Russ Vince

Behind and Beyond Kolb's Learning Cycle

The author discusses Kolbs learning cycle and the propositions that give rise to it. The author considers the importance of the cycle within mainstream management education and development and then takes a more critical view, looking both behind and beyond the learning cycle at issues that can be developed out of its current conceptualization. The author argues that a more comprehensive picture of experiential learning in management education might be based on developments around emotional and political aspects of Kolbs model. These developments are intended to acknowledge additional, often omitted, aspects of learning from experience within management education and development. The author offers three particular areas for the development of skill and knowledge in the practice of management education.

The impact of caution and blame on organizational learning

The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between emotion, learning and organizing. In particular, this involves developing an understanding of how emotional and political aspects of organizing can shed light on the tensions between individual and organizational learning. The research highlights organizational dynamics created through repeated patterns of caution and blame within a public sector organization. The study shows how these dynamics inhibited processes of reflection and communication within the organization, undermining the implementation and further development of strategies explicitly designed for organizational learning. The article explores the politics that arise from attempts to organize learning, as well as how organizational politics are created from and reinforced by emotions expressed both individually and collectively. The final section covers discussions on the contribution of this study to organizational learning, the implications of the study for organizations, and issues for further research.

‘Learning-in-action’ and ‘learning inaction’:advancing the theory and practice of critical action learning

This paper seeks to improve our understanding of the emotional and political dynamics that are generated (and too often avoided) in action learning. The idea at the centre of the paper is a distinction between ‘learning-in-action’ and ‘learning inaction’. The phrase ‘learning-in-action’ represents the value of action learning and much of what we know about the productive relationship between learning and practice. For example, we know that action learning can provide a generative learning model for improvements in practice. Membership of an action learning set can assist individuals in the development of strategic actions, which then can be tested and potentially transformed in practice. However, there is another dynamic that is having an effect on learning and the transformation of practice within action learning. This is called ‘learning inaction’ because participants in learning sets also have (conscious and unconscious) knowledge, fantasies and perceptions about when it is emotionally and politically expedient to refrain from action, when to avoid collective action, and the organizational dynamics that underpin a failure to act. Organizational members are often aware of the political limits of learning within organizations without having to be told; we collude with others in order to create limitations on learning and we are often aware of what is and is not going to be seen as a legitimate result of our attempts to learn. We know these things at the same time as we are engaged in action learning. These developments in theory are related to practice through a focus on four action learning sets within the UK Health Service.

The impact of emotion on organizational learning

This paper addresses an aspect of organizational learning that has not been extensively developed - the impact of emotion on organizational learning. The study of emotion in organizations is seen as an important part of the development of organizational learning. The paper argues that attention to the emotional dynamics of organizing, and to the links between emotion and organizational politics, will increase the possibilities for understanding organizational learning. Awareness of the impact of emotion on organizational learning can be developed through an investigation of two areas. First, organizational learning is more than a product of organizational responses to individual learning. Emotion contributes to a broader understanding of systemic learning. Second, emotion is important to strategic aspects of organizational learning. There is a link between the emotional and the political within organizations. The paper contains a discussion of these themes using brief case examples to illustrate and develop the issues.

The cultural context of learning in international joint ventures

Currently, learning in international joint ventures between developing and developed countries tends to be viewed as a one‐way process, with Western partners assuming superiority in both technology and management. Learning is often dominated by the rational drive to achieve organisational effectiveness without sufficient attention to cultural differences, which has created problems of mutual understanding. In this paper we examine learning processes in Chinese‐Western joint ventures as well as the cultural context where learning is taking place. We argue that improved management of joint ventures lies in the process of collective learning of joint venture partners. To achieve this, it is important for partners from diverse cultures and socio‐economic backgrounds to understand the different modes of managing and organising. We illustrate this with examples from our study of Chinese‐Western joint ventures.

Inside Action Learning: An Exploration of the Psychology and Politics of the Action Learning Model.

