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Peter Turgoose discusses how senior and experienced managers, who feel that classroom-based programmes have little to offer them, can continue to grow and develop through alternative models of experiential learning. He argues that for experiential learning programmes to be effective they need to be guided, adaptive and anchored.

A simple straw poll of any group of senior executives shows us that our companies and corporations are being led by very well educated groups of people. A significant proportion of the people in the room will have a degree and a large number will have obtained a post graduate qualification of some kind. When asked about more recent training, many will be able to recall the company run management training programmes that they attended in the earlier days of their careers, and some will talk about classes they have attended to learn about developments in their areas of professional expertise. However, when asked what their current personal development plans are most will shrug their shoulders and admit that, despite requiring it of the people who work for them, they don’t have any current plans because they are too busy dealing with the ever increasing and complex problems they face leading their parts of the organisation. The unfortunate reality is that most senior executives are relying heavily on old, and sometimes outdated, learning, and don’t have either the time or the motivation to attend classroom-based development programmes that take them away from business critical issues.

Experiential learning cycle

Of course, this does not mean that senior executives are not continuing to learn. David Kolb’s seminal work on experiential learning in the 1980s[1] taught us that we continuously learn through a four-stage cycle of; Concrete Observation > Reflective Observation > Abstract Conceptualisation > Active Experimentation. In other words, we see something, we think about it, we consider how we might apply it to our situation and we try it – we learn through experience. This process works well for managers in their early careers as a lot of what they are observing is new and presents them with a multitude of opportunities to further their learning and development. However, as time progresses less and less of what managers observe can appear to be new, no new insights are regularly introduced, and they begin to do things the way they always have because it has worked in the past. In the worst case scenario, when managers face a new situation that all of their past learning and experience has not equipped them with strategies to deal with, they revert to old tried and tested strategies that are inappropriate and lead to ineffective outcomes.

Powerful learning experiences

When a group of senior executives are asked to describe their most powerful learning experiences, ones where they feel they have really grown as a result, it is very rare for them to cite their time in further education, their attendance at a conference or even a training course. In most cases senior executives refer to a time when they successfully faced a challenging situation that took them out of their comfort zone and stretched them both intellectually and emotionally. They will often refer back to the fact that they were learning with others whilst delivering something important, and that there was someone who was guiding them along the way. 

When senior executives are describing their most powerful learning experiences the context within which they have occurred generally falls into one or more of three categories. Powerful and lasting learning occurred for people when;

1. They took up a new role or assignment within the organisation, where they found themselves in a situation that took them out of a current comfort zone and stretched them both intellectually and emotionally.
2. They were thrown together with colleagues to solve a specific problem or develop a new organisational capability, often when the approach and solution was new to all involved.
3. They were collaborating with peers outside of their organisation to explore a novel situation or issue that was of particular importance to the future of their organisation.

Another set of common themes that come through from senior managers describing their most powerful learning experiences are those relating to what they believe made the learning effective, which are that;

1. They felt that they were guided by an individual who was able to direct them towards powerful insights and then help them reflect and conceptualise how the insights might influence the choices they were making.
2. They valued the fact that the learning process was not defined at the outset. What was important was that the organisational outcome was always kept in sight and the learning process was adaptive, it was constantly reviewed with the target outcome in mind. The guide would provide access to learning opportunities such as visits to suppliers or other companies, access to thought leaders, appropriate reading, mentoring etc, at a point in the process where the maximum value could be gained.
3. They were, at all times, anchored by an organisational need. They were motivated by the need to improve their organisation by applying what they had learned and reviewing the impact that they had had.

Senior executives’ descriptions of their most powerful learning experiences are, in most cases, about experiential learning and can be summarised in the diagram below.

Guided, adaptive, anchored

The choice of the learning guide is critical as they will ensure that the learners are clear on their destination and the desired outcome for the organisation, are heading in the right direction, are seeing the right things along the way, and are learning from the experience. An experienced learning guide is a catalyst who;

• Asks questions, not only to draw out individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand.
• Regularly reviews what has been learnt and adjusts the journey accordingly, introducing access to new insights as required.
• Ensures that the learner is actively involved in the experience.
• Helps the learner spend time reflecting on the experience.
• Helps the learner use analytical skills to conceptualise the experience.
• Helps the learner use the new ideas gained from the experience.

An experienced learning guide will make a huge contribution to the success of a learning journey, but ultimately the learner must;

• Be willing to move out of their comfort zone.
• Be willing to be actively involved in the experience.
• Be able and have time to reflect on the experience.
• Possess and use analytical skills to conceptualise the experience.
• Possess decision-making and problem-solving skills in order to use the new ideas gained from the experience.

The role of experiential learning in executive development

In conclusion, as a manager’s career progresses they have less time for, and learn less through classroom based development programmes, but potentially learn more and more from challenging experiences in the work place. If their experiential learning is not guided, adaptive and anchored they face the danger of recycling old, tried and tested experiences, which result in the development of strategies that are inappropriate to the new and complex challenges they face. When senior executives find themselves facing a new context they should enlist the support of an experienced learning guide to help shape the developmental experiences and resultant learning necessary for them to deliver a successful business outcome.

I welcome your thoughts.

Peter Turgoose
peter.turgoose@formicio.com

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Tagged: Collaboration, executive development, Facilitator, Guide, Journey, Leadership, learning, learning guide, Management, Mentor, Training