The Systemic Nature of Action Learning Programmes

Abstract

A lot of attention has been paid on action learning in the last four decades or so and the success of such programmes has also been widely publicized. But why have these programmes been so effective in helping organizations cope with change? Many authors state that the success of such programmes is due to the fact that they link learning to actions. Yet others claim that action learning programmes succeed because they involve employee empowerment and provide a much greater learning curve. In this paper the authors holdthat action learning programmes succeed because they are partly systemic and can be made even more effective if they are fully designed and implemented systemically. The essential features of a systemic method include the ability to help organizations deal with organic, cultural and power complexity. The conclusion that action learning programmes can succeed if they are fully designed and implemented systemically is reached by comparing the essential features of a systemic method with that of an action learning programme.The authors make use of a case study to support their conclusion.

Networks and Collaboration in the Public Sector

“…With the aim of conducting research and developing knowledge, the Tavistock Institute developed new participative approaches to organization change and development. In the years that have followed, a number of related approaches have emerged including action science (Argyris, Putnam, and Smith 1985), action inquiry (Torbert 1976), action learning (Mwaluko and Ryan 2000;Revans 1982), appreciative inquiry (Cooperrider and Srivastva 1987;Cooperrider, Whitney, and Stavros 2008) and participatory action research (Argyris and Schon 1991;Whyte 1991). Given the growth in popularity of these kinds of research methods, the literature is unsurprisingly both large and somewhat confusing.…”