Facilitating Organizational Development Through Action Learning & a Framework Integrating Practical and Theoretical Considerations

Action learning programs are supposed to result in both personal and organizational development. Recent research indicates however that although more and more programs lead to personal development, organizational development is negligible. This may be caused by the fact that organizational development implies that a connection must be made between what has been learned by action learning participants and other organizational members. We hypothesize that when an organization has repeatedly been involved in action learning, the principles and outcomes of the method can be institutionalized. Thus, the aforementioned connection may be achieved. We find this a valuable interpretation of organizational development. A theoretical framework is laid out that describes how the institutionalization of action learning principles and outcomes may come about. This framework is built around the following concepts: scripts, lean thinking and presencing - the importance of which has been exemplified in various recent action learning applications. We conjecture that it is possible to devise action learning programs that strengthen organizational development from the outset, in which the role of the set advisor is imperative