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'When the rate of change is faster than that of learning, the organism
fails. When the rate of learning is as fast as (or faster than) that
of change, the organism is likely to adapt, to survive and even to
grow.'
The Keil Centre has been involved in establishing and facilitating
action learning for several years. Used as an integral part of a development
programme, working with others in action learning sets allows individuals
to make and sustain significant change. The opportunity for focused
reflection, combined with the support and challenge provided by group
members can create a powerful learning environment.
The Keil Centre's approach is to work with action learning set participants
to establish clear development objectives through a 'contracting'
process. This may form part of a personal development planning workshop
which would typically include diagnostic tools, such as questionnaires,
psychometric
tests or 360 degree
feedback. It is important to create an atmosphere of trust and
openness, if participants are to explore and tackle difficult issues.
Action learning set members meet on a regular basis for a given period
of time, usually over 8-12 months. This timescale allows for real
progress to be made and the obstacles and difficulties met in implementing
plans to be worked through. Participants frequently comment on the
value of taking time away from the immediacy of daily work pressures
to learn from their experiences in a way which is real and directly
relevant to what they are trying to achieve. For the organisation,
establishing action learning can create a learning culture. For examples
of how action learning can be used to develop people's potential,
see Issues 3 and 6 of our newsletter.
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