ‘Learning’ of Action Learning. However, in spite of the aspiration to balance and integrate ‘task’ and ‘process’, a tendency and a challenge is experienced: When deeply involved in delivering on a business challenge, participants tend to shy away from or see reflection on the process as disturbing or disrupting. This tendency is like a seesaw: When the pressure of the task increases, awareness about the process goes down. This account of practice aims at exposing and understanding better this tendency by sharing a study looking into what hinders and promotes mindful awareness on the process, while dealing with a business challenge in an Action Lab^®. Drawing on the findings, the account of practice will share some recommendations for the Action Learning facilitator to take up the challenge of integrating task and process whenever the seesaw is tipping.     

An account of practice: employing drawings and stories to enable reflective learning

Facilitating reflection for personal growth in a business context requires careful thought and planning. As a learning process, Business-Driven Action Learning (BDAL) has two points of focus. It aims to firstly identify and make recommendations regarding a business challenge, whist secondly facilitating potentially significant individual personal learning and growth. The research reported in this account of practice focused on personal learning by exploring the potential for individuals to experience transformative learning during a BDAL process. During the research I used a number of methods including hand-drawn images and in-depth interviews to enable the writing of interpretive stories. Findings revealed that participants found reflection during and after the BDAL beneficial. They gained insights into what they learnt, what changed since the BDAL experience and also what they still need to focus on. The findings have practical implications for the action learning facilitator of BDAL during management development programmes. One of the ways action learning facilitators can initiate the reflection process of new participants is to share the experience of previous participants. ‘Sandy’s interpretive story’, contained in this article, is such an example and includes hand-drawn images of her learning journey. I argue that the use of interpretative stories helps new participants understand programme challenges and stimulates their individual learning journey.     

Moving from opportunism to expediency when introducing action learning into an organisation

During my first year of practice as a new action learning facilitator undertaking an ‘ILM Level 5 Certificate in Action Learning Facilitation’, an innovative Individual Service Fund pilot was launched by ‘Certitude’, the organisation for which I work. The aim of this pilot was to enable people with learning disabilities and mental health needs in London to have more choice and control over their support. By recognising the opportunity that this pilot provided, I was able to design, introduce and facilitate an action learning intervention to develop the confidence of leaders and managers involved in implementing the pilot's project plan and in turn explore my own emerging practice. This paper focuses on my journey from an opportunistic to expedient action learning facilitator; responsible for introducing, planning and establishing a new model of learning and development in Certitude.     

The Gangstas in Our Midst

While conducting this ethnography on 50 male African-American gang members, I sought to create a picture of the culture in which these young men existed. Over a two-year period, I observed and interviewed members from such groups as the Bloods, the Crips, and the Blackstone Rangers in order to uncover the values, language, and rituals that defined membership in a gang, as well as the reasons why these males joined these groups in the first place. For the majority of these males, an education was not something that they thought would help them survive in their neighborhoods. One unexpected element that emerged during this project centered on the factors that helped 11 of these gang members begin the process of escaping gang life. What they received from their families, teachers, and peers to help them succeed mirrored the same factors that were often missing in the lives of the other 39 informants.     

Action learning in postgraduate research training

This account of practice explores the benefits and challenges of using Action Learning (AL) with junior researchers. Findings are grounded in an AL set of six doctoral students, organised and convened by the author. The case study reveals the range of emotional and structural hurdles that Ph.D. candidates typically face in completing their programme of study. AL’s streamlined process made space for set members to present themselves as whole persons and to thereby grapple with, and better manage, a wide range of real-life issues that were having direct impact on their academic performance. Set members expressed how participation reduced feelings of isolation and offered a valued space to reflect on their situation. They explored root causes of stress, anxiety, or dips in productivity; strategised plausible actions for overcoming problems; and identified opportunities. The evidence presented in this account strongly supports the proposal that AL be made a core component of research-training programmes. In the conclusion, the author reasons that institutional investment would pay back with dividends: AL cultivates peer-support groups that consequently reduce dependence on academic supervisors, student counselling, and other costly and overburdened support services. Perhaps most crucially, AL incites individuals to take responsibility for their own development and learning: a ‘transferrable skill’ for achieving success in any endeavour.     

Action Learning Projects For Management Development

The origins and characteristics of Action Learning together with some of its uses in business/industry and education are described. Methods of assessment for Action Learning projects in education are suggested. The approach to Action Learning in courses at the Middlesex University Business School are used to illustrate the wealth creating aspects of the Action Learning process.     

