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Counselling training uses a lot of experiential teaching with triad or diad work.  It seems natural to me to have a student practice either with scripts or on low level issues and be observed to gain the experience of being in the position of the therapist, as the client and to observe and offer feedback.  Three very different experiences in one session, and the chance to learn from each other.  Although, my understanding of action learning may differ to problem solving in business.

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Adults learn best when they can talk with one another, reflect and plan.

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn" – Benjamin Franklin.

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A useful overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNUIgG4T7RQ

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Action Learning Sets bring people with experience of a problem together to explore possible solutions, try them out, and develop them further.

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Mindtools Content Team (2022) Action Learning Sets. Available at: https://www.mindtools.com/anbk5zv/action-learning-sets (Accessed 17 March 2023).

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Why Use Action Learning Sets?

Action Learning Sets differ from many other good approaches to problem solving (such as Root Cause Analysis, Cause and Effect Analysis and Simplex) in that they're useful where you need to "feel your way" to a full solution through repeated cycles of work or experimentation.

Action Learning Sets also foster good work relationships, as people work closely to find the best approach to a problem.

They rely on conversation, criticism, and challenge within the group. This can make some people feel uncomfortable, but it can also encourage innovation and creative thinking on a more general basis.

When to Use Action Learning Sets

You can use Action Learning Sets to explore problems that are complex, that lack an apparent solution, or that would benefit from people's shared experience. You can also use them to look at long-term problems that need to be addressed with ongoing efforts.

For example, imagine that you want to address the high levels of stress that people experience in a specific role. You could create an Action Learning Set made up of people in that particular job. Everyone in the set will share the need to address this issue, and they all have a stake in the outcome.

How to Organize an Action Learning Set

Follow the steps below to organize and run an Action Learning Set. In these steps, we assume that you will be responsible for presenting the problem to the set. (In Revans' terminology, you are the "issue bringer.")

Step 1: Confirm the Topic to Address

Your first step is to confirm that the issue or problem you need to address is appropriate for an Action Learning Set.

Consider these questions:

Is this issue open-ended?

Can you take action on this issue?

Does this issue affect a wider group of people?

If you can't answer "yes" to all of these questions, you may want to consider a different problem-solving approach.

Step 2: Appoint Set Members

Next, choose participants who have a stake in the problem at hand, as they will be more likely to take responsibility for their actions and advice.

Try to choose participants with a variety of backgrounds, and make sure that members take part voluntarily, so that they have a genuine interest in solving the problem.

Limit your set to five or six people: this will give everyone a chance to participate.

Step 3: Appoint a Leader

Some people find that it's helpful to appoint a set leader or facilitator. This person will need excellent listening skills, and they must be able to keep discussions on track.

Other people believe that learners lead themselves best. Revans himself took this view: he felt that, sometimes, inexperienced set leaders could interfere with, or even limit, the set's achievement.

One solution is to use a set leader for the first few cycles, and then let group members decide whether to continue with this approach or lead the set from within.

Step 4: Choose a Setting

Action Learning Sets are often most effective when they take place in an unfamiliar setting. This can break members out of established ways of thinking, and give them a fresh perspective.

Step 5: Run the Session

Use Revans' Action Learning Cycle as a basis for your set. As we show above, the four steps are:

Let's look at each step in more detail.

Reflect

First, present the problem. Set members should then ask questions about the issue, check assumptions, and discuss potential solutions.

They may want to use CATWOE, Starbursting or the Six Thinking Hats technique to explore the issue from a variety of angles.

Once they have completed the first round of the cycle, members will need to use this stage to reflect on their progress and the obstacles they have encountered, as well as the issue itself.

Learn

After the initial discussion, talk about what each person has learned from it. Consider these questions:

What new ideas or information did we discover?

What assumptions did we dispel?

What past mistakes can we learn from and avoid in the future?

What barriers, if any, do we still face, and how has our view of them changed?

What are our options for moving forward?

What new approaches do our experiences suggest?

The learning phase is vital. Without it, the Action Learning Set could be just another project team tasked with solving a problem.

