In December, 2009, Zooniverse launched a new project, Galaxy Zoo 2 after a successful introduction of the first Galaxy Zoo project in 2007.
These are "citizen science" projects in which people around the world are invited to work on science projects using astronomical data generated by a variety of scientific sites and to help scientists resolve questions and exploration by observing and reporting on data by using their computers.
More than 200,000 people are involved already and there are four new projects.
Part of the challenge is to make even greater use of this learning and scientific resource and to involve adults and children in meaningful research that contributes to our expanding understanding of our universe and beyond.
Who knows what we'll learn?
Showing posts with label action learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label action learning. Show all posts
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Monday, December 28, 2009
Learning from Experience and History--Finding Patterns that Work
Speaking with a friend the other day, I shared some meta-models that identify patterns at work. By being aware of these patterns of behavior, positive changes can be made to improve processes, workflow, and results of organizations. Two of these meta-models are the Team Tracking Tool (Slide 12) and the Shame Affect Decision Model (Slide 2).
These models capture processes at work that allow for the identification of what works and what may be missing or improved at work. They were developed by observing hundreds of hours of interactions and have proved reliable over time. In the course of our conversation it became clear that sometimes leaders in the workplace do not want to be made aware of these processes or be responsible for being able to make decisions to change what they are doing at work.
The idea of learning from experience and history are the essential ideas in my post from yesterday concerning animal spirits and the economy. The concept is also reflected in Dan Brown's two books, Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code. I saw another example in a documentary today Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
The challenge is to reflect on our experience and on history and to learn from these reflections. Models of processes can help in this process and, if leaders are not willing to engage in the reflection and learning process, they miss opportunities to improve and change. These opportunities may have a small window of opportunity as the economy and world events change around them.
These models capture processes at work that allow for the identification of what works and what may be missing or improved at work. They were developed by observing hundreds of hours of interactions and have proved reliable over time. In the course of our conversation it became clear that sometimes leaders in the workplace do not want to be made aware of these processes or be responsible for being able to make decisions to change what they are doing at work.
The idea of learning from experience and history are the essential ideas in my post from yesterday concerning animal spirits and the economy. The concept is also reflected in Dan Brown's two books, Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code. I saw another example in a documentary today Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
The challenge is to reflect on our experience and on history and to learn from these reflections. Models of processes can help in this process and, if leaders are not willing to engage in the reflection and learning process, they miss opportunities to improve and change. These opportunities may have a small window of opportunity as the economy and world events change around them.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
What I do best---Reprise
Throughout this blog, I have mentioned what I do best in several posts. Today I've been thinking about that.
What do I do best? I make a positive difference in the world by helping people and organizations learn to change to improve their quality of (business) life now and for the future.
I've been doing that since I began working 40+ years ago.
I do the work wherever I am in whatever job I take on--independently or for others. It is an essential part of who I am and, over time, I have come to recognize it--as do the people who know me and who work with me.
I am very good at assimilating what is going on in context and channeling that context in ways that follow research-based best practices to come up with what needs to be learned to change to produce the improvements. The good news for me is that I have learned to do that with children, adults, and organizations. I've also learned to do it across cultures and languages.
In the course of doing what I do best, I have worked with people in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. That's good because I enjoy meeting new people and cultures and practicing new languages. I've provided these services in English, Spanish, Italian, and French and have picked-up some conversational fluency in other languages along the way if I've stayed in the country long enough.
I've worked for the federal government in the USA and Canada, public and private businesses, colleges and universities, K-12 school districts, and have owned my own businesses along the way. I've worked with more than 100 organizations and more than 16 different industries and with thousands of people--children and adults.
I've grown and learned quite a bit along the way and enjoy sharing what I have learned and continue to learn with the people I work with day to day.
My challenge now is to tell this story in a multimedia format--probably starting with MicrosoftPowerPoint and moving on from there. If you want to help, please let me know.
What do I do best? I make a positive difference in the world by helping people and organizations learn to change to improve their quality of (business) life now and for the future.
I've been doing that since I began working 40+ years ago.
I do the work wherever I am in whatever job I take on--independently or for others. It is an essential part of who I am and, over time, I have come to recognize it--as do the people who know me and who work with me.
I am very good at assimilating what is going on in context and channeling that context in ways that follow research-based best practices to come up with what needs to be learned to change to produce the improvements. The good news for me is that I have learned to do that with children, adults, and organizations. I've also learned to do it across cultures and languages.
