Inductive learning - introduction to Kolb cycle

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KOLB CYCLE
(INDUCTIVE)
EIIL Learning – Key Learning

2. www.eiil.net
EIILLearningand
theKolbCycle
At the EIIL our workshop designs
follow the Kolb learning (sometimes
improvement) cycle
• We recognise that ‘Plan > Do > Review’ is
only really effective when a thorough
Review (of detailed factual observations)
is supplemented with a ‘Theory’ step to
explain possible reasons why we
observed what we observed.
• Our coaches have developed their
expertise in observing team behaviours.
They have helped teams improve their
team-working skills over more than thirty
years, working with thousands of teams in
industry, in NGOs and in elite level sport.
• In 2006 the EIIL first adapted this
approach to acquiring business leadership
knowledge and to developing the skill to
acquire this knowledge effectively and
respectfully.

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EIILLearningand
theKolbCycle
Inductive learning
• In our High Performance Leader (HPL) team-
working workshops, as increasingly used in
the coaching of sports teams and athletes,
we start the Kolb cycle not with a lecture
(theory) but with a short Task (action).
• Our coaches (and the team) observe team
behaviours and Review to record detailed
and factual observations of cause and effect.
• Our coaches give explanations as to why
certain behaviours may have got certain
(observed) results, and the team is then
tasked to prepare their next Action step – to
plan to change their behaviours and to see
what works to achieve a desired effect.
• With repetition teams improve their
observations and are encouraged to practice
deliberate behaviours.
• When they are able to consciously apply at
will their knowledge of the effect of these
behaviours, we consider them to have
developed skill.

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EIILLearningand
theKolbCycle
Kolb and the EIIL Masterclass
• Since 2006 our Masterclass workshops have
developed based on this successful team-
skills approach.
• We replace the short physical tasks of the
team-skills workshops with a direct
interaction with seniors from our EIIL
network.
• Our coaches provide expert observations of
both content and process, and help teams
make sense of their interaction through
review, together with short explanatory
‘lecturettes’.
• The EIIL Masterclass workshops encourage
participants to develop their skills in
respectfully extracting learning from
experienced seniors during their interactions.
• We call it ‘learning to learn from experience’
– both from the experience, and
experiences, of the senior, and from their
own experience of their interaction.
• Once learned, we believe this is a skill which
should stay with the best throughout their
careers.

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Concrete
Experience
(Action)
Abstract
Conceptualisation
(Theorising)
Active
Experimentation
(Preparation)
Reflective
Observation
(Review)
How do we work ?
•Task Exercises
•Guest ‘Interviews’
•Coach Input (process only)
•Background Reading
•Web Research
Learning to learn from experience
KOLB Learning (Improvement) Cycle
Output:
•Individual notes and
plans, group flip-
charts
•Presentations – any
task/general session
items
•Reports – individual
feedback
•Key Task Output…..
EIILLearningand
theKolbCycle

6. www.eiil.net
Next Generation Leadership
EuropeanInstitutefor
IndustrialLeadership
NextGenerationLeadership