Learn

In a CAS, agents operate according to their own internal strategies or mental models. Each agent can have its own "rules" for how to respond to things in its environment; each agent can have its own interpretations of events. Agents can share mental models, or be totally individualistic. Further, agents can change their mental models. Because agents can both change themselves and share mental models, a CAS can learn; it's behavior can adapt over time.

Learning, therefore, is an emergent property of a CAS; it does not need to be imposed or controlled from outside the system. At the same time, we must also acknowledge that although we all live in many CAS, not all of us learn deeply about complexity from simply being a part of what is going on all around us. So, while we cannot force learning to happen, we can certainly take actions that make learning more likely to occur.

The Nine Emerging Principles of Complexity (described elsewhere in this Resource Kit) give us insight into the conditions that promote learning in a CAS.

Tune to the Edge. If we expect others to learn about complexity, we should provide lots of information, encourage differences of opinion, connect often with others, be careful in the use of power, and provide safe environments to contain the anxiety associated with learning something new.

Paradox. Contradictory and unexpected happenings provide a great opportunity for learning... if we take the time to engage others in reflection.

Multiple Actions. There are many ways to learn. Experiment. don't be afraid to try a new approach. Do more of what works and less of what doesn't.

Generative Relations and Learning Communities. A CAS is an inherently social entity. Learning about the theory behind CAS should likewise be communal. While different people will have different needs for such interaction, it is difficult to imagine how an isolated individual could ever really learn about CAS. Simply putting people together for interaction about complexity topics increases the chances for learning.

We could make similar points from the other principles of complexity. The more we understand about CAS, the more we understand about how to help others to learn about CAS.

Figure 1: Traditional Assumptions and New Research About Adult Learning

A Changing Paradigm

Assumptions about classroom learning:

Everyone starts with the same base of knowledge.

Everyone learns at the same pace.

Everyone learns best from listening.

Everyone will bridge naturally from theory to application.

Everyone will learn on his or her own.

Learning is the transfer of knowledge from a teacher to a relatively passive learner.

Research has shown:

Learners are incredibly diverse, both in terms of knowledge and ways of learning.

We embed learning in our own individual experiences, so we learn best when we direct our own learning.

We learn most effectively in context, so learning should be linked directly to work.

We learn from each other, so workplaces should enable us to communicate and collaborate freely.

We continuously create knowledge, so we need to learn how to capture what we know and share it with others.

We learn unconsciously, so we need to learn how to recognize and question our tacit assumptions.

Our understandings (and, as we shall see, our misunderstandings) about learning are profoundly influenced by the unconscious metaphors we use to understand organizations - the machine and military metaphors. You will see these metaphors underlying most of the training and education you have taken part in. If an organization is a machine, then learning is about installing a "program" - the right knowledge, the right way to do things. If an organization is a military unit, then learning is about repeating drills to demonstrate the right way, following the directions, and developing discipline. Of course, the activities of most organizational training sessions are more subtle than the exaggerated picture we have just painted. Nevertheless, see if you do not agree that the list of traditional assumptions behind classroom learning (top of figure 1) rings true both for your own experience and the machine/military metaphor.

The bottom line is that most of our experience of learning within organizations is inconsistent with what we know about CAS.

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Some Theory of Adult Learning

Theories of Adult Learning

The bottom half of figure 1 describes some of the key points from the modern research into how adults learn. (Knowles, 1990) Notice that the themes of information flow, mental models, emergence, and context are woven throughout these findings. Not surprisingly, adults learn best when the learning methods are consistent with the notions of complex adaptive systems.

When it comes to adult learning in organizations, there is plenty of evidence for discarding the machine and military metaphors. Perhaps a better metaphor for learning is that of sowing seeds. Successful, growing, living learning about complexity depends on the quality of the seed (the information itself), the skill of the farmer (the one guiding the learning process), the condition of the soil (the openness of the learners), and a little bit of luck in the weather (the events in the organizational context). Importantly, most farmers will admit that the seed, soil, and weather have more to do with success than the farmer.

The research on adult learning also suggests that retention of learning is a key challenge. Adults remember only about 10% of what the read and 50% of what they see and hear. But they retain around 70% of what they say themselves and about 90% of what they do. Furthermore, regardless of how the learning originally occurred, the research also indicates that retention can be further enhanced by repetition, connecting with existing knowledge, emotional intensity for the learner, and active involvement of the learner in the learning process. In other words, effective learning is action- and reflection-oriented.

The modern concept of reflective learning can be traced to philosopher John Dewey, and was further developed by several great change experts and psychologists such as Jean Piaget, Donald Schon, and W. Edwards Deming. Reflection is the "Study" phase of the Shewhart-Deming cycle of Plan-Do-Study- Act (PDSA). David Kolb places it explicitly in his learning cycle of Deciding-Doing-Reflecting- Connecting (leading to another cycle of Deciding...).