In the course of doing what I do best, I have worked with people in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. That's good because I enjoy meeting new people and cultures and practicing new languages. I've provided these services in English, Spanish, Italian, and French and have picked-up some conversational fluency in other languages along the way if I've stayed in the country long enough.
I've worked for the federal government in the USA and Canada, public and private businesses, colleges and universities, K-12 school districts, and have owned my own businesses along the way. I've worked with more than 100 organizations and more than 16 different industries and with thousands of people--children and adults.
I've grown and learned quite a bit along the way and enjoy sharing what I have learned and continue to learn with the people I work with day to day.
My challenge now is to tell this story in a multimedia format--probably starting with MicrosoftPowerPoint and moving on from there. If you want to help, please let me know.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Careers in the 24th Century--Support Tools and Reality Checks
In this 21st Century, research has indicated that people can expect to change careers 12 times and have many more jobs. Some of the same literature talks about the fact that jobs have not even been thought of yet while thousands are finishing bachelors and masters degrees to prepare them for jobs that are already obsolete. Shift Happens 2008 (Did You Know 2?) is an eye-opening sequel to Shift Happens (Did You Know) first released in 2007.
Not only are traditional job search and recruiting tools obsolete, so, too are many of the career preparation tools. One tool that I found useful in working with students in middle and high school is http://www.careercruising.com/. If you are interested to see what I did with it, visit the Footprints Project page of my wiki space for middle schools.
I completed the career skills questionnaire my students would be expected to complete (117 career-skill-related questions) and Career Cruising came up with a list of 40 careers (jobs) my choices matched to. I was doing this to test the validity of the software as a tool and was impressed that, of the 40 choices, in the course of my career I have worked in 14 of the jobs listed--and still I have always done the same thing (in a wide variety of ways).
What I do--I make a positive difference in the world by helping individuals and organizations learn to change to improve their quality of (business) life now and for the future.
It's amazing to me that I've done that in 14 jobs already, and sometimes more than once in any given job. What's even more amazing is that I haven't had more employers in the course of 40+ years of working.
Reality Check: The order of careers was based on my preferences and I was amazed by how my experience in these careers was reflected in the questionnaire.
Change is Upon Us
When I went back to graduate school in 1985, I wanted to get a doctorate that would let me work with adults and organizations who needed to learn how to change. My doctorate (which I completed in 1992) did prepare me to help adults and organizations learn to change and my post-doctoral Master of Arts in Teaching (completed in 2008) prepared me to extend this service to children as well.
I invested about $200,000 in my doctorate degree in terms of tuition, books, and loss of income while a full-time students. Much of what I learned was timeless. I know this because in my dissertation research I tracked the origins of reflection on learning concepts to the time of Confucius--about 300BC. (For a full-text copy of the dissertation [ATT9229831] visit this link.)
Since earning my doctorate, I have worked with thousands of people and more than 60 organizations in helping each learn how to improve their quality of life. My investment was worth every penny.
My goal now is to find ways to share what I do with more people. Can you help? If so, contact me through my Wiki Project page.
Not only are traditional job search and recruiting tools obsolete, so, too are many of the career preparation tools. One tool that I found useful in working with students in middle and high school is http://www.careercruising.com/. If you are interested to see what I did with it, visit the Footprints Project page of my wiki space for middle schools.
I completed the career skills questionnaire my students would be expected to complete (117 career-skill-related questions) and Career Cruising came up with a list of 40 careers (jobs) my choices matched to. I was doing this to test the validity of the software as a tool and was impressed that, of the 40 choices, in the course of my career I have worked in 14 of the jobs listed--and still I have always done the same thing (in a wide variety of ways).
What I do--I make a positive difference in the world by helping individuals and organizations learn to change to improve their quality of (business) life now and for the future.
It's amazing to me that I've done that in 14 jobs already, and sometimes more than once in any given job. What's even more amazing is that I haven't had more employers in the course of 40+ years of working.
Reality Check: The order of careers was based on my preferences and I was amazed by how my experience in these careers was reflected in the questionnaire.
Change is Upon Us
When I went back to graduate school in 1985, I wanted to get a doctorate that would let me work with adults and organizations who needed to learn how to change. My doctorate (which I completed in 1992) did prepare me to help adults and organizations learn to change and my post-doctoral Master of Arts in Teaching (completed in 2008) prepared me to extend this service to children as well.
