Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2023 - 19

different state of transformation in
relation to what experiences they have.
This includes the courses you teach.
The transformations GLA refers to are
opportunist, diplomat, expert, achiever,
individualist, strategist and alchemist.
For example, an opportunist might
look at trust, communication, conflict
and collaboration to serve themselves,
whereas an alchemist has an extraordinary
capacity to simultaneously deal with many
situations at multiple levels (of self, other,
organization and more).
innovations, you absolutely need to
leverage enabling constraints. This
would allow your working teams to get
creative, think outside the box, define
what works best situationally and iterate
along the way.
With chaotic contexts, you are likely
to lack restraints or need to de-couple
from existing constraints (such as your
strict work-from-home policy when your
government mandates total lockdown in
your region). You must simply act first,
sense next and then respond.
So, how do you build this into
your learning?
Start with the context first. Then
match the context to each constraint
type, testing for common errors and
building your course accordingly. Also
consider how context can change along
the way and that it may not ever be
linear. Whatever emerges will need a
contextually relevant response, which
you should prepare your leaders and
their teams for.
Lastly, let's examine vertical development.
Vertical Development
This concept, originating out of the
Global Leadership Association (GLA),
suggests that learners will be in a
Very rarely will
high performance
stick if only one
person is
adaptable.
As a learner in a program comprising
these subjects, the alchemist might
think critically about the multiple levels
of subject areas they are learning
before deciding how best to apply
their new knowledge.
In application, they might also think
both short- and long-term and establish
a means to prioritize both at any given
moment - making them as adaptable
as possible.
This is not to suggest that getting all
learners to the level of alchemist is
the ideal target. In fact, it might be
detrimental to think this way, especially
for sales leaders and their teams. They
are most likely more advantageous as
an opportunist or achiever in sales than
they would be a diplomat, strategist or
alchemist, for example.
How then would you design your
adaptive learning with these varied
outcomes in mind?
For starters, offering some form of
action logic, sense-making or polarity
perspectives into your self-assessments
or courses are just a few ideas.
It mostly comes down to helping the
learner live out an experience that then
triggers situational responses for them
to work through. Case studies, scenariobased
learning and branching scenarios
can all help.
In Conclusion
It might be best to start with a " contextbased "
problem to solve, as well as the
applicable constraints required in that
subject area. From there, you can decide
which transformation stage of vertical
development these outcomes are most
aligned with, as well as the critical
thinking elements that can encourage
your learners to get there.
This may flip traditional learning on its
head. However, it has been observed
in organizations with successfully
distributed
leadership,
multi-team
structures and self-organizing groups
that these adaptive behaviors unleash
the potential within.
If learning leaders can find a way to
build those elements into their training,
they too can contribute to unleashing
learner potential.
Cijaye DePradine, formerly the corporate
learning manager and professional
coach, is now responsible for the national
leadership development portfolio at Best
Buy Canada. She is also an independent
complex
change
consultant/facilitator
and podcast host for leaders and their
teams. Email Cijaye.
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Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2023

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