Action Learning involves attention for both the upperstream and the undercurrent. It also requires a balance in the roles of leader, coach and manager. The power of Action Learning is that it contributes to the continuous process of achieving consensus on challenges and problems. It begins at an early stage! Let’s take primary school as an example. The great Action Learning question in this case is: “How do I prepare children for their unpredictable future? ”. This is absolutely different from the past, since we have always prepared people for a more predictable future. Read More

We are always looking for effective new ways to market what we do. About 18 months back we came up with idea of the “INDABA” workshop. We believe the meaning of word Indaba captures the heart of Action Learning. An indaba is an important conference held by the izinDuna (principal men) of the Zulu or Xhosa peoples of South Africa to deal with important tribal matters. The term comes from a Zulu language word, meaning ‘business’ or ‘matter.’ Read More

Until six years ago, for many years, the late, great Harry Levinson donated 90 minutes a month for six months every year to coach and advise six Division 13 psychologists who were in the early phases of their development as consulting psychologists. Harry worked virtually, using conventional conference calling technology. He felt an obligation to provide new generations of consulting psychologists with a sort of internship that was not generally available at that time for psychologists that were converting from clinical, counseling, or I/O to consulting psychology. Read More

WIAL Malaysia completed our first CALC Certification for 2020 on 22 February. On 18 March 2020, less than a month after our event, Malaysia was placed under a Coronavirus lockdown directive. All public gatherings were ordered stopped and almost all the country’s economic activities came to a standstill. This situation was unprecedented and it was a great shock to many. In February 2020 I recalled clearly that we had proposed a three months coaching consultancy work, with an option of extension for another two months for the sales team of a small and medium size (SME) financial services entity. We had little experience on virtual training deliveries as almost all our clients expected us to be physically present during trainings. Read More

Carl Rogers was an American psychologist who lived between 1902 and 1987. The Person-Centered Approach was developed by him, also considered a pioneer in scientific research in psychotherapy. Reginald “Reg” William Revans was a British academic professor, administrator and management consultant who pioneered the use of Action learning. He is considered the “father “of Action Learning. He lived between 1907 and 2003. Although they lived at the same time being contemporary, they may never have met, or at least I have found no evidence of this meeting. However, their approaches are absolutely complementary and consistent with each other. Read More

The learning and development profession faces many challenges. Learning transfer from traditional training hovers at a dismal 12% (Collins 2023), and despite the billions spent on leadership development, the results don’t always bear out (Haslamet al 2024). Add to that the pace of technological change and the rapid advancement of AI and it’s clear that workplace learning needs a revolution.
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As experienced practitioners, we all know the power of Action Learning and the positive working conditions created in an Action Learning session. However, what if I told you that this was tied to the wiring of our brains? If I were 20 years younger today and picking a degree, I would choose neuroscience. What we’re learning now about the brain and its implications for life are amazing. Given my belief in the importance of these findings, I have studied applied neuroscience and worked hard in recent years to make connections between this new understanding about the brain and the way I think about talent and leadership. Read More

This is the second part of a very comprehensive article that looks at why questions, and by extension Action Learning, are so powerful for individuals and teams. In part 1 in the previous newsletter, Shannon Banks introduced the SCARF model and explained Action Learning creates safety around Status, Certainty and Autonomy. In this second part, Shannon looks at Relatedness and Fairness and then shares how she has adjusted her coaching profession by applying the SCARF model. For us to do our best, most creative, and effective work, we need to be in what David Rock calls a “toward the state,” not hindered by fear or threat. Read More

I have never been a fan of presenting a webinar. I always feel like I’m talking to myself. The loss of interaction with the audience I find horrifically deflating. However, give me an audience I can interact with and I am in my element. Especially, if it’s a small audience like the CALC classes. My favorite has become the four-day intensive. In the face to face program, we typically require no prework, other than to contemplate potential problems to work on. Read More

THE PANDEMIC PURSUIT: A POST-GRADUATE CALC’S TIMELY TALE As someone who loves to learn and to take action, you can imagine the immediate curiosity I had when I first heard about Action Learning. My colleagues who have had the chance to participate in Action Learning sessions spoke about it with much enthusiasm, but when asked about the details, all of them said the same thing: “You have to experience it to understand it.” Eventually, I did join one session. Little did I know that a single session would cause a huge ripple effect in my life. It was early 2021 and I was a struggling graduate student stuck without a thesis to pursue to finally complete my master’s degree. I wanted to conduct exploratory research that would not only contribute to the field of Organizational Psychology, but also benefit organizational development practitioners in the Philippines. I took note of possible topics to focus on and read through tons of literature to identify gaps that my study could address. I kept hitting deadends. It seemed like all my topics of interest were already charted territory. Read More