I invested about $200,000 in my doctorate degree in terms of tuition, books, and loss of income while a full-time students. Much of what I learned was timeless. I know this because in my dissertation research I tracked the origins of reflection on learning concepts to the time of Confucius--about 300BC. (For a full-text copy of the dissertation [ATT9229831] visit this link.)
Since earning my doctorate, I have worked with thousands of people and more than 60 organizations in helping each learn how to improve their quality of life. My investment was worth every penny.
My goal now is to find ways to share what I do with more people. Can you help? If so, contact me through my Wiki Project page.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Awareness-Acceptance-Action and Evidence for Action
In an earlier post I described the aspects of learning and change. There are three components that must be in place for change to take place at an individual or organizational level. These are: Awareness, Acceptance, and Action (view slides 8 and 9). In the last 24 hours I have had conversations in multiple contexts that show how these steps have to be personalized before action can be even considered.
Yesterday I wrote about the need for flu vaccinations early this year--the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have already approved the release and distribution of "regular, seasonal" flu vaccines that we usually see in October. Because we need three shots this year, the CDC is encouraging everyone to take the seasonal shot early. Several people I spoke with had not personalized that information. They had "lumped" the seasonal flu shot and the H1N1 (Swine flu) shot--not projected to be available until October or November--together and were avoiding thinking about any flu shots until later in the year.
Today I was having a conversation about the challenge that some association managers have in trusting in and personalizing information they may receive from research reports, news letters, and well known speakers regarding the needs of the members of their associations. At the same time few of these association managers actually ask questions of their members to take authentic input regarding unmet needs.
This reminds me, again, of some classic action learning concepts. Reg Revans, one of the founders of action learning, was a researcher in the United Kingdom and was involved in the follow-up to the sinking of the Titanic.
As I recall the history, he went to leaders of the different engineering groups who built the Titanic and received the same kind of message from several of the most distinguished engineers working on the project. (This is a paraphrase, of course.) "I thought that the "xyz" (pick an engineering problem) was a problem and then I realized that "Dr. ABC" (another leading expert in the field) was in charge of that department and I knew that what I was wondering about must have been handled by the experts. Enough of the "xyz" problems existed when the Titanic went to sea that it sank after colliding with an iceberg.
Association managers and everyone else make decisions every day--some of which are based on evidence and others on emotions or other factors. A major question remains, what evidence is required to be accepted and trusted on a personal level to allow a decision-maker to move through the phases of awareness (there is a need to change); acceptance (I must take--or approve--action to make a change); and action (actually moving through the learning and change and investment required to accomplish the change)?
The earlier post mentioned the concept of denial. What evidence of decay (lack of positive growth) or dis-ease is needed before a decision-maker recognizes that there is a new need to change. What used to work is no longer working. What do I (we) need to do now?
Sometimes membership groups need to ask questions of their members. At other times the information resources of newsletters, magazines, reviews, media, and informed speakers can provide the necessary information to allow the decision-maker to take action--even if the initial action is to ask questions of the membership. In fact, sometimes the act of asking questions actually informs the people being asked.
What evidence for change are you looking for? How will you recognize it when you see it? What will it take for you to move through the three phases--awareness-acceptance-action--and do something about it?
Yesterday I wrote about the need for flu vaccinations early this year--the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have already approved the release and distribution of "regular, seasonal" flu vaccines that we usually see in October. Because we need three shots this year, the CDC is encouraging everyone to take the seasonal shot early. Several people I spoke with had not personalized that information. They had "lumped" the seasonal flu shot and the H1N1 (Swine flu) shot--not projected to be available until October or November--together and were avoiding thinking about any flu shots until later in the year.
Today I was having a conversation about the challenge that some association managers have in trusting in and personalizing information they may receive from research reports, news letters, and well known speakers regarding the needs of the members of their associations. At the same time few of these association managers actually ask questions of their members to take authentic input regarding unmet needs.
This reminds me, again, of some classic action learning concepts. Reg Revans, one of the founders of action learning, was a researcher in the United Kingdom and was involved in the follow-up to the sinking of the Titanic.
As I recall the history, he went to leaders of the different engineering groups who built the Titanic and received the same kind of message from several of the most distinguished engineers working on the project. (This is a paraphrase, of course.) "I thought that the "xyz" (pick an engineering problem) was a problem and then I realized that "Dr. ABC" (another leading expert in the field) was in charge of that department and I knew that what I was wondering about must have been handled by the experts. Enough of the "xyz" problems existed when the Titanic went to sea that it sank after colliding with an iceberg.
