Learning

Sessions 3

Exercise - New Directions

• Old Directions• UP• DOWN• LEFT• RIGHT• FRONT• REAR

• New Directions• RIGHT• REAR• DOWN• FRONT• UP• LEFT

Shaping Behavior

• Have you been able to shape anyone’s behavior?

• Who are easier to teach – the good performers or the average performers?

• Teaching Smart People How to Learn

Learning

• Any – relatively permanent change in – behavior that occurs as – a result of experience.

Theories of learning

Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)

• Unconditioned stimulus - meat

• Unconditioned response - salivation

• Conditioned stimulus - bell

• Conditioned response – salivation on bell

• Used by organizations?

Theories of learning (Contd.)

Operant Conditioning (Skinner)

• Reflexive (unlearned) behavior

• Conditioned (learned) behavior

• Reinforcement

Schedules of Reinforcement

Fixed-ratio

Theories of learning (contd.)

• Social-Learning Theory– People can learn through observation as well

as direct experience.– People learn from

• Activities that draw their attention• Retain in their minds• Are able to copy• Are reinforced positively

Shaping Behavior

• Shaping Behavior or OB Mod– Systematically reinforcing each successive

step that moves an individual closer to the desired response.

– Reinforcement is required to change behavior.

– Some rewards are more effective than others.– The timing of reinforcement affects learning

speed and permanence.

Reinforcement

• Exercise

Behavior Shaping

• Positive reinforcement (giving reward)• Negative Reinforcement – a negative condition

is stopped or avoided as a consequence of the behavior

• Punishment, weakens a behavior because a negative condition is introduced or experienced as a consequence of the behavior

• Extinction: When a behavior is not reinforced it stops showing.

Our Learning Styles

• LSI

Do you believe…..

Tell me and I'll forget;

show me and I may remember;

involve me and I'll understand.

Learning Style

• Inclination each of us has to perceive, interpret and respond to information in a certain way.

• Based on– The manner in which you gather information– The way in which you evaluate and act on

information

How You Take in Experiences/ Gather Information

Learning from specific experiences

Logically analyzing ideas

Concrete Experience Abstract Conceptualization

How You Deal With Experiences

Learning by doingCarefully observing

before making judgements

Active Experimentation Reflective Observation

Kolb’s Model of Learning Styles

Your Learning Style

• May impact choice of decision situation and problem types (e.g. structured vs. unstructured)

• May impact how you define a problem (action vs. analysis)

• May impact your decision making process

Your Learning Style

• Helps you understand

– How you solve problems

– How you work in teams

– How you manage conflict

– How you negotiate personal and professional relationships

Kolb’s Cycle of Learning

Scoring Plot for the LSI

Learning Style Types

Accommodating Diverging

AssimilatingConverging

Concrete Experience

Abstract Conceptualization

Active Experimentation

Reflective Observation

How you learn

How you deal

Diverging Style

• Imaginative, like to look at problems from different perspectives, inductive thinkers

• Tend to be emotional and like to work in groups

• Prefer jobs where personal interactions dominate

Diverging

Assimilating

Assimilating Style• Best at processing a wide range of information

and putting it into a concise, cohesive and logical form

• Prefer ideas and concepts to people, like creating models

• Prefer jobs requiring information gathering and assimilation (e.g. research and analysis)

• Defining problems

• Developing theories

Converging

Converging Style• Best at finding practical uses for

ideas and theories

• Problem solvers and decision makers, prefer to deal with technical tasks rather than people issues.

• Excel at single answer problems and practical application of ideas

• Reasoning deductively• Engineers and technicians

Accommodating

Accommodating Style

• Best at hands on experience/ Getting things done

• Enjoy carrying out plans and involving themselves in new and challenging experiences

• Risk taking – tend to act on gut feeling rather than logical analysis, tend to excel at entrepreneurial activities

• Prefer problem solving by interacting with people rather than systematic analysis

• Prefer careers in marketing, sales and managerial roles

Strategies for Developing Learning Style Skills

• Develop learning and work relationships with individuals who are strong in learning styles where you are not.

• Better fit your learning style strengths to the learning experiences you encounter.

• Apply and strengthen learning style skills that are the opposite of your strongest style skills.

How to Strengthen?

Style How to Strengthen

Assimilation Practice organizing details and analyzing numerical data

Converging Practice setting goals and making decisions

Accommodating Practice identifying new opportunities and becoming personally involved with people

Diverging Practice collecting data and listening with an open mind

Teaching Smart People How to Learn

• Realization that most human behavior patterns block learning in an organization

• Discussion of why well-educated professionals are prone to these patterns

• Analysis of how all companies can improve the ability of their managers and employees to learn

Typical Misunderstanding of Learning

Two mistakes made in the effort of becoming a learning organization:

1. People define learning too narrowly as mere “Problem Solving”

2. The common assumption that getting people to learn is largely a matter of motivation

Types of Learning

Single Loop Learning Double Loop Learning

A thermostat that automatically turns on the heat whenever the temperature in a room drop below 68°

A thermostat that could ask: “Why am I set at 68°?” and then explores whether or not some other temperature might more economically achieve the goal of heating the room.

How Professionals Avoid Learning

Good at Single Loop Learning not Double Loop Learning

“Put simply, because many professionals are almost always successful at what they do, they rarely experience failure. So whenever their single-loop strategies go wrong, they become defensive, screen out criticism, and put the “blame” on everyone but themselves. In short, their ability to learn shuts down precisely at the moment they need it most themselves.” p. 83

Behavior Theory

• Espoused Theory: How people think they behave

• Theory-in-use: How people actually behave

Theory-in-use

• Governing Values of theory-in-use:– To remain in control– To maximize winning and minimize losing– To be as rational as possible

The purpose of all these values is to avoid embarrassment or threat, feeling vulnerable or

incompetent

Defensive Reasoning and the Doom Loop

• Encourages individuals to keep private the assumptions, inferences, and conclusions that shape their behavior and to avoid testing them in a truly independent, objective fashion.

• Performance evaluations are tailor-made to push professionals into the doom loop

• How to promote double loop learning?