New skills for the boss

Even in these days of the "learning organisation", senior executives are apt to think that management development does not apply to them. They make regular pronouncements about the importance of learning throughout the organisation and insist that subordinates go on regular training programmes, but imply by their lack of participation that they themselves are beyond such stuff.

According to Phil Hodgson and Martyn Brown of the Ashridge Management Centre, this is a hangover from the era when the chief executive was regarded as "all-powerful and all-knowing" and any admission of a gap in his knowledge was seen as weakness. "The omnipotent have no need to hone their skills - even if their skills were acquired many years ago," they write in the latest edition of Ashridge's journal, Directions.

Such attitudes are now dying out, and learning is seen to be a key part of a manager's job.

"Senior managers must cope with an unprecedented level of uncertainty," say the authors. "They must learn to do things differently, opening up debate rather than hiding their fears. Along the way they will make mistakes, but must turn their fallibility into an opportunity for others to take responsibility."

Mr Hodgson and Mr Brown propose that the way to achieve this is by "action learning". Like other fashionable management theories, it is not new. It was first properly set out by Reg Revans after the Second World War. Basically, it is learning to learn by doing.

To illustrate the process, Revans created a simple equation: L=P+Q - meaning that learning occurs through a combination of programmed knowledge and the ability to ask insightful questions. Mr Hodgson and Mr Brown quote Revans as saying: "The essence of action learning is to become better acquainted with the self by trying to observe what one may actually do, to trace the reasons for attempting it and the consequences of what one seemed to be doing."

Latterly, companies have begun to adapt the approach to get managers of all levels to tackle problems through team work. General Electric in the US, under its chief executive Jack Welch, has recently taken that sort of approach, while the California-based electronics company Hewlett- Packard encourages all its operations to develop personnel by putting them on task forces.

Equally, the car company Rover is encouraging its staff to believe that learning does not have to take place in a classroom; experiences outside the company are just as relevant to development.

This is not quite a return to the days when training consisted largely of "sitting next to Nellie", but there is a view that "experiential learning" can be as valuable as formal learning.

The approach is useful for junior employees, but it can be especially so for executives. Companies that send managers on training courses frequently see little improvement in performance on their return. Mr Hodgson and Mr Brown argue that this is because "when learning is work it is ineffective". The learning that sticks has "a joy of discovery", they say.

The key to action learning is to get executives to "roam widely around a subject" instead of seeking specific solutions. They say that the competitive environment of the future will require the stimulating atmosphere of a brainstorming session to extend throughout the working day.

One problem is that many managers are not comfortable continually asking questions of subordinates; it implies a lack of the knowledge usually associated with their status.

"Action learning" requires a fundamental change in thinking, say Mr Hodgson and Mr Brown. It is based on releasing and reinterpreting the experiences of a group. Managers need to be supportive and challenging, and ask questions rather than make statements.

Peter Senge of MIT, originator of the term "the learning organisation", says: "The traditional meaning of learning is much deeper than just taking information in. It is about changing individuals so that they produce results they care about."

This process may go against the grain, and involves taking risks, but it may be especially important for the organisations of the future.