Association managers and everyone else make decisions every day--some of which are based on evidence and others on emotions or other factors. A major question remains, what evidence is required to be accepted and trusted on a personal level to allow a decision-maker to move through the phases of awareness (there is a need to change); acceptance (I must take--or approve--action to make a change); and action (actually moving through the learning and change and investment required to accomplish the change)?
The earlier post mentioned the concept of denial. What evidence of decay (lack of positive growth) or dis-ease is needed before a decision-maker recognizes that there is a new need to change. What used to work is no longer working. What do I (we) need to do now?
Sometimes membership groups need to ask questions of their members. At other times the information resources of newsletters, magazines, reviews, media, and informed speakers can provide the necessary information to allow the decision-maker to take action--even if the initial action is to ask questions of the membership. In fact, sometimes the act of asking questions actually informs the people being asked.
What evidence for change are you looking for? How will you recognize it when you see it? What will it take for you to move through the three phases--awareness-acceptance-action--and do something about it?
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Key Processes in Facilitating Change and Learning
In a conversation today about facilitating change and learning for an organization, I was reflecting on some key processes that I have found over the years to be especially helpful and wanted to use this post to keep them "top of mind" and to share them with others. The ideas came from multiple sources have have become a part of my organizational change toolkit that I bring with me when consulting, advising, or otherwise working on projects dealing with learning and change. (See the link at the title of this post and explore some of the stories on that website.)
1. "Begin with the End in Mind" (from Steven Covey's work)--what is the total process involved and what are the final results being produced? This can begin at a high level and may have to come down to a more detailed level when dealing with identifying changes that need to happen.
2. "What are the bottlenecks in the process?" (from Eli Goldratt's work)--What slows down or stops the process flow? What would happen "downstream" if the bottleneck were removed? Most organizations have multiple bottlenecks which are only discovered when one early in the process is removed and it slows down again at the next bottleneck.
3. "Is there a critical chain?" (from Eli Goldratt's work)--Do certain things have to be ready before other things? Does that happen? What can interfere? Do resources have to be mobilized or staged so that the process can pick-up what is needed when it is needed to carry on to the desired results?
4. "Follow the trail of the money" (from Jerry Maguire)--Where does the money come from? Where does it go? Where does the organization place its value--on customers, on suppliers, on employees? Where is the balance and/or the priority of the owners of the business?
5. "Are we trying to force solutions or to ask the right questions?" (from Action Learning)--Do we have a facilitator to help us keep on track asking the right questions? Do we have a group committed to following the action learning process to work through the process of changing the organization? Who composes the group? What questions are being asked?
6. "Do we know what we want or need to change and what we want or need to change to?"--(from Organizational Change literature)--How do we know that? Have we thought it through and tested our beliefs?
7. "Do we share a common vision of the change goal?" (from Jack Gibb's work with Trust)--(see http://joelmonty.wikispaces.com/file/view/Meta-Learning+Models.PDF and look for the Meta-Model on "Trust Dimensions in Team Performance")--Everyone working for the change needs to move through some dimensions of trust and get to a shared (collaborative) vision for the change. Then the group can develop a strategy and then tactics for how to achieve the change. Learning will be part of the strategy and tactics to develop or achieve the vision.
8. "Have we moved through the states of 'awareness--acceptance--action' with regard to the goal?" (from http://joelmonty.wikispaces.com/file/view/Meta-Learning+Models.PDF --see the "Personal Performance Change Curve" and the "Organizational Performance Change Curve")--Individuals and groups need to move through these stages to bring the change about. If a sufficient number of people have not progressed to the appropriate stage, the change will probably be rejected.
9. "What levels of trust and potentials for synergy exist with the change team?"-- (see the meta-models listed earlier in this blog)--Trust is, indeed, the glue that allows change to happen. If it is missing, the group has to work to re-establish it at a sufficiently high level to allow progress to the next step in the trust building and performance change processes.
10. "Are all stakeholders involved and invested?" -- (from organizational change literature)-- If a stakeholder has been missed or is not in agreement, the change can be blocked or sidetracked quickly.
