The Wisdom of Strategic Learning: The Self Managed Learning Solution

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.