The Wisdom of Strategic Learning: The Self Managed Learning Solution (Developing Organizations) [Paperback]

Ian Cunningham (Author)

Book Description

Series: Developing Organizations | Publication Date: September 1994

Change means learning. The current requirements for business to change rapidly and dramaticlaly shows the need for new initiatives in strategic learning. This book offers Ian Cunningham's poneering approach - self-managed learning. This encourages the individual to devise their own learning programme which leads to greater enthusiasm and ownership of development. For the organization, it has strategic advantage in creating an committed team. This concept is backed by practical examples of application in organizations such as Shell, BBC and Allied Lyons. The author draws on the experience of hundreds of managers who have used his self managed learning approach. This text is the first volume in "The Developing Organizations" series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0077078942
• ISBN-13: 978-0077078942
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,061,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Places learning in the centre of business strategy, December 8, 1999

By 

Bill Godfrey (Mt Stuart, TAS Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wisdom of Strategic Learning: The Self Managed Learning Solution (Hardcover)

The two core themes in this book are:

learning as a strategic process for both the individual and the organisation, and

an approach that the author calls Self Managed Learning (SML) and distinguishes in great detail from other approaches to teaching and learning, while recognising similarities and overlaps.

The author makes a lot of use of 'I'. He insists that the views expressed are his own - and some of them are distinctly idiosyncratic. This adds to, rather than detracting from the quality of the book, because he also discusses other views in considerable detail. This helps to make the distinction between his prescription and those of others, in a field in which the terminology is decidedly 'muddy'. As an example, 'action learning' can be used to refer to anywhere up to half a dozen distinct training/learning approaches.

Right at the heart of his concern is learning how to learn. The specific program content of a program of learning and the techniques of learning employed are means to the end of becoming a skilled learner both as an individual and in relationship with others. What distinguishes his prescription is a consistent focus not simply on how well people learn marketing, quality management or whatever but on how the strategy and processes of learning combine to meet both immediate learning goals and improve learning capacity. He is primarily concerned with what is variously described as second order learning, 'reframing' or 'metalearning'.

Everyone engaged in organisational change and, in particular, in the difficult shift from a bureaucratic mind-set will find a great deal to think about. They will also encounter both challenges and useful ideas and tools.

For those who have read the first edition, the second edition adds a chapter on the learner in context, and has maintained and improved the sideline headings throughout the book. Other changes are relatively minor and certainly do not change the thrust of the argument.