How Attitude Affects Learning

One way to understand the impact of experiential learning is through programs we have developed such as CDR International Action Learning. Leaders range broadly across a continuum from being open to new experiences to being closed; they integrate experience into preconceived ideas and opinions.

Events can be categorized as routine or repetitive (those not requiring new learning or solvable with a technical solution) or as adaptive (those requiring new ways of responding, behaving, or problem solving). See Figure 2.1 for an explanation of why some experiences are so much richer than others in terms of their learning potential.

Figure 2.1:  The Learning Potential of Experiences.

At the top of this matrix, two attitudes are represented. In the open-minded mode, people go into a new situation without feeling that they already know how to respond or handle it; they formulate a theory or new assumptions as a result of the experience. In the closed attitude, people go into a new situation looking to fit it into a preconceived theory or set of assumptions.

On the left side of the matrix, the two descriptions relate to whether a given situation demands new learning (adaptive change) or, if no new learning is needed (technical change), to deal effectively with the situation.

If you’re in the Big Opportunity quadrant, you’re stretching yourself, integrating new ideas, and possibly changing your view of yourself. Stretch assignments, promotions, and the passages we describe in this book can all constitute big opportunities. There’s plenty new to learn here, and you’ll take advantage of the situation by thinking about and doing things in new ways. You’ll pay attention to negative feedback about your behaviors and consider changing them.

If you’re in the Missed Opportunity quadrant, you’ll sabotage your learning. You won’t listen to negative feedback, and you may even deny that you have any problem or weakness, despite evidence to the contrary. You’ll persist in doing things the way you’ve always done them. Leaders who preside over declining businesses, for example, face strong adaptive challenges but build their strategy based on past successes.

If you’re in the Limited Opportunity quadrant, your open-minded attitude will benefit you, but the challenge will not require maximum effort on your part. You’re probably doing assignments that you’ve done successfully in the past, creating the illusion of accomplishment but relying on familiar problem-solving approaches and routines. Leaders who have been in the same position for a number of years frequently fall into this quadrant: competent, even expert, but not growing.

If you’re in the No Opportunity quadrant, you’re a prisoner of your experience. Your negative attitude, combined with routine assignments, will stifle your leadership development. Burned-out or rusted-out leaders who have experienced frequent downsizings, been passed over for promotion, or developed a cynical shell define their leadership role in narrow terms and accompany that with a closed mind.

In the life of a leader, moving into the Big Opportunity quadrant can be difficult. You’re constrained not only by the assignments you’re given but by your attitude and history. If you’re like most successful executives, you find it difficult to acknowledge, both to yourself and others, that you’re not the all-knowing, all-seeing, always-confident leader you feel you’re supposed to be.

Another way to view this process is through a theory first posited by psychologist David Kolb. He developed a theory of learning (now referred to as the Kolb learning theory; see Figure 2.2) that illustrates the learning process and underlies much of the theory about how people learn and develop.

Figure 2.2:  Kolb’s Learning Model.

Source: Adapted from Kolb, 1984.

Kolb’s theory posits that after you have an experience, you reflect on that experience and derive meaning from it. Based on this meaning, you form concepts about things such as your organization, your leadership, and yourself. You essentially create your own “theory of the case” to explain how things work in a given situation. After you form this theory of the case, you test it to determine its validity. If you find it’s valid, you’ve learned something new.

If, however, you have a know-it-all attitude, you’ll rarely form new concepts and theories or test them out. Instead, you’ll encounter a situation, assume that it’s just like all the other situations you’ve successfully dealt with, and use the same thought processes and methods you used in the past. And in many instances, you’ll fail.