Multiple-Choice:
1)
Which of the following is NOT a way to do things
differently to create a learning organization?
a.
We can shift the ideas we have that the managers think and
the workers do.
b.
We can shift from single loop learning to double loop
learning.
c. We can
centralize the decision making process.
d.
We might reward individuals to learn other
people’s jobs.
3.
Which of the following is not an example of social learning?
a.
Watching others
b.
Listening to others
c.
Gathering information
d. Experimenting
a.
Bury our heads like a turtle
b.
Keep our blindspots like the bull in the china shop
c. Give and receive feedback
d.
Interview people
Matching the Columns:
1.
Please match the following Jo-Hari
window areas with the corresponding descriptions.
a)
Arena |
1)
the area that the other person knows, but I don’t know |
b)
Façade |
2) the area that we both don’t know |
c) Blind
Spot |
3)
the area that I know but the other person doesn’t know |
d)
Unknown |
4) the area that is known to both of us |
2. Match the type of
learner with their preferences.
a)
participatory-experiential learners |
1.
practical information they can use immediately with informal, personalized contact with
teachers |
b)
practical learners |
2.
hands-on workshops, simulations, role-plays, and discussion |
c)
independent-reflective learners |
3.
acquire new learning independently and to be tested explicitly to measure what they
learned |
d)
general-to-specifics learners |
4. lectures, self-study, written materials, and
experiments. |
e)
information-oriented learners |
5.
clearly defined objectives, complete information, and samples of completed work to use as
examples of “the right” answer |
f)
specific-to-general structure learners |
6.
define their own objectives, provide overviews and summaries of key concepts covered in
the material, and leave them free to apply the information to problems in their own way |
Answers: a-2; b-1; c-4; d-6; e-3; f-5
Summary
In
this module we examined the different types (individual, social, and organizational) and
styles of learning, conditions that maximize learning, and the impact of expectations on
learning. With the Jo-Hari model, we learned a way to map, and then expand, our own
learning spheres. Lastly, we explored a primary means of learning: via feedback, both
giving and receiving. Purposes of giving feedback and effective ways of receiving it
are outlined.
Module Test
1)
Learning can be defined as any relatively permanent change
in behavior that occurs as a result of experience.
2)
According to Argyris, double loop learning entails staying
within the behavioral norms learned with past experience.
3)
The Pygmalion effect refers to the fact that our
expectations of others influence them, positively or negatively, and often non-verbally.
4)
In the JO-HARI Window, the unknown quadrant always stays
the same.
True
False
5)
It is important to mix evaluative and developmental
feedback to show a clear direction for the developmental part of the feedback.
True
False
6)
The comment “You’re rude” is an example of
objective–descriptive feedback.
True
False
7)
Adult learners usually have a reason to learn.
True
False
8)
Training designs for adult learners work better when the
adults are motivated to learn, are presented with some theoretical knowledge, have an
opportunity to observe the idea and practice it themselves, and then have the new skills
reinforced.
True
False
9)
Social learning is learning we obtain by actually doing
something repeatedly.
True
False
10)
When giving objective and specific feedback, you should avoid using expressions such
as “He/she said …”.
True
False
11)
Learning is the capacity to experience,
process, organize, store, retrieve and use information.
True
False
12)
Learning can only occur through personal experience.
True
False
13)
Double loop learning includes questioning the appropriateness of the operating norms.
True
False
14)
When giving feedback, you should avoid paying attention to your emotions because you might
get overwhelmed by them and loose your objectivity.
True
False
15)
Social learning is indirect learning from external models.
True
False
16)
In the learning organization innovation comes from the top levels of the organization.
True
False
17)
Feedback is information, which can be reinforcing or course corrective.
True
False
18)
It is important to share reinforcing feedback with neutrality, and course corrective
feedback with authentic emotions.
True
False
19)
Feedback should be shared using specific, objectively verifiable data.
True
False
20)
Openness is the first step to receiving feedback.
True
False
Argyris,
C.
-Learning
and teaching: A theory of action perspective. Journal of
Management
Education, 21(1), 9-27. 1997
Argyris,
C.
-Organizational
learning II: Theory, Method, and Practice. Reading, (MA:
Addison-Wesley
Longman) 1996
Bandura,
A.
-
Self-efficacy: The exercise of
control. NY, NY: WH Freeman and organization. 1997.
-
Social Learning Theory.
Englewood Cliffs, NY: Prentice Hall. 1977.
Eden,
D.
-
Pygmalion in Management: Productivity as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Lexington MA:
Lexington Books. 1990.
-
Of human interaction. (Palo Alto, Calif., National Press Books) 1969
Pavlov,
I.P.
-
The work of digestive glands –
translated by W.H. Thompson. London: Charles Griffin. 1902.
Rosenthal, R.
2000.
-Pygmalion
in the classroom. Expanded edition. (New York: Irvington,
1992.
Glossary
Feedback, evaluative-developmental:
Provides a view of the behavior as right/wrong, good/bad, acceptable/not acceptable.
Feedback, objective-descriptive: Involves specific descriptions
of behavior based on objective, verifiable data and “owned” by the giver as his
or her perception or experience.
