Optimizing the Power of Action Learning: Solving Problems and Building Leaders in Real Time [Hardcover]

Michael J. Marquardt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0891061916 | ISBN-13: 978-0891061915 | Publication Date: January 13, 2004 | Edition: 1

The author brings together 20 best-practice examples and the fundamentals first introduced in his best seller Action Learning in Action to deliver next generation tools and advanced skill techniques to make action learning successful every time in any organization.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Especially noteworthy is his model of whole-leader development using real-time, real-world problems, firmly grounded in crucial components of emotional intelligence. -- Training Magazine, July 2004

Marquardt, expert on action learning process, details exactly how methodology works and how it can be used for important problems. -- Soundview Executive Book Summaries, August 2004

People with an interest in knowing details of action learning will find the answer to their prayers in this book. -- getAbstract, June 2004

The book uses the experiences of thousands of managers in hundreds of organizations as a foundation. -- T&D Magazine, June 2004

From the Inside Flap

Sweeping across the corporate landscape, action learning is one of today's most powerful and cost-effective tools for solving problems, developing leaders, building teams, and transforming organizations. And Michael Marquardt is leading the way. For more than a decade, he has helped organizations and governments around the world revolutionize the way they face the challenges of change. Now he calls on his pioneering experiences and the fundamentals introduced in his best-seller ACTION LEARNING IN ACTION to deliver the next-generation tools and techniques to make action learning successful each and every time, in any organization.

Moving action learning from good to great, OPTIMIZING THE POWER OF ACTION LEARNING zeros in on the skills needed to apply its six critical components: the problem; group diversity; a reflective inquiry process; action strategies; individual, team, and organizational learning; the all-important participation of a well-trained action learning coach; and step-by-step procedures for introducing, implementing, and sustaining action learning. Using twenty best-practices examples--including Dow Chemical, Whirlpool, and Deutsche Bank--this comprehensive guidebook builds on the real experiences of thousands of managers in hundreds of companies, explores recent innovations in the field, and demonstrates how the power of action learning can help any organization thrive in today's fast-changing global marketplace.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing; 1 edition (January 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891061916
• ISBN-13: 978-0891061915
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #750,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uncover Leaders Who Develop Solutions, July 27, 2004

By 

Craig L. Howe "The Pointed Pundit" (Darien, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Optimizing the Power of Action Learning: Solving Problems and Building Leaders in Real Time (Hardcover)

Michael J. Marquardt has developed a problem-solving tool. His process, which can be adapted by organizations of any size not only provides solutions but also builds leaders and teams.

Marquardt, a professor of HRD and Program Direction of Overseas Programs at The George Washington University, is an expert in action learning. His process has six components.

1. A problem - It must be significant and urgent.
2. A group - The ideal group has between 4 and 8 diverse members.
3. Questions - Initially, team members are restricted to questions. This reflective inquiry period develops a thorough understanding of the problem.
4. Action - The group is authorized to implement their solution.
5. Learning - A commitment to the process is as important as the solution.
6. A coach - Someone is needed to keep the group focused.

A key step is "action." Learning is meaningful only if some type of action is taken. Action generally involves four steps:

1. Understand and Redefine the Problem. This is often the most important step.
2. Articulate a Goal.
3. Develop and Test Strategies.
4. Take Action and Reflect on the Results.

Marquardt includes a 12 step plan to introduce action learning to your organization. Properly implemented, it will accomplish three goals for your organization:

1. It will provide solutions to problems.
2. Develop leaders.
3. Build a problem-solving culture.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Action Learning for Executive Development, March 13, 2004

By 

Robert Kramer (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Optimizing the Power of Action Learning: Solving Problems and Building Leaders in Real Time (Hardcover)

With this book, Marquardt has created the most exciting and practical model for executive development I have ever seen. Warren Bennis recently asked, poignantly, "Is there a future for leadership?" Marquardt is leading all management educators into the future of leadership. As director of an executive Master's program at American University, I am astonished at how powerful Marquardt's model is for developing "leaderly learners," in the magical phrase coined by Peter Vaill. Action learning is perfect for leaders who want to learn and learners who want to lead. Marquardt's chapter on the role of "action learning coach" is, by itself, worth a shelf of books of leadership. My executive participants are raving about how action learning has transformed their individual mindsets, allowing them to surface take-for-granted assumptions, as well as helped them begin to transform the culture or collective mindsets of their organizations.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to accelerate a critically important process, November 23, 2006

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Optimizing the Power of Action Learning: Solving Problems and Building Leaders in Real Time (Hardcover)

It is desirable but not imperative to have read Michael Marquardt's earlier work, Action Learning in Action, before reading this one. He defines action learning as "both a process and a powerful program that involves a small group of people solving real problems while at the same time focusing on what they are learning and how their learning can benefit each group member and the organization as a whole." The benefits of action learning include shared learning through all levels and areas of an organization, greater self-awareness and self-confidence for all involved because of their new insights and feedback interaction, improvement of their ability to ask better questions and to be more reflective, and improved communication and collaboration enterprise-wide.

How do task forces and quality circles differ from action learning groups? First, [they] tend to focus on the specific problem of task to be addressed rather than on identifying the organization wide, environmental, systemic elements in which the problem resides, and which also be affected if lasting change is to take place...Second, [task forces and quality circles] generally do not have the power or the expectation of taking action...Third [they] are charged with addressing a problem or improving a product or procedure; any learning that occurs is incidental." Marquardt suggests that action learning programs are built around six interactive components: a problem, the group, the questioning and reflection process, the commitment to taking action, the commitment to learning, and the facilitator. It is important to add, a "commitment to action" includes both identifying a given problem's causes and correcting it, and, then ensuring that the problem does occur again.

In this volume, Marquardt develops in much greater depth many of the core concepts introduced in his earlier book, Action Learning in Action, but focuses much greater attention on how to solve problems and build leaders in real time with next-generation tools and techniques to make action learning successful each and every time, in any organization. Those who have not read his earlier book will appreciate his review of the six critical components: the problem; group diversity (e.g. cross-functional teams); action strategies; individual, team, and organizational learning; the all-important involvement of a well-trained action learning coach; and step-by-step procedures for introducing, implementing, and sustaining action learning. In turn, many of those who have read the earlier book will also appreciate his review of the six critical components, both as a reminder and as a framework within which Marquardt refines his core concepts as well as introducing entirely new material such as the 20 best-practice examples of action learning in action. He also inserts a number of reader-friendly devices such as eight Tables and dozens of checklists which summarize key points in each of the eight chapters. These devices facilitate and accelerate review later, whenever needed to clarify the nature and extent of a reader's own specific problem or opportunity.

Of greatest interest to me is what Marquardt has to say about how to prepare for and then introduce, implement, and then sustain an effective action learning program. He suggests and then carefully explains each of twelve steps (which are listed in Table 7 on page 162) which comprise a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective process which - with appropriate modifications, of course - can guide and inform initiatives undertaken by almost any organization, whatever its size or nature may be. Marquardt's extensive real-world experience with all manner of organizations probably explains why his approach is so pragmatic. He well realizes the barriers to be overcome, hence the importance of the various checklists he provides such as those for top management support, what should be addressed during a preparations assessment workshop, the selection of action learning projects, and measuring the impact of action learning initiatives in the given organization.

Those who share my high regard for this brilliant book are urged to check out Marquardt's subsequent work, Leading with Questions, in which he explains in even greater depth how leaders find the right solutions by knowing which questions to ask. He insists, and I wholly agree, that effective leadership of action learning programs must be provided at all levels and in all areas of operation but that such programs cannot succeed without the full support and sustained commitment of senior-management.