Resource Assignment

Learning Organization

Running head: COMPENDIUM 1

Compendium

Action Learning - Introduction by Reg Revans

Action learning is an integral approach to problem-solving. As explained by Professor Reg Revans, it is a collective approach towards learning. Rather than learning from an expert, people come together for the sole purpose of learning. They do not have any prior knowledge about problem-solving so their idea is not programmed into patterns, they are free to think and suggest out of box ideas. They are comrades who are in need of help and their concern for each other is genuine. They want to solve their problem and everyone helps them in a genuine manner and similarly, when they come together to help someone else, their intention is pure and genuine. Furthermore, the professor stated that for action learning it is important that people learn the art of asking questions. They should develop an excellent skill at asking a question through which they could learn something new. There are two important aspects of learning. First, getting new knowledge, which means learning something which existed before but you did not know about it. Second, learning the ability to ask penetrating questions. These two points further lead to creating a distinction between learning and action learning. The two differences are a small amount of p which indicates program learning and a large amount of which indicates the ability to ask penetrating questions (Revans, 2012)

Jumping the Ingenuity Gap: Greg Galle at TEDxGrand Rapids

In this Ted Talk, Greg Galle explored the world around the ingenuity gap. He is the founder of an ingenuity firm named Future and shared insights into the current functioning of the world around the ingenuity gap. He started by mentioning ‘The Ingenuity Gap’ authored by Thomas Homer-Dixon. He endorsed Dixon’s ideas and stated that our supply of solutions is very limited as compared to the scope of the problem faced by humanity. There is a huge gap among the available solutions and the increasing number of challenges. These gaps are not integral to one sector or country. They exist globally in every aspect of life, personal, professional, local, and international levels. The problems are much wider than our ability to solve them. There are two options to deal with this situation: either to live inside a bubble where one can assume that everything is good or we can take on these challenges and create an ingenious solution. These solutions need to be practical and clever by using the current range of resources. For this, it is necessary to break free from the orthodoxies including Rational, RIO, creative genius, best practices, strategic plan, and scale orthodoxy. Once we break free from the already accepted practices of orthodoxies, we will be able to find new parties that are clever but practical (Talks, 2013)

The Spirit of the Learning Organization

The spirit of learning organization discusses the necessary element for creating a learning organization. It is essential for the growth and continuous evolution with changing external atmosphere. The core of the learning organization is based on a commitment to truth. In learning organizations, the focus of shared vision is based on personal mastery which is the future based on the commitment of truth. But it is crucial to understand where is that truth is not objective in many cases. It is a subjective matter especially in the business world where there exist many different interpretations of truth. But one has to decide the truth which is nearest to the organizational vision and its founder’s mission. Leadership plays a central role in this interpretation of truth and completing the commitment to truth and in extension in creating a learning organization (Kim & Mullen, 2020).

Chapter 7: The Action Learning Coach

This chapter explores the connection between the learning coach and action learning. Action learning is a collective process and there are multiple members in a group which help each other to resolve the issue with a genuine consideration but a learning coach needs to moderate this group. But the leadership approach of the action learning coach is very crucial for the success of the action learning teams. The most suitable approach is servant leadership. From the perspective of the learning coach, there are six components of action learning including action, questions, group, problem, coach, and learning. Every competent has its due significance and it is moderated by the action learning coach (Marquardt, 2018).

Overview of Action Learning

Action learning is differentiated from learning based on its approach and effectiveness. It has emerged as a key approach for learning because of its significance and success rate in complex problem-solving. Organizations, teams, and corporate meetings employ this technique for their problem solving and almost always get a positive response. It has been termed as the "latest and fastest-growing organizational tool for leadership development”. The action learning is more focused on creating the approach for effective problem solving by genuine consideration and skill of asking questions which could lead to understanding and learning new things for problem-solving. The six components of action learning are a problem, action learning team or group, the working process for reflective and insightful questioning, questions for a stated problem, a shared commitment for learning, and an action learning coach (Marquardt, 2018).

References

Kim, D., & Mullen, E. (2020, September 1). The Spirit of the Learning Organization. Retrieved from Systems Thinker: https://thesystemsthinker.com/the-spirit-of-the-learning-organization/

Marquardt, M. J. (2018). Optimizing the Power of Action Learning: Real-Time Strategies for Developing. Boston, London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing. 

Revans, I. o.-R. (Director). (2012). Action Learning - Introduction by Reg Revans [Motion Picture].

Talks, T. (Director). (2013). Jumping the Ingenuity Gap: Greg Galle at TEDxGrandRapids [Motion Picture].