11. "Is everyone communicating clearly with shared definitions of relevant ideas and terms?"--(from organizational change literature)--Regardless of languages spoken, are members of the team talking about the same things when they discuss the change--goal, strategies, tactics, results, learning.
1. "Begin with the End in Mind" (from Steven Covey's work)--what is the total process involved and what are the final results being produced? This can begin at a high level and may have to come down to a more detailed level when dealing with identifying changes that need to happen.
2. "What are the bottlenecks in the process?" (from Eli Goldratt's work)--What slows down or stops the process flow? What would happen "downstream" if the bottleneck were removed? Most organizations have multiple bottlenecks which are only discovered when one early in the process is removed and it slows down again at the next bottleneck.
3. "Is there a critical chain?" (from Eli Goldratt's work)--Do certain things have to be ready before other things? Does that happen? What can interfere? Do resources have to be mobilized or staged so that the process can pick-up what is needed when it is needed to carry on to the desired results?
4. "Follow the trail of the money" (from Jerry Maguire)--Where does the money come from? Where does it go? Where does the organization place its value--on customers, on suppliers, on employees? Where is the balance and/or the priority of the owners of the business?
5. "Are we trying to force solutions or to ask the right questions?" (from Action Learning)--Do we have a facilitator to help us keep on track asking the right questions? Do we have a group committed to following the action learning process to work through the process of changing the organization? Who composes the group? What questions are being asked?
6. "Do we know what we want or need to change and what we want or need to change to?"--(from Organizational Change literature)--How do we know that? Have we thought it through and tested our beliefs?
7. "Do we share a common vision of the change goal?" (from Jack Gibb's work with Trust)--(see http://joelmonty.wikispaces.com/file/view/Meta-Learning+Models.PDF and look for the Meta-Model on "Trust Dimensions in Team Performance")--Everyone working for the change needs to move through some dimensions of trust and get to a shared (collaborative) vision for the change. Then the group can develop a strategy and then tactics for how to achieve the change. Learning will be part of the strategy and tactics to develop or achieve the vision.
8. "Have we moved through the states of 'awareness--acceptance--action' with regard to the goal?" (from http://joelmonty.wikispaces.com/file/view/Meta-Learning+Models.PDF --see the "Personal Performance Change Curve" and the "Organizational Performance Change Curve")--Individuals and groups need to move through these stages to bring the change about. If a sufficient number of people have not progressed to the appropriate stage, the change will probably be rejected.
9. "What levels of trust and potentials for synergy exist with the change team?"-- (see the meta-models listed earlier in this blog)--Trust is, indeed, the glue that allows change to happen. If it is missing, the group has to work to re-establish it at a sufficiently high level to allow progress to the next step in the trust building and performance change processes.
10. "Are all stakeholders involved and invested?" -- (from organizational change literature)-- If a stakeholder has been missed or is not in agreement, the change can be blocked or sidetracked quickly.
11. "Is everyone communicating clearly with shared definitions of relevant ideas and terms?"--(from organizational change literature)--Regardless of languages spoken, are members of the team talking about the same things when they discuss the change--goal, strategies, tactics, results, learning.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Learning, Change, and Education--A dynamic relationship
Change requires learning and learning generates change. Education is a tool that makes the process flow more smoothly.
(Now aren't you glad you looked at this blog today?)
A common definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
The relationship between change, learning, and education is dynamic and synergistic. Each influences the other. There are similar steps and stages for individuals and organizations and the details of what happens in those steps and stages are different. Visit http://joelmonty.wikispaces.com/meta-models and look at two Meta-models—the Personal Performance Change Curve and the Organizational Performance Change Curve for details.
Change is not easy. Even when we know that something is good for us, it's hard to do it. I've lost weight using Jenny Craig's meals and I know they work. Over the summer I have "supplemented" the meals too much and have gained back a few pounds. I know better and know that I can trim the supplements and get back on my weight loss program. I'll do that "tomorrow." For me, at least I know what to do and what to change to. Jenny's meals have worked for me in the past and I'm still on the program.
In business and in K-12 education change is difficult as well. It is often difficult to decide what to change and what to change to. To make matters worse, people keep coming up with new technologies or fads or "sure fire techniques" that will "make it happen now." (Only these innovations fail to produce the results intended--at least for the people working to implement them. Why do they fail?
Many times the innovation or intervention could be successful if the people putting them into practice learned what they really need to know to make the innovation or intervention successful. That learning requires an investment of time and energy and a willingness to accept that there is something more to be learned. While some people who are committed to the change are willing to do the learning required, many others are not and that is often the cause of failure to change.