Plan

Your goal in this phase is to identify activities that could help resolve the problem, and develop an effective plan to undertake them.

If appropriate, each set member can agree to carry out or manage one of the proposed solutions and report on it at the next meeting.

Agree when your next meeting will be, and who will report on which tasks.

Act

Now it's time to take action. Between meetings, everyone must work on their agreed activity, and monitor it so that they can report back to other set members.

In your next meeting, start the Action Learning Cycle again. Listen to members' reports, and examine what worked, what didn't, and what action members need to take now. Then, schedule another meeting to reflect and discuss your newly agreed action.

You can agree to a set number of meetings (after which the set will disband) or you can continue the action learning process until everyone is confident that the problem has been fully resolved.

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Action Learning Sets - Solving Problems by Doing and Discussing

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Find out how action learning can help you solve problems and develop new skills.

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Action Learning Sets foster good work relationships, as people work closely to find the best approach to a problem.

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Action learning sets rely on conversation, criticism, and challenge within the group. This can make some people feel uncomfortable.

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It can also encourage innovation and creative thinking.

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Action learning provides an opportunity for deep learning. As learners, through the action set, are committed to fully understand the issue and making connections between experiences and new ideas.

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Action learning is about the development of people as much as it is about addressing real problems/issues in workplaces.

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“Adaption is achieved only by learning, namely, by being able to do tomorrow that which might have been unnecessary today, or to be able to do today what was unnecessary last week” (Revans, 2017)

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Use to tackle real problems or issues within the workplace. Using the collective experience of the group to get things done and bring about change.

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"It is what we think we know already that prevents us from learning" Claude Bernard cited by Edmonstone (2017 p. 38)

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Edmonstone, J (2017) Action learning in healthcare: a practical handbook. CRC Press. 1st ed.

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Action learning promotes reflection.

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Action learning risks being confused with other types of group development.

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Action learning is not group therapy, a support group, or an opportunity to blame one another for the organisational problems. Neither is it coaching or mentoring, or a task/project group, with a focus on learning equally as important as on action.

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The facilitators role is to:

hold space, not to teach

create a safe space and supportive conditions for the group

enable learners to explore and understand their experiences and views, acknowledge a need for change and see the impact of action on real problems.

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McGill I, Brockbank A (2004) The Action Learning handbook Routledge London

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Creates an environment for collaborative working

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Holds a 'fundamental respect' for where staff are coming from, their values and right to learn at own pace (McGill 2004)

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"Brining life experiences to the fore as a single most important resource in enabling the individual to move and learn and develop with support of others" McGill 2004 pg 12)

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In order for action learning to be sustainable there needs to be protected time to participate.

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Encourages an active participation stance in learners rather than a passive one

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Action learning sets can involve staff/students from different roles/jobs within an organisation. This can benefit brining an organisation closer and supporting an increased respect and understanding across teams/roles.

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An action learning set is a continuous process so actions from the previous meeting will usually be discussed at the start of the next meeting. This helps continue the learning cycle

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The idea of not focusing solely on cognitive learning but that conative and affective are just as important and its the combination that makes Action learning effective. This can lead to the increased autonomy and independence of learners

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Action learning sets/groups take time to bond and develop and requires a commitment from members

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The facilitators role adapts as the group grows in confidence

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Action learning sets promote the constructivist approach to learning, encouraging life long learning and the ability to adapt to changing learning/ working environments

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Can be time consuming, which poses a problem to already time constrained organisations

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Action learning sets are useful to use when there is a complex "problem" without a simple solution identified through one member in the group. Members are then able to actively listen to the complexity of the "problem" and ask probing questions to unravel and understand the "problem". This then allows the group to collectively share, explain and learn from previous experiences resulting in new learning and shared "problem" solving.

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Reg Revans (2017). Abc of action learning. Taylor & Francis Ltd.

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Action learning sets are potentially very useful in co-creation and building a community of learning

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Representation of demographics and stakeholder view points could be challenging and may lead to larger groups. Personality and strong views could lead to non-action or non-learning.