The authors say that this is a “cook book”, mainly for people who know little or nothing about Action Learning. As someone involved in Action Learning for 18 years, it is interesting to test it against my own experiences and reading. In fact I think the authors have been too modest in their proposition about the people at whom the book is aimed. While obviously it is important that they have a clear idea on this, the end result is certainly not solely of use to inexperienced people. For experienced Action Learning facilitators it poses general and specific questions which they ought to ask themselves. Action Learning of course is initially about questions. The question for experienced Action Learners in relation to this resource is “Do I undertake all these actions in the programmes I currently run? If not, what are my reasons for not so acting?”
The resource is characteristic of Honey Publications. It is designed for easy reading, for easy reproduction of helpful exercises, checklists and handouts. The resource works through a series of ten sections, ranging from an “Introduction” to “Action learning through preparing the ground”, “Getting underway”, “Running a set” and “Processes in the set” as the first five and crucial sections. There follow useful sections largely of working material on Evaluation, some sample workshops, tools for set advisers, handouts and overheads. As a resource oriented to securing effective practice it is very helpful. In the growing body of Action Learning literature I certainly recommend it as a good buy. Although £195 may seem a high price to pay by experienced facilitators, the fact is that one page which presents a good idea, checklist or reminder of effective practice will bring back many pounds worth of subsequent effective action for the facilitator.
The sections on “Preparing the ground” and “Getting underway” are crucial to implementing Action Learning. As with all management development methods there is always the risk that enthusiasm by the facilitator will overwhelm good preparation. The sections on “Running a set” and “Processes in the set” may seem the more obviously valuable, but in fact the previously mentioned sections are an essential preliminary if the facilitator or management development adviser is to avoid mistakes generated by enthusiasm for an apparently simple but actually very demanding process.
Since the authors use the Honey and Mumford Learning Cycle, and their Learning Styles Questionnaire, it will not be seen as surprising that I commend their attention to the fact that this method is about both Action and Learning. However the learning aspect of Action Learning has all too often been given second place in the literature. As Professor John Morris once put it to me, managers are constantly seduced by the attractiveness of action. Those of us who have consciously tried to improve the attention to learning within Action Learning know that learning rarely has the same seductiveness. So the specific attention the authors pay to the desirability of Learning Reviews, and Learning Logs is especially welcome – and they present neat ways of achieving both these.
Although generally favourable to this resource I do have some reservations about it. The first relates to the point just made about learning reviews. In their otherwise useful presentation of the importance of Workshops for introducing Action Learning to both participants and managers, they do not in fact provide space for Learning Reviews! (Although in their indication of a timetable for an Action Learning set reviews are included.) Nor do they confront fully the issue of whether the most effective forms of Action Learning necessarily involve implementation by the participants. There are different views on this. Action Learning projects particularly in the management education world are often based around, in effect, a consultancy process. This can provide good development experience, but in my view implementation, i.e. taking action and responsibility for the results of a project is a crucial, final, end learning process.
Since the authors refer to their experiences in Sweden, it would have been useful also to have some reference to the cultural issues arising from Action Learning. Both organisational culture and national culture have a major influence on whether Action Learning is a useful method in a particular circumstance.
It would have been good to have some more specific illustrations, especially given the proposed focus of the book on people not experienced in Action Learning, of more detail about Action Learning projects in practice. Alternatively the authors could have made specific reference to two books which contain lots of specific illustrations (Pedler’s (1997) Action Learning in Practice and my own (Mumford, 1997) Action Learning at Work). Finally although there are useful references in the text to clients and stakeholders, this is an area which would have justified much more attention. For example the authors say that Action Learning programmes are characteristically six to 12 months in length. Often clients want their problems resolved in much less time than this. So either the programme needs to be shorter, or the problems and issues they are trying to address need to be changed.