In education, research I've worked with this summer shows that many high school graduates in the USA read at a third to sixth grade level (instead of a 12th grade level or higher). I've found that statistic from research 13 years ago and found that to be true in my 7th and 8th grade classrooms this Spring. There have been lots of interventions and innovations over the past 13 years--yet the results of the research indicate much the same condition. What hasn't worked?
Education (in terms of the larger sense of the process of education rather than the sense of education as a business) can help individuals and organizations move through the steps and stages of the Change Process to achieve the change goals. In most cases—in business and in the education industry—education for the shared vision of change has not taken place. Most education being provided today is more tactical than strategic and the people receiving the training often do not find much value—in the proposed change or in the training they received to implement it. (This was feedback I found both in business and in education all over the world.)
Part of what needs to happen is to have an enlarged vision of the change—beyond just the intervention being proposed. People and organizations need to be prepared for the change, to learn what they need to in order to move through the stages of awareness, acceptance, and action.
A facilitator with a rich background in education and learning—(of course this is a plug: it’s my blog, after all)—can help guide the process so that more holistic learning and change can take place.
Another rich resource for helping organizations learn and change is the process of Action Learning initiated by Reg Revans out of the United Kingdom. Visit http://www.ifal-usa.org/ for more information.) I use both Action Learning and Action Research (pioneered by Kurt Lewin in the 1940s) as part of the tools in my toolkit—along with some of the work of Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt (author of The Goal and Critical Chain, among other works).
(Now aren't you glad you looked at this blog today?)
A common definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
The relationship between change, learning, and education is dynamic and synergistic. Each influences the other. There are similar steps and stages for individuals and organizations and the details of what happens in those steps and stages are different. Visit http://joelmonty.wikispaces.com/meta-models and look at two Meta-models—the Personal Performance Change Curve and the Organizational Performance Change Curve for details.
Change is not easy. Even when we know that something is good for us, it's hard to do it. I've lost weight using Jenny Craig's meals and I know they work. Over the summer I have "supplemented" the meals too much and have gained back a few pounds. I know better and know that I can trim the supplements and get back on my weight loss program. I'll do that "tomorrow." For me, at least I know what to do and what to change to. Jenny's meals have worked for me in the past and I'm still on the program.
In business and in K-12 education change is difficult as well. It is often difficult to decide what to change and what to change to. To make matters worse, people keep coming up with new technologies or fads or "sure fire techniques" that will "make it happen now." (Only these innovations fail to produce the results intended--at least for the people working to implement them. Why do they fail?
Many times the innovation or intervention could be successful if the people putting them into practice learned what they really need to know to make the innovation or intervention successful. That learning requires an investment of time and energy and a willingness to accept that there is something more to be learned. While some people who are committed to the change are willing to do the learning required, many others are not and that is often the cause of failure to change.
In education, research I've worked with this summer shows that many high school graduates in the USA read at a third to sixth grade level (instead of a 12th grade level or higher). I've found that statistic from research 13 years ago and found that to be true in my 7th and 8th grade classrooms this Spring. There have been lots of interventions and innovations over the past 13 years--yet the results of the research indicate much the same condition. What hasn't worked?
Education (in terms of the larger sense of the process of education rather than the sense of education as a business) can help individuals and organizations move through the steps and stages of the Change Process to achieve the change goals. In most cases—in business and in the education industry—education for the shared vision of change has not taken place. Most education being provided today is more tactical than strategic and the people receiving the training often do not find much value—in the proposed change or in the training they received to implement it. (This was feedback I found both in business and in education all over the world.)
Part of what needs to happen is to have an enlarged vision of the change—beyond just the intervention being proposed. People and organizations need to be prepared for the change, to learn what they need to in order to move through the stages of awareness, acceptance, and action.
A facilitator with a rich background in education and learning—(of course this is a plug: it’s my blog, after all)—can help guide the process so that more holistic learning and change can take place.
Another rich resource for helping organizations learn and change is the process of Action Learning initiated by Reg Revans out of the United Kingdom. Visit http://www.ifal-usa.org/ for more information.) I use both Action Learning and Action Research (pioneered by Kurt Lewin in the 1940s) as part of the tools in my toolkit—along with some of the work of Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt (author of The Goal and Critical Chain, among other works).
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