The
Background
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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.
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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.
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The Results
One
month later, the problem was fixed.
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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