Action Learning Set Handout

What is an Action Learning Set?

"continuous process of learning and reflection supported by colleagues, with
an intention of getting things done."
McGill (1993)

In an action learning programme:

Everyone works on a work-based project, or series of tasks.

The group of people who join a programme learn to work in a constructive and
effective way.

The emphasis throughout the programme is as much on achieving visible

results as on learning from everything that takes place, within and
outside the set.

There are six main elements of an action-learning programme:

1.

The set - the small group of five or six people who meet regularly, ideally
once a month for a day, to work together in a supportive yet challenging way

2.

The 'learning vehicle' - the work-focused, real-time projects or tasks that

each person focuses on during the programme.
It may be helpful to stress that these should be problems as opposed to
puzzles (Revans 1982). We are dealing with puzzles when there is a known
'answer' to our questioning and probing, only we don't yet know it. Probably
another course or some more reading will give us the solution. By contrast,
problems are those issues, challenges, opportunities where there is no one
answer; no one-way of doing things, no one solution. It's a question of
juggling with insights, ideas, experience, and deciding what is the 'best'
solution in these particular circumstances.

3.

The processes the set adopts when working - each person has their own
'airspace', in which to work on their project; the set meanwhile adopts a
helpful questioning approach (no advice, and no general discussions).

4.

A set adviser - who helps the group as it works and learns.

5.

The duration of a programme - normally three to six months.

6.

The emphasis on learning - which emerges both from working on the

projects and from working in the set.

WHAT HAPPENS IN A SET MEETING? WHAT ARE THE SET PROCESSES?

There are a number of fundamental processes that occur and need to be observed
(and some avoided) if the set is to gain the real benefits of working with action
learning:

airspace - allowing time and space for everyone to work on their project individual
recalling and reporting back, and working on the next 'phase' or issue

asking helpful and challenging questions - but not seeking answers

listening 'actively'

giving feedback and sharing insights

focusing on learning as much as on action

reflecting - and maybe responding

allowing time and space for silences

not judging or giving advice; not telling anecdotes (unless they are helpful); not
offering solutions

finding a formula for sharing ideas.

AIRSPACE
Airspace is the time during which one participant, the problem-presenter; tells the
other members where he or she has got to since the last meeting. They tell a
continuation of a 'story' which other members get to know well, and become involved
in.
The value of action learning is that this airspace gives you an opportunity to focus on:

your story; and not just a history of a series of events

your experiences, and not just facts and figures
your anecdotes, and not just a progression of events
what you felt like, and not just what was happening
your metaphors (to help you understand), and not just the facts.

In other words, the problem-presenter is in charge of his or her own airspace. Some
useful statements for a problem-presenter include:
'I'd like to explore ...'
I'm wondering whether...
'I'm not sure if ...'
'I'm uncertain about...'
'I can't decide whether ...'
'I'm puzzled by...'
'I'm confused by ...'

BEING AN EFFECTIVE SET MEMBER

In a useful article, Action learning: Reflections on becoming a set member', Beaty,
Bourner and Frost (1993) describe how to be an effective set member.
Helpful behaviour by set members includes:

listening and attending

learning not to interrupt
conveying interest and empathy
being supportive
challenging
asking helpful questions
being clear that what they are about to say/asking and considering whether it is
helpful to the presenter
providing information where required
offering insights and ideas (at the right time and in the right way).

Helpful behaviour by problem-presenters includes:

preparing for meetings

being clear in their own mind about what they want to achieve from their
airspace, and what they will do to ensure this, as well as what they will ask of the
set
structuring their time
telling the set what they want, and pointing out to the set what isn't
helpful.

USE OF LANGUAGE
You may find it more useful within the set to consider aspects of language that help
clarify and empower for example the use of "I":

using 'I' with the active form of a verb, rather than the passive of the verb - 'I sent
my report late', acknowledging responsibility, in contrast with the passivity of 'My
report arrived late.'

substitute 'I' for 'you' or the ubiquitous 'one' - saying 'I often feel ...' as opposed to
'One/you often feel(s) ....

