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 This example is
related by Robert L. Dilworth. It is abbreviated from his article,
"Active Learning In A nutshell", referenced below.
The Background
I
headed a major organization with hundreds of computers organized in
an Intranet. The organization was highly dependent on this system
and its efficiency and responsiveness directly influenced our
performance.
The
computers were slow in moving between screen images. These time
delays were a major drag on performance. My
internal experts had
promised prompt resolution but failed to deliver. The national
headquarters of the major computer firm that provided the system was
activated and after further troubleshooting,
they believed the
problem was unfixable. Their solution was a new multi-million dollar
system.
The Action Learning Team
Convinced there was a solution, I called together
22 management
trainees from our fourteen directorates. All had basic computer
literacy, but only two were computer specialists. Some trainees had
never met before. Most had never worked together.
I
informed the trainees of the problem, its significance to the
organization, our unsuccessful efforts to solve it, my belief that
it could be solved, the importance of avoiding the cost of a new
system, and my belief that working to solve the problem would be a
wonderful learning experience.
Asked
to take on this problem as a group, they huddled briefly and
accepted the challenge.
Outsiders thought the group was naive to think they could fix this
and some commented on the unfairness of asking trainees to take it
on. The trainees never seemed to think the problem was beyond their
depth, although they did view it as extremely challenging.
The
problem was real, and once they accepted responsibility for the
project, the team was expected to solve it. They were absolutely
certain of top management support.
The Results
One month later, the problem was
fixed.
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What The Team Did
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The
computer experts offered to join, but the
trainees declined,
preferring to follow their own instincts and call up specific
expertise as appropriate.
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The
trainees did not know enough to start with customary
troubleshooting techniques. They invented their own process and
asked fresh questions. They explored avenues not explored by
others.
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They drew fully on the intellectual resources of their trainee
group. There was no leader. They operated as equals in a
trusting environment.
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They broke into sub-teams of roughly six to
examine various aspects of the problem.
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They found an array of causal factors rather than any single
problem driver.
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They gave considerable thought to what they had learned and
classed it as one of the best learning experiences of their
lives.
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A
camaraderie grew out of the experience. They had bonded as a
group and asked to be allowed to take on other complex
troubleshooting projects.
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The
trainees briefed their problem solving approach to me, the
in-house computer experts, representatives from the national
computer firm, and other computer organizations.
Adapted From: Dilworth, Robert L., Performance
Improvement Quarterly, 1998, Volume 11, Number 1, pp. 28-43.
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Strategos
Action Learning Projects
 Strategos can facilitate and assist with your
Action Learning projects. We have been applying these
principles for many years in a variety of situations. Please
call me if you would like to talk further.
Quarterman
Lee
816-931-1414
qlee@strategosinc.com
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