“We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.”

Peter Drucker, American management consultant, educator, author 

The speed of change is making the workplace much more demanding for people and less predictable for effective performance. This is only going to continue through 2024 and beyond. Blame and reactive responses to these challenges, slow down the rate of adaptation and innovation needed.  The cultural preference for action and the absence of reflection mean the organisational intelligence that is present in the individuals isn’t harnessed and put to good use.

Ronald Heifetz spoke of leaders needing to recognise a change in the types of problems needing solutions in todays’ workplaces. In the old paradigm most of the problems were “technical” with easy to define root causes and solutions which can be identified and implemented by an expert. Nowadays, most of the problems fall into the “adaptive” category, where the root causes are difficult to define, and change is needed in numerous places to bring about a solution. Critically, solutions to adaptive challenges, require experiments and learning and must involve those impacted to be involved. This is why AAR is so important for todays’ organisations, as it is the ideal tool to engage people in learning to solve adaptive challenges.

.AAR enables organisations to adapt effectively to adaptive challenges, capitalise on the intelligence of its people and increase psychological safety and team performance at work. 

“Learning is not a one-time event or a periodic luxury. Great leaders in great companies recognize that the ability to constantly learn, innovate, and improve is vital to their success.”

Amy Edmondson in Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate, and Compete in the Knowledge Economy.