Experimental Learning

One of the realizations Corona has illuminated during the past months of lockdown is that traditional classroom training is outdated and useless in the virtual world. An example of an area with significantly ineffective workplace training is diversity and inclusion.

And this makes perfect sense! How should you be able to change your employee’s belief systems, think about recruitment and core processes in a standard classroom session that only lasts a couple of hours?

There is however a reason that these procedures are not changing. Until now training and alterations done to reach D&I goals have been just for that – to reach a goal. As long as organizations only provide D&I training in order to ‘tick that box’ nothing will change.

So, in order to promote change, we obviously need to change the organizations perspective on D&I.

Because no, D&I is not just a formality or requirement, it is an essential business asset that provides a competitive advantage, improves innovation and advances inclusive leadership and culture capabilities. If we are constantly surrounded by people with the same values, appearance, culture, gender etc. it will be a very validating environment, but in this space, there will be no growth or change, just more of the same.

” If we tap into diversity superpower, we experience an opportunity for the best type of learning ever, where we experience a multitude of different ideas, challenges of the norm, stimulated thinking, opening up possibilities, better connections, innovation, and contrast.”

It is scary and can be very uncomfortable at first – especially for the leader - having all of a sudden to deal with things like conflicting ideas, personal differences and a multitude of tensions. Becoming an inclusive leader means that you stop taking actions based on what you think you should do, or what you are told to do, and instead act based on hearing what is needed.

“To deal with the change ahead of us in 2021 and beyond, we as leaders need to change first, to see diversity as an asset, a strength, a genuine superpower. But we have to be aware that this is not going to be a comfortable journey. If it was easy, we wouldn’t be in this unbalanced place now, so let’s get ready to be uncomfortable!”

Experimental learning is referred to in Colin Beard and John Wilson’s book as

“a sense-making process involving experiences that, act as the source of learning. These experiences actively immerse and reflectively engage the learner as a whole being.”

In your organization, there will already be a large mix of incredible people who each entail a vast variety of experiences, perspectives, values, opinions, ages, cultures and abilities. How about creating D&I training courses, focusing on learning about D&I but executing it through experimental learning, where there is a clear intention for building own personal and specific experiences to learn from.

Actee also provides a form of experimental learning - customizable interactive serious games on a multitude of domains – also D&I. These game-based workplaces learning tools create a safe environment in which there is room for trial and error, to ensure the optimal, most entertaining and effective learning experience. And an added benefit in these Corona times is that these sessions can be facilitated equally well physically and virtually. 

Try Actee’s newest D&I game – Gender (In)Equality In The Office - here.

Learn more about how Actee tools can be applied here.

This summary is based on the article by Traningzone – read it here.

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