'Cast your net widely': three steps to expanding and refining your problem before action learning application

Simon R. Reese

Action Learning: Research and Practice, 2015, vol. 12, issue 2, 208-214

Abstract: This paper reflects upon a three-step process to expand the problem definition in the early stages of an action learning project. The process created a community-powered problem-solving approach within the action learning context. The simple three steps expanded upon in the paper create independence, dependence, and inter-dependence to aid the interaction of an action learning team as they uncovered the problem. The author recounts how his action learning project created steps of independence that captured divergent thoughts from throughout the organization; dependence that merged thoughts across the diverse group; and inter-dependence that built system thinking focused on horizontal impact across the organization. Readers can replicate the steps in future action learning projects to define the root cause problems before chasing the symptoms toward solutions. Project leaders who do not caste their nets widely during the problem definition stage may find their team solving the easy-to-catch symptoms.

Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14767333.2015.1049458 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:alresp:v:12:y:2015:i:2:p:208-214

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/CALR20

DOI: 10.1080/14767333.2015.1049458

Access Statistics for this article

Action Learning: Research and Practice is currently edited by Kiran Trehan and Clare Rigg

More articles in Action Learning: Research and Practice from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().