Action Learning and its Applications

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
List of Tables, Figures, Boxes and Illustrations......Page 13
Preface......Page 15
Acknowledgements......Page 20
Notes on Contributors......Page 22
Part I: Sector Overviews......Page 32
Introduction......Page 34
Background: The U.K. National Health Service......Page 35
Action learning practice in the NHS......Page 36
Some limitations and difficulties......Page 38
Action learning in an NHS Trust: A case example......Page 39
Discussion......Page 42
Conclusion......Page 43
Introduction......Page 46
The context within which action learning occurs in the United States......Page 47
Action learning in secondary school systems......Page 48
Action learning programs in higher education......Page 54
Conclusion......Page 69
Introduction......Page 74
The US$4 billion comprehensive exam......Page 76
The problem......Page 77
Enter Chinook......Page 78
Results......Page 80
Transformative learning......Page 84
Introduction......Page 86
Some case examples......Page 87
The Army as a learning organization......Page 92
Conclusion......Page 97
What kind of action learning? And what does the term mean?......Page 99
Reg Revans and \"traditional\" action learning in the business world......Page 100
The \"Americanization\" of action learning in the business community......Page 102
Action Reflection Learning™ (ARL): Swedish and U.S. Variations......Page 105
Business driven action learning......Page 108
The future of action learning in the business community......Page 117
Introduction......Page 130
Identifying agents of action learning......Page 131
Civil society......Page 133
Community development......Page 134
Action learning and \"development work\"......Page 135
The critical realism of action learning......Page 136
Further examples......Page 140
Action learning as a beacon for civil society......Page 141
Conclusion......Page 143
Part II: Themes......Page 148
Introduction......Page 150
Action learning and the primacy of questions......Page 151
Revans on learning and questions......Page 152
The importance of questions \"versus\" answers......Page 154
Linking questions with action and results......Page 156
A team discovers missed questions......Page 159
Conclusion......Page 160
The nature of teams......Page 162
Action learning teams as a distinct subcategory of teams......Page 164
Examining process within action learning teams......Page 165
Process as mediated by culture on action learning teams......Page 169
Conclusion......Page 173
Problems of definition......Page 175
Comparing action learning and organization development......Page 178
A special case of action learning......Page 180
Conclusion......Page 183
10 Action Learning and the Learning Organization: Building Learning Capacity in Individuals, Groups and Organizations......Page 185
Individual level of the learning organization......Page 186
Team level of the learning organization......Page 189
Organization level of the learning organization......Page 191
Conclusion......Page 194
A few important fundamentals......Page 197
Pioneer figures and their orientations......Page 199
Exemplars for comparison of action learning and action research......Page 202
Easy lessons from the examples......Page 205
Charting \"news of difference\" between action learning and action research......Page 206
Kurt Lewin\'s legacy......Page 210
A short history of future search principles......Page 212
Future search as a learning model......Page 214
Case study: Children of Southern Sudan......Page 216
Results and critical factors......Page 219
Crossing cultures is counterintuitive, unless…......Page 220
Conclusion: A comment on the \"future\"......Page 221
Part III: Perspectives......Page 224
My friend Reg......Page 226
Experiencing action learning (my thoughts)......Page 228
Adventures in action learning......Page 230
A view from Romania......Page 232
Action learning for a lifetime......Page 233
Learning by doing, doing by learning......Page 234
My experiences with action learning......Page 236
Our experiences in action learning......Page 238
My action learning experiences......Page 239
Experience of action learners......Page 240
Part I: The frying pan......Page 242
Part II: The fire......Page 248
Epilogue: The frying pan again......Page 254
15 My Experience with Business Driven Action Learning......Page 257
Our organization......Page 258
Value creation......Page 259
Leadership......Page 260
16 Making Space for Reflection in Action Learning......Page 262
So, what is the problem?......Page 263
Making space for reflection......Page 266
Conclusion: A final reflection......Page 271
17 Action Reflection Learning: Tales of Two Journeys......Page 273
Victoria Marsick\'s story......Page 274
Isabel Rimanoczy\'s story......Page 278
Introduction......Page 287
The strategic view......Page 288
The basic context......Page 289
Meeting the challenge......Page 290
The issue of problem diagnosis versus implementation of solutions......Page 297
A suggested future state for action learning......Page 300
Conclusion......Page 305
Appendix: Robert L. Dilworth: His Life and Legacy (1936–2009)......Page 307
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G......Page 320
L......Page 321
Q......Page 322
S......Page 323
V......Page 324
A......Page 326
B......Page 327
C......Page 328
E......Page 329
F......Page 330
H......Page 331
I......Page 332
M......Page 333
O......Page 334
Q......Page 335
S......Page 336
T......Page 337
Z......Page 338