Action Learning at BSN - Business School Netherlands

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Action Learning is a process that involves a small group working on real problems, acting, and learning as individuals, as a team, and as an organisation. It helps them to develop creative, flexible, and successful strategies to tackle problems. It requires the participants to act to learn and learn to act.

Action Learning is a well-known and renowned corporate strategy method that produces better insights and dramatically improves decision-making processes.

Background

Action Learning is a learning philosophy that was developed in the 1940s by the British management consultant and professor, Reg Revans (1907-2003). It took shape when Revans brought coal mine managers together in small groups to share experiences and ask each other questions about what they had seen and heard. Productivity increased by 30% because of that. In the following decades, he further developed his insights into a much-praised and applied methodology, which is used by many large organizations across the globe.

Samsung, General Electric, Heineken, and Boeing all use Action Learning to solve complex issues and increase the learning capacities of their organizations.

Action Learning process & components

Action Learning is 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 system thinking, and enhance learning outcomes.

A ProblemThe problem should be urgent, significant, and the responsibility of the team to resolve.
An Action Learning Group or Team The Action Learning team is preferably composed of 4-8 people, ideally with diverse backgrounds and experiences
A Process of Insightful Questioning and Reflective Listening Action Learning tackles problems through a process of asking questions to clarify the exact nature of the problem. Action is taken after identifying and examining possible solutions. Questions build group dialogue and cohesiveness, generating innovative and systems-based thinking.
An Action Taken on the ProblemAction Learning requires that the group can take action on the problem it is working on. If the group makes recommendations only, it loses its energy, creativity and commitment.
A Commitment to Learning Solving an organisational problem provides immediate, short-term benefits to the company. The higher, longer-term strategic value to the organisation is the learning gained by each group member and the group as a whole as well as the application of the learning throughout the organisation.
An Action Learning CoachThe 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. They then reframe the problem, and give feedback on how the team plans and works together. An Action Learning coach also helps the team focus on what they find difficult, what processes they employ, and the implications of these processes on what they achieve. With this information, teams can grow and become more cohesive.

The Power of Action Learning

Action Learning helps organisations and people discover their hidden potential and improve performance.

Empowering Leaders

Enhance personal effectiveness and productivity
Reflect on and learn from individual experiences
Improve personal leadership and soft skills
Develop self-confidence and assertiveness
Improve your awareness of how assumptions, beliefs, attitudes and organisational interests influence thinking, decisions and actions
Develop your Emotional Intelligence (EI): self-awareness, awareness of others and personal adaptability
Find the courage to speak and encourage others to do the same

Boosting Teams

Dramatically enhances team performance
Develops positive, mutually respectful working relationships with colleagues at all levels of the organisation
Develops individual and team problem-solving and decision-making capabilities
Improves the ability to reflect on, and learn from the collective experience
Develop awareness in the context of multicultural diverse teams
Continually monitor and enhance team functions

Impacting Organizations

Enhance business performance at all levels
Improve the efficiency of the work process
Rapidly solve urgent and important and business challenges
Achieve a substantial Return on Investment (ROI) on organisation improvement projects
Set up effective succession planning by developing highly qualified candidates for promotion to executive leadership positions
Set goals more strategically

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