S MANAGEMENT EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT Volume 24 Part 3 1993 INTERFERING WITH THE INTERFERENCE: A SYSTEMIC APPROACH TO CHANGE IN ORGANISATIONS PA UL TOSEY University of Surrey This article outlines, and illustrates with practical examples, a systemic approach to personal and organisational change. The approach is based primarily on the work of Gregory Bateson, who has influenced many people working in this field. It presents a challenge to much orothodox thinking and is a shift that may be essential if we are to reahse in practice the visions inherent in notions such as the learning company’ (Pedler et al, 1991) and organisational transformation (Owen 1987). Interfer:ng w,th the interference is presented as a systemic metaphor, with the intention of raising questions about metaphors we use, consciously and unconsciously, in relation to organisational change. In particular, by asking what may appropriately communicate a systemic approach the article is intended to stimulate thinking about change and consultancy. INSIDE ACTION LEARNING: AN EXPLORA TION OF THE PSYCHOLOGY AND POLITICS OF THE ACTION LEARNING

Developing the Leadership Capability of Headteachers.

The leadership of schools involves emotional as well as rational capabilities. Emotions are integral to teaching and learning and their management. Teaching, learning and educational management are therefore influenced by non-rational forces. As a consequence, learning to ‘manage’ this emotional dimension is essential in the leadership development of headteachers. In this article, we use the findings from our work in the Esmee Fairbairn Trust ‘Heads You Win’ Programme where we explored with primary headteachers the emotional dimension of their leadership. In the first part, we conceptualize the role of emotion in organizations. We then analyse the headteachers’ perceptions of their role and present a framework that describes those perceptions. We then examine the emotions associated with the headteacher role in relation to our framework. Finally, we theorize the findings and suggest ways of developing the leadership capabilities of headteachers that will enable them to better manage the emotional dimensions of their role.

The spatial psychodynamics of management learning

This article addresses the question: how can we help managers to understand the emotional and political dynamics that surround and permeate their managerial roles? A conceptual framework is presented that is based on the integration of literature on space with literature that has taken a psychodynamic approach to management learning. The term spatial psychodynamics describes the way in which juxtapositions of material, relative and relational space in the management classroom can reveal dynamics that help managers to perceive the emotions and politics that are part of their roles. Three characteristics of spatial psychodynamics are presented: unconscious dynamics and the interpretation of learning space, the political effects of fantasy in learning space, and how juxtapositions of space create distinctiveness of place. An example is discussed in order to illustrate how this concept can improve our ability to engage with emotional and political dynamics in the management classroom.

Rethinking Strategic Learning

1. An Introduction2. Strategic Learning and HRD3. Power, Emotion and Organizational Learning4. Emotion and Strategic Learning5. Being Taken Over6. The Politics of Imagined Stability7. Organizing Reflection8. Redefining Leadership9. The Point of Intervention

The future practice of HRD

Human resource development, which has a central concern with learning and change, has found it difficult to change itself. HRD is based on people development and rational planning; it is rooted in standardized products and services, driven by competencies, defined by professional bodies and focused on predictability and consistency. There are too many organizations whose approaches require staff members to learn mechanistically, and only a very small number of models of development that are used (the top three are the training cycle, Kirkpatrick’s evaluation ladder and Kolb’s learning cycle). HRD has been weak strategically, placing the emphasis on individuals to learn and change, and largely ignoring the wider politics of organizing in which HRD exists and can have an impact. There are not many senior levels in HRD nor is there consistent commitment to HRD from senior levels. The focus of HRD is on the development of people in teams in organizations, and this is too often informed by a tired humanism that imagines such development separately from the social, political and emotional dynamics of organizing, as well as the economic pressures on business. There is lack of interest in debate about HRD. Many of the people who attend the conference of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, (the main UK professional body for HRD), for example, are there primarily to buy products and pick up techniques and tricks to get them through their next instructional session. HRD practitioners, in addition to managers and leaders, are often searching for certainty in a world of contradictions. It might be more useful, however, to search for contradictions, since they are in such plentiful supply. In order to thrive,HRDmayhave to get more complicated. It is time to start thinking about HRD less as people development and more as an approach that supports the impact people can have on organizing.HRD can and shouldmake a distinctive contribution to organizing. It is an interventionwithin a political system, a practice ofmanagement and leadership, with all the difficulties and contradictions that attempting to manage and to lead are likely to contain and reveal. HRD needs to construct itself critically, and as an integral part of continuous learning and change. It has to take a lead in creating the designs and developments for future business – and this means a focus on how learning and change are avoided as well as planned, on the different forms and approaches to leadership required and on consulting for organization development. The focus of HRD is on action, on developing the capacity to act, on generating credibility through action and on influencing and working with others in situations loaded with emotion and politics. The reflections in this paper were generated from discussions by a small group of academics and practitioners who came together in January 2003 to consider and to HRDI 6:4 (2003), pp. 559–563