Jo-Hari window: A model of interpersonal
interactions that describes the degree of “space” occupied by (1) those things
that we know about ourselves and choose to disclose to others (“arena”), (2)
those things we know about ourselves but do not disclose to others (“façade”),
(3) those things others know about us that they do not share with us
(“blindspot”), and (4) things we do not know about ourselves, nor do others
(“unknown”).
Learning: Definition 1. The capacity to
experience, process, organize, store, retrieve, and use information. Definition 2.
Any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience.
Definition 3:The ability to detect and correct errors.
MKOPR: Maximal conditions for adult
learning require the elements of motivation, knowledge,
observation, practice, and reinforcement.
Pygmalion effect: Refers to the power of
expectations to elicit behavior from
others.
Social learning: Indirect learning that
occurs in response to external models such as parents, teachers, peers, the media,
managers, leaders, stories, etc. These observed examples of behavior influence, in turn,
our perceptions and behavior.
Learning
Objectives:
·
Gaining an overview of the different
types and styles of learning
·
Identifying the impact of expectations on
learning
·
Gaining an overview of the different
forms of feedback and styles of giving and receiving feedback
Q&A
Question 1: How do you give feedback
effectively?
Answer 1:
·
Prepare yourself by gathering data (both
objective and evaluative). Remember, your intent is to give positive reinforcement
for effective behaviors and to provide course-corrective information where behavior needs
to change.
·
Arrange an agreed-upon time with the
recipient. It is usually better to give negative-course corrective feedback in
private. You must consider the individual and cultural preferences of the recipient
to decide whether to give positive feedback in public. For example, in some cultures
public feedback from managers would be embarrassing; in others it would be fine.
·
Begin your feedback by sharing specific,
objectively verifiable data.
·
Check the recipient’s perceptions to
see if your message has been heard accurately. Remember, the message sent is not always
the message heard. You might ask, “How are you hearing what I’m saying?”
·
Provide interpretive information about
the behavior, owning your interpretation.
·
Reiterate expectations of performance
standards and provide evaluative information and suggestions for behavioral improvement
where needed.
Question
2: I spend a lot of time giving feedback to people but they always seem
defensive. I am just trying to help them do things right. How can I get them
to listen to me and change their behaviors?
Answer
2: Monitor any attachment you have to being right or to the other person being
wrong. Remember, feedback is only information. It is a tool for evaluation,
not judging. Consider clearing any emotional charge you have before giving the
feedback. If you are more invested in the other person changing than in him or her
hearing your perspective, then you are attached and attempting to manipulate. You
are likely to be more effective in giving feedback if you respect the dignity of the other
person’s experience.
If
you are clear of emotional attachment to you being right and them being wrong, be sure to
provide specific, objective, behavioral information. People have a difficult time
changing their behavior if they are not given specific information about what needs to be
changed, some examples or suggestions of appropriate behavior, and some examples of the
consequences of their current behavior – all in a respectful manner. For
instance, for many people, the statement “I’m just trying to help them do things
right” may be interpreted as you know the right way and they are doing things wrong.
Often it is not right or wrong, but preferences and consequences. If you were
to say – “keeping a beneficiary waiting for 10 minutes in line while you are taking
a personal call causes that beneficiary to complain and will affect your performance
review” – the person knows what behavior needs to change (taking personal calls
with beneficiaries waiting), and the consequences (increased beneficiary complaints and a poor
performance review). You may believe keeping a beneficiary waiting is wrong (they
may even agree with you) but the specific behavior-consequence-implication statement makes
the feedback more effective because of its clarity. It can also reduce defensiveness
because there’s less need to defend against an objective statement than an evaluative
one. Plus you are not invested in saying you are right and they are wrong. You have
a position closer to the belief “this behavior has a negative consequence so the
person receiving your feedback might want to change it to have a more positive
outcome.”
Question
3: My boss thinks criticizing me will help me work better. It
doesn’t. And when I am criticized in public, it is humiliating. Perhaps I
am oversensitive to criticism, but I would like to know what I do right, not just what I
do wrong. How can get information about improving my work performance, without
feeling criticized all the time?
Answer
3: There are a few things YOU can do. First of all remember, feedback is just
information. Just because someone gives you that information does not mean you have
to take it in as criticism. Prepare yourself to receive feedback by:
·
Deciding whether and how you will respond
to the feedback.
·
Checking your perceptions and
“taking in” both appreciation and course- correction feedback as
information. Perhaps you are not hearing the positive messages you are receiving and
concentrating too much on the negative ones – what you call criticism.
·
Giving yourself time and space to
assimilate and evaluate the information. Ask your manager to refrain from providing
feedback in public. Ask to set aside a time to receive feedback. Take
notes. If you receive only criticisms, ask for specific examples of what you are
doing well at work AND write those down too. After you have received the feedback,
ask for some time to think about how you wish to respond to the information.
·
Checking in with your own experience and
with others if you are not sure about the accuracy of the feedback you received.
·
Returning with a few actions you will
take based on the feedback. Release the rest.