Anna Kayes

Experiential learning in teams

Teamwork is prevalent in organizations, yet it has pitfalls such as social loafing, groupthink, overdependence on a dominant leader, overcommitment to goals, and diffusion of responsibility. Such negative factors can be overcome and team effectiveness improved when teams intentionally focus on learning. This article draws on nearly four decades of research and theory on experiential learning theory in teams. We identify learning as the key component of six aspects of team development: purpose, membership, role leadership, context, process, and action. Teams learn differently in early versus later stages of development. The Kolb Team Learning Experience addresses all six aspects through a structured written simulation. Upon completion of the simulation, the team has knowledge about the functions of teams in general, experience about the functions of its team specifically, and awareness of learning and progress through the learning cycle modes.

Essential competencies for cross‐cultural knowledge absorption

Purpose – To describe the competencies necessary for managers to effectively engage in cross‐cultural knowledge absorption. Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive literature review of knowledge management and cross‐cultural competency research which identifies seven thematic competencies for knowledge absorption. Findings – The study identifies and provides examples of seven cross‐cultural knowledge absorption abilities: valuing different cultures, building relationships, listening and observing, coping with ambiguity, managing others, translating complex ideas, and taking action. Research limitations/implications – The research relies on a single theory of learning and integrates research into a single set of assumptions. The research has not been tested empirically. Practical implications – The paper provides a model to guide managers and others in organizations through successful knowledge transfer and absorption efforts including training, development, selection and project planning. Originality/value – The paper integrates diverse and extensive literature on knowledge absorption into a single framework based on how managers learn from experience and suggests competencies for managing absorption efforts.

Developing teams using the Kolb Team Learning Experience

This article shows how the Kolb Team Learning Experience (KTLE) simulation has been used by teams to enhance learning. The KTLE includes seven modules: (a) introduction, (b) team purpose, (c) team membership, (d) team roles, (e) team process, (f) team context, and (g) team action. Each of these modules takes a team through the process of team learning: creating, planning, deciding, and acting (or, in technical terms, diverging, assimilating, converging, and accommodating). The authors describe the simulation and provide examples from teams that have engaged in it.

“Through the Looking Glass” Management Education Gone Awry

This article draws on poststructural Experiential Learning Theory to conceptualize management development as a series of concurrent reflective conversations. The developmental change process is illustrated through the experiences of Lewis Carroll’s character Alice in the books Through the Looking Glass and Alice and Her Adventures in Wonderland. Furthering the distinction between personal and social knowledge, the article suggests that development, and by extension learning, is not a direct reflection of individual self but rather a process of looking “awry” at individual experience. Implications for the efficacy of various pedagogies—such as lecture, simulations and experiential exercises, critical facilitation, and problem solving—are explored for each conversation.

Fostering Emotional Intelligence

Leadership requires more than analytical skills; leadership requires emotional intelligence—understanding and managing the emotions of self and others. Emotional intelligence involves self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Learning-directed leaders understand the importance of emotional intelligence in self and others. A key element to developing emotional intelligence is motivation to learn.

Higher-Order Learning

When leaders engage in higher-order learning, they experience a continual improvement in their capacity to learn. Leaders who develop higher-order learning are not limited by their pre-existing experience but learn to transfer their learning to new situations. Learning no longer becomes constrained but can be applied to a variety of situations. Leaders seek out new and unfamiliar situations and continue to learn. Higher-order learning involves three progressive steps: learning from experience, deliberate practice, and meta-learning. Stress, multiple competing demands, and emotional burnout conspire to undermine higher-order learning.

Learning from Experience

Learning-directed leaders draw on their own experiences and the experiences of others as the basis for learning. Leaders have unique learning preferences that impact how they interact and make decisions at work. Learning from experience involves four interrelated processes: gathering experience, reflecting on the experience, generating theories about the experience, and taking action. Learning-directed leaders overcome limitations of learning from experience by understanding the structure of the brain and psychological defense mechanisms, their own unique preferences for learning, and the role of anxiety in learning.

Leadership Learning: From the Classroom to the Boardroom

Learning can be classified into four approaches: behavioral, cognitive, social, and humanistic. These approaches offer a broad but often conflicting view about what constitutes learning. An alternative approach to learning focuses on practices rather than theoretical assumptions. Drawing on the emerging international field of management learning, we propose a pragmatic approach. Practices of learning are identified that constitute the foundation of learning-directed leadership.

Learning in Organizations

In a complex, information-rich, and dynamic organization, effective leadership requires continuous learning. Traditional approaches focus on power, influence, and motivation as the keys to leadership. These are important factors but prove less consequential in today’s environment. Contemporary leaders rely on learning to navigate complexity and novelty. This is learning-directed leadership. Learning-directed leadership offers strategies to aid leaders as they learn from their experiences, constantly update their viewpoint, and challenge themselves and others to create new knowledge.