How we use language both reflects, and has an impact on, how we 'see' things.
Here are a few instances of how changing words may well alter how we perceive
things, and what we do and learn:

verb tenses - using the present, often with a generalization, implies - permanence (and a hint of no change possible), as in 'You always say ...',
- as opposed to 'You said ...', where it is a one-off event

recycling nouns back into verbs - for instance, saying 'I'm trying to motivate X'
instead of 'I'm dealing with X's lack of motivation' creates an action

using verbal forms rather than adjectives to describe something - 'I didn't
manage to ...' leaves more room for improvement than 'I'm useless at...'.

ASKING HELPFUL AND CHALLENGING QUESTIONS

Helpful and challenging questions are the key to working in a set. By asking
questions, we hand responsibility back to the 'problem-owner'. But their aim is not
necessarily nor always, to elicit answers. Sometimes their aim is rather to help the
presenter to think, reflect, and maybe respond. And questions need to be asked in
the right spirit - not aggressively.
Most participants find that it is helpful if the questioners preface their questions with
an indication of what they are after:

to clarify - 'Are you saying that...?'

to try to understand - 'Could you explain so-and-so a bit more...?'

to follow through a train of thought - 'You said a moment ago that .. If that's the
case, what would happen if...?'

to mirror - 'So what you're saying is...?'

to open up new avenues - 'Have you explored thought of...?' or 'Would ... be of
any help?'

to challenge - 'What do you feel most uncomfortable about?' or 'What do you feel
most challenged by?'

to elicit honesty - 'Do you feel you're making any impact - and if not, what can
you do about it?'

to unpeel layers, to dig deeper - 'And then what happened...?'

to check out - 'Are we asking helpful questions?' or 'What haven't we helped you
with yet?'

One participant gave an example of some of the questions the set adviser had asked
her when she commented that she was having problems working with a colleague:
'He asked me questions such as "When you speak to X, what do you think her views
are?" and "How did she respond?", or when I told of an exchange we'd had, "How
would you feel if she had said that to you?", and so on. Questions like these expose
you to a different level of thinking, a different slant altogether.'
WORKING WITH QUESTIONS
Asking questions, as many discovered, is not that easy: 'I'd never realized how
difficult it is to formulate really helpful questions.' 'The secret is to get people talking,
so saying "I don't understand", "Tell me more" or "You seem to be glossing over...
encourages them to say more.'
One participant said he structured the sequence of his questions, beginning with the
'what' and 'who' questions, to begin to form a picture, followed by the 'whys' to clarify
the story; only then would he progress to the 'what' and 'how' questions, directed at
what actions or interventions were possible or appropriate.
Questions may sometimes evoke a defensive response in the presenter. The set can
address this either by asking why the presenter is feeling defensive - which in turn
might open up something that needs to be explored further.

Other examples of helpful questions include:

questions that begin with 'how', 'what' and 'why'

precision questions:
-

What exactly?
'How exactly...?'
'Bigger than/more than...?'
'Everyone?'
Always?'

powerful questions (when a presenter says 'I can't.'):

'What's stopping you...?'
'What would happen if you...?'

reflective questions (mirror back what presenter seems to be saying):

'So you're saying...?'
'You seem...?'
What's at the back of your mind?'

'idea' questions (without spelling out the details!):

'Would ... be of any use?'
'Have you thought of...?'

project-focused questions:
'What problems does that cause?'
'In what way is that a problem?'
What isn't happening now?'
'What do you want to be different?'
'How would you like X to respond?'
'How do think that Y needs to be changed/altered?'
'What would you like to do - ideally?'
'How do you feel about that?'
'Who have you consulted/talked to?'
'Who else might you talk to?'
'How does the other person/department see the issue?'
'How will you go about it?'
'In what way will that help?'
'Who else can you involve/get to back you?'

feelings-focused questions:
'How are you feeling about this?'
'Do you feel confident?'
'What worries you most?'
'What excites you most?'
'Are you being honest with yourself?'

questions about the set's processes:

'What else would you find helpful?'
'How can we help you?'
'Are we getting away from your question?'
'Are we being helpful?'
'What are we doing here, now?'
'What are we doing at the moment?'
'Why haven't we tackled ..?'
'What have we learnt?'

It can also he useful to us statements expressing feelings, such as: 'I feel
uncomfortable/confused/angry/helplessness.'
(adapted from Action Learning, K. Weinstein, 1995)