From real life to real life: bringing ‘double awareness’ from Action Learning programmes into organisational reality

In Action Learning programmes, it is held central to work on real business challenges (task) while learning about team and self (process); staying mindful aware of the process is referred to in this paper as ‘double awareness’, and emphasises noticing and acting on process cues while working on the task. As business challenges within Action Learning programmes are real, pertinent, and worked with in the context of the organisation, implementation of potential solutions to the challenges is proved to be efficient. However, less is known of how individual participants manage to stay with double awareness upon re-entry into the organisational routines left behind. The aim of this paper is to explore when, why, and how participants manage to maintain double awareness and act on what they notice when back in organisational reality – and what characterise the moments where they struggle to do so. A study will be shared, where participants have been followed for a period of time after an Action Learning-programme. The study takes a psychodynamic stance and contributes to the knowledge of the individual re-entry by exploring individual, group and organisational dynamics promoting and hindering double awareness. The concepts ‘mindful avoidance’ and ‘mindful alertness’ are introduced as essential conceptual findings. Finally the paper will explore how the overall findings can be applied back into Action Learning-methodology as enablers for improvement.     

Psychological climates in action learning sets: a manager's perspective

Action learning (AL) is often viewed as a process that facilitates professional learning through the creation of a positive psychological climate [Marquardt, M. J. 2000. “Action Learning and Leadership.” The Learning Organisation 7 (5): 233–240; Schein, E. H. 1979. “Personal Change Through Interpersonal Relationships.” In Essays in Interpersonal Dynamics, edited by W. Bennis, J. Van Maanen, E. H. Schein, and F. I. Steele, 129–162]. A psychological climate that fosters an environment in which learning set members feel psychologically safe enough to reflect upon both the successes and the failures in their professional life, without any form of repercussion. However, there has been little attention given to the ways that that psychological climate develops, and the differing facets that create that climate. In response to such deficit, this paper reports the outcomes of interviews with 11 managers, all of whom are former AL set (ALS) members, on their experiences of ALS membership. Drawing upon an interpretivist philosophy, the paper explores the key themes that emerged from the analysis of those interviews. The analysis serves to illustrate the differing facets that collectively contribute to the creation of a positive psychological climate that is conducive for learning. The analysis points to the relative importance of such facets as trust, honesty, vulnerability, reciprocity, confidentiality and personal disclosure, all of which have the capacity to lead to a positive psychological climate in ALSs. This paper is useful for developing an understanding of the differing facets in ALSs that create a psychological climate conducive for learning. As such, it has utility for AL facilitators, set members, academics and educational consultants.     

Safe or unsafe? The paradox of action learning

Business Driven Action Learning (BDAL), as a learning philosophy that attempts to create real value for business is often used by executive education providers in their management development programmes. As the action learning facilitator, I found that the learning that took place during such a management development programme resulted in participants experiencing stress, anxiety and high levels of frustration, which threatened the learning process. The resulting paradox in the learning environment is that the same anxiety that is necessary to ensure that learning took place has the propensity, if too high to hamper learning. Utilising the findings from this research, this account of practice makes recommendations for the action learning facilitator to consider while guiding action learning sets (groups). The facilitator can alleviate many of the fears by emphasising that anxiety is necessary in the learning process. The facilitator can mediate the learning relationship between the individual participant and the learning environment as depicted in the model at the end of the article.     

Management education and the challenge of action learning

The phenomenal growth of management education in the last two decades has been accompanied by much controversy. Critics consider that business schools tend to concentrate on theory and on quantitative analysis, while neglecting interpersonal relationships and qualitative thinking. It is often stated that management education should be experience-based, active, problem oriented and modified by feedback. The extent to which Action Learning meets these criteria is discussed in this paper. The difference between Action Learning and other types of management education is stressed.Attention is drawn to Action Learning programmes that have been conducted in Belgium, in the United Kingdom and in Australia.Various difficulties that may be encountered in introducing Action Learning to management schools are described and some strategies for overcoming these difficulties are suggested.The paper mentions problems connected with evaluating Action Learning programmes and suggests that Action Learning may be useful in management education.     

Levinas,Ethics and the People: A reply to Soyoung Lee and Paul Standish

Soyoung Lee and Paul Standish have criticised my article ‘Levinas: Ethics or Mystification?’ for misunderstanding and misrepresenting the phenomenological subtleties of Levinas's formulation of ethics. However, although their arguments are cogent and persuasive, I still cannot see how Levinas's ‘ethics of the Other’, regardless of its merits qua phenomenology or ethical philosophy, translates into the practical ethical and moral understanding that would transform people's everyday lives—which was the underlying theme of my original article. In this article, I shall develop this theme further with specific reference to the following difficulties, as I see them, relating to the practicality of Levinas's ethics: (1) it is unclear how ordinary people would gain an understanding of Levinas's ethical vision, or how, once gained, this understanding would change their behaviour; (2) the rejection of personal relations and attachments in favour of pre‐ontological abstractions and metaphorical images (as the ground for the possibility of ethical understanding) renders Levinas's ethical vision powerless to motivate individuals in their everyday lives; (3) conceived as a political project to transform society, Levinas's vision cannot be realised, not even in the commune; (4) the presumption that real human understanding can be gained through the study of Levinas, or any other philosopher, is a highly dubious one.     

