Action Learning
Action Learning puts a small set of people around one person's real, unsolved problem, but bans advice - the set may only ask questions, so the presenter does their own thinking out loud.
One loop connects presenter, questions and reflection, circling back to the same unsolved problem each time.
Reach for this when…
- Someone is stuck on a real problem and keeps getting told what to do instead of asked.
- You want leadership development that doesn't end when the workshop room empties.
- A group solves problems together but never builds the habit of asking rather than advising.
How to run it
- Form a set of four to eight people who meet regularly.
- One person presents a real, live challenge, not a solved one.
- The set asks questions only. No advice, no solutions.
- A learning coach may step in if the set slips into advice-giving.
- The presenter commits to an action before the next meeting.
- At the next meeting, open with what happened to that commitment.
A worked example
Situation. Aya Kone founded Cacao Fresh, an agritech logistics startup in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, and was stuck rationing warehouse space between two client demands nobody inside the business could see clearly.
Applied. She joined a monthly action learning set of five founders, presented the challenge, and the set held to questions only until she named the real conflict herself.
Result. She committed to renegotiating one client's storage terms, reported back the following month, and the set moved to the next person's problem.
The catch
It only works if the set genuinely holds to questions only - the moment someone gives advice, it collapses into an ordinary meeting. Without an experienced set or a skilled facilitator, groups drift back into problem-solving within minutes. And real capability shift takes several cycles, not one session.
A set that never asks an uncomfortable question is being polite, not learning.
Origin: Reg Revans