In application to learning about CAS, we can make the following observations about learning to learn more effectively (for more about the skill of reflection, see the Aides section of this Resource Kit):

We need to make time and space for reflection. It is not easy to do amid the rush and pressure of daily work life.
Remember Stacey's Diagram: don't agree too much or too soon.
Different people will take away different reflective learnings from any experience; this is natural and healthy.
The skill of reflection takes time to master - and you never really get there because there is always another interpretation that one could put on any collection of events. Be patient with yourself and others as reflective learning progresses.

The goal of our learning about CAS (indeed, as Kirkpatrick (1975) points out, the goal of all learning) must be about changing behaviors in our organizational context. Therefore, theories of change management are also relevant to our thinking about how to set up environments that increase the likelihood for learning.

Organizational change theory is, of course, a vast field of study that is well beyond our scope here. But figure 2 provides a simple model that summarizes the key points (Source: Dr. David Gustafson, University of Wisconsin, Madison). Change is more likely to occur when: there is tension for change, when the new way has some clear advantage over the old, when change is also embraced by others, and when people have the necessary skills to do things differently.

This suggests that learning activities about CAS should include some reflection

on the gaps between our traditional mental models and the reality we actually experience in the world (tension for change). Learning activities about CAS might also profitably include some "sense-making" in the form of a re-interpretation of events through a complexity lens (effective alternative). Learning activities about CAS should be joint and shared (social support). And learning activities about CAS should leave participants with new competencies (skill building).

Figure 3 provides a final summary of key principles from the field of adult learning. Re-read these principles often as you work to spread knowledge about CAS among those with whom you interact. It is easy to fall back into old habits and mental models about how learning should happen; the principles in figure 3 are, unfortunately, easy to forget.

Figure 3: Summary of Key Adult Learning Principles

No change is likely to take place unless the learner wants to change. The learner must be inwardly motivated to learn.
Learning must build on an individual's present knowledge and attitudes.
Different individuals will learn different things, in different ways, at different speeds.
Learning is a thinking process. Responsibility for working out conclusions helps learning.
Learning is an associative process. Individuals must relate the new material to previous learning and experiences.
the deepest learning comes with application.
Learning through understanding is better retained than learning by rote.
Repetition can often help learning.
Involving more senses enhances learning.
Loss of learning is rapid; the "half-life" of learning is short.
Learning is often resisted. It is not easy to replace comfortable, established attitudes with new ones.
Learning is a cooperative and collaborative process.
Learning is sometimes a painful process.

Learning is emotional as well as intellectual.

Summary of Key Points

Helping Others to Learn About Complexity:

Summary: Learning About CAS

Learning about CAS is, itself, a CAS. Learning emerges in a group through such things as information flow, anxiety containment, reflection, and so on. Humans inherently want to learn. If learning is not taking place the way you think it should, step back from your context, reflect, and see if you can begin to understand the dynamics in the CAS that may be getting in the way of the natural behavior of learning.

The summary box below captures some key points from this section about learning and CAS.

Summary of Key Points in Learning About CAS

Remember that learning is an emergent property of your group.

Emphasize information flow, diversity of thought, connection, and good enough plans; rather than detailed curriculum and one-way flow of knowledge from a central figure.

Be careful about power differential within the group and provide safety for the anxiety always associated with learning.

Capitalize on paradoxes and unexpected events that occur within your context.

Try many approaches and let successful learning directions emerge.

Work from the metaphor of sowing seeds and growing crops.

Stress involvement and application in all your group's learning activities.

Create tension for change by discussing gaps in performance and expectations.

Build skills together.

Honor diverse learning styles, while also seeking to expand the range of what you yourself are comfortable with.

Reflect on both the learning and the learning process within your group.

Respect anxiety about moving on and making change, but don't make everyone wait until everyone is ready. Blaze new trails with those who are ready, and reflect respectfully, lovingly, but clearly, with those who are lagging behind. (Note: this is an interesting application of the tit- for-tat strategy described in principle #11.)

Always remember that the only person you can change is you.

Honor minimum specifications. Avoid imposing more specifications. Get out of the way of the creative and emerging behavior of your learning group.

Talk often about expectations in the group. Talk honestly about whether you are making the progress you hoped for.

If you are the "teacher," be a new kind of teacher: a co-learner, quick to share knowledge but challenging the group to make application, nudging people off their current attractors but allowing them to find their own new attractors, and always open to being challenged by the group.

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References

Helping Others to Learn About Complexity:

References

Argyris, C (1990) Overcoming Organizational Defenses. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Argyris, C (1991) "Teaching smart people how to learn." Harvard Business Review, May-June 1991.

Bates, M and Keirsey, DW (1978) Please Understand Me. Del Mar, CA: Prometheus Nemesis Book Company. (Note: This book is hard to obtain. There is a good summary of Bates and Keirsey's work in chapter 4 of Kroeger, O and Thuesen, JM (1988) Type Talk: The 16 Personality Types That Determine How We Live, Love, and Work. New York: Dell Publishing.)

Kirkpatrick, DL (1975) Evaluating Training Programs. Milwaukee, WI: ASTD.

Knowles, M (1990) The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species, Fourth Edition. Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing.

Sweeney LB and Meadows D. The Systems Thinking Playbook Durham, NH: IPSSR, 1995

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