Our final online Aurora session was a self-organised Action Learning Set (ALS) that we arranged with our previous group from Aurora Day 4. We had to do some rearranging of the date and for various reasons only three of the original group could take part. This was a shame, but we all agreed that three should be the minimum to use this technique as it meant that the questioners could still take turns.
Pros and Cons of Action Learning Sets
Reflecting on the process of ALS, it does push you to think outside of your existing way of thinking and helps you address points of view that you hadn’t already considered. However it is not useful when we are so engrained in our own thinking that we can’t even picture the outside view. In these cases I’d suggest that it is more helpful to take a step outside the ALS process and switch to a more conventional discussion.
One of the other issues I’ve found with ALS that I have struggled to take accurate notes whilst also talking and thinking about the questions I’ve been asked. I’m not sure that I’d be able to summarise everything we discussed afterwards even with 10 minutes of reflection time. I would be uncomfortable about recording the session but that is probably the only way I can accurately capture everything.
What next?
Whilst I see the limitations of the technique, I’m happy to continue using the approach to see how it develops over time. After all – I’ve only done it twice! Our group has agreed to meet again at the end of August so we can keep up the contact and the momentum now that the Aurora programme has finished.
Update from September 2024
Whilst our ALS did try and arrange a follow up session in late August, it wasn’t possible to get enough people together due to leave and other commitments. I will try and reach out to people later in the year, as the start-of-term rush dies down. If that doesn’t work, I plan to reach out on the Aurora Connect network to see if anyone else is interesting in joining a group.