5 Core Action Learning Principles

With all the current enthusiasm in learning and development circles around action learning leadership development, let’s take a look at the principles that support the effectiveness of this approach.

1. Learning is absorbed and “sticks” better when people do real work…when learners are able to apply new thinking to current, real-life work problems and challenges.
2. Learning is accelerated when people have an immediate and unbiased mirror…when they discuss opinions, thoughts and insights of others.
3. Learning is not just about the mind…the heart is also involved. Action learning takes into account the whole person and the feelings one has about the goal ahead within actual contexts.
4. Action learning draws learners out. They expose their perceptions to others from varied backgrounds and thus are better able to understand how their own points of view help and hinder performance.
5. Questioning by colleagues leads learners to more accurately define the real root cause…often different from the problem as they first understood it. The better they understand the problem, the more they own a viable solution.

Action learning—doing and learning at the same time—is based on solid principles that have been proven most effective in adult learning research.