How to create an action learning environment that makes self and social awareness business-like

Promoting open reflection and exploration on group dynamics is delicate work and is often considered ‘not very business-like’ in a business context. How to approach this work is a constant balance and struggle for action learning practitioners. In this account of practice, we present central elements in our action learning framework – Action Lab^® – where the design builds on Business Driven Action Learning. We share core ideas and assumptions behind our action learning approach, which is informed by a systems psychodynamic understanding of groups. This account of practice aims at sharing and discussing ideas and distinctive work modes for creating double awareness – i.e. how to maintain a balanced awareness of task and process and how to increase self and social awareness – in a performance-driven business contexts.     

Aligning digital and social inclusion: A study of disadvantaged students and computer access

In this paper we discuss the notion of the digital divide and link it with recent policy designed to promote social inclusion in a project that addressed both issues. Families in low socio economic areas of Australia were given computers and Internet access as part of a project that had as its primary aim to support the participation of disadvantaged families in digital activities at home and in schools. The authors collected data over a period of 3 years that included, pre and post surveys with parents and students, interviews with program facilitators, and focus groups with parents. This paper focuses on selected themes that emerged from the interview and focus group data with the parents and explores the ways in which they perceived having the computer had impacted on their lives and those of their school aged children. This data (surveys, interviews and focus groups) reveals that all family members felt that the ownership of a computer enabled them to feel more confident about their active participation in everyday educational, social and community activities. Parents, teachers and students also reported that owning a computer was important to their lives yet they were not naïve to the fact that they still had a lot to learn in terms of using all the options available to them on the computer. Students noted the increased ease with which they could complete school work and communicate with friends in online contexts and outlined some of the ways in which they used the computer for leisure activities. Parents highlighted the increase in their own digital skill levels and described the ways in which their lives had benefitted from having a computer in the home. Problems associated with connectivity at the beginning of the project, the quality of the machines and inadequate initial training were listed as drawbacks to greater participation. The project represents one attempt to address the digital divide and illustrates how going beyond the dichotomy of a ‘haves’ v ‘have nots’ view of the digital divide is necessary if we want to promote social inclusion.     

Nurturing the H in HR: using action learning to build organisation development capability in the UK Civil Service

In the UK, the Civil Service Reform Plan is being implemented with urgency. This requires Civil Service departments and agencies to reform their structures and ways of working in order to deliver effective services in a climate of economic austerity and rapid social and technological change. Historically, Human Resource (HR) professionals have provided services based on the HR Business Partner model which has meant a focus on strategic and operational HR services. As part of these changes, HR managers and other professionals are now required to develop their capabilities in providing Organisation Development (OD) advice to their internal clients. In order to make this happen, the Civil Service's expert OD and Design Service launched an OD Capability Building programme and engaged OD specialists Mayvin to deliver it. The programme incorporates the postgraduate level-accredited Action Learning Question method developed by Dr Richard Hale called, in this context, OD Questions (ODQs). Participants on the OD Capability Building programme are required to complete an ODQ over a five- to six-month period. This entails scoping an OD challenge with key stakeholders, conducting some research and making recommendations for change or implementing such change. The participants work in ‘action learning sets’ and support each other with their problem solving and learning. A final report is written up by each participant leading to the award of postgraduate-level credits. Examples of ODQ areas include: How can I support a newly appointed Director General to align his team to address their challenges at a time of rapid change? How can I help my client department to improve employee engagement? How can I develop my own capability in working as a business partner and adding value alongside my client?     

Get it Off Your Chest: Contexts in Creative Community Working

Three years ago I started work on the exhibition Get it off your chest, a multimedia project exploring the personal and social role of the breast within British culture. The project would involve over one hundred people as contributors, engaging with ongoing debates within academic, media and informal contexts as to what constitutes and impacts upon constructions of the female image within our society, particularly in relation to the breast as a primary signifier. The working practices evolved in creating Get it off your chest were instrumental in generating a synergy in my own creative activities, enabling some measure of unification to occur within the strands of my art–making and art educational roles. This synergistic approach, which I term ‘creative community working’ will be discussed in this paper alongside the epistemological focus of the exhibition, its inception and its consequent structure, presentation and wider educational role. I will focus throughout on exploring the development of creative community working contexts: the impulse to integrate what sometimes seem like rogue elements of the professional and creative identity is one shared by many members of the art educational community and I hope that this paper will generate feedback and discussion on the diverse ways in which colleagues generate synergy in their own working lives.