The World Institute for Action Learning Ghana (WIAL-Ghana), has commenced an action learning training programs to help improve the problem-solving abilities of individuals, organisations and businesses in the country.

A two-day Virtual Foundations of Action Learning Certification Program has been launched in Accra with an intended purpose to walk participants through the ground rules and the six components of action learning and demonstrate how to apply them.

The Action Learning methodology has been developed as the primary cutting-edge tool for solving urgent and complex problems whilst simultaneously developing leaders, building teams and organisations for substantial returns on investment (ROI) in real-time.

Importance of action learning

Speaking at the launch of the initiative in Accra, the President of WIAL-Ghana, Mr. Emmanuel Ossom said, diverse companies around the world have been using action learning as the primary tool for solving their critical and complex problems.

He mentioned that WIAL-Ghana existed to raise a critical mass of certified action learning coaches for a transformational growth agenda in Ghana.

He noted that there was no single organisation including universities and churches that was immune to the growing complexities of the 21st century, adding that the 21st-century workplace was marked by an enormous amount of ambiguity that has arisen from a wide array of rapidly changing socio-economic trends and markets, overnight innovation from competitors, mergers across disparate corporate cultures and industries, new distribution channels, and the globalization of business.

He said as problems became increasingly complex, leaders were also tasked with the responsibility of providing a way out so that, collectively, they could take their organisations to the next level of competitive resilience and growth.

“Particularly in this era of COVID-19, you need Action Learning more than ever before because of its capability to deal with the complex problems and the uncertain future facing your organization in order for it to continue to thrive, make the desired impact and make more profit,” Mr. Ossom opined.

Key to development

He added that most countries in the other parts of the world including USA, UK, Japan, and Canada where WIAL Affiliates already exist are already developed yet they still face many unprecedented complex problems and continuously embrace Action Learning as the primary tool to fixing them.

He, therefore, emphasised that it was essential for governments, organisations and businesses in developing countries such as Ghana, to immediately adopt action learning, as the only way out of the VUCA world in order to thrive.

“History is replete with tales of dire consequences experienced by leaders who did not ask questions. Many organisations that have collapsed recently in Ghana including those in the banking sector would not have folded up if they had embraced action learning. Organisations currently struggling would not be in this state if they had embraced Action Learning. Organisations that already seem to be doing well would even do much better if they would embrace Action Learning now,” he said.

On her part, the Vice President of WIAL-Ghana, Rev. (Mrs.) Angela Carmen Appiah also called on the leadership of basic, secondary and tertiary schools in the country, to also embrace Action Learning by incorporating it into their curricula.

“Schools and universities in advanced countries and even some in Nigeria, Kenya and Burkina-Faso, have adopted Action Learning with students graduating as effective problem-solvers,” she remarked.

She pointed out that the economic progress of any country or organization largely depended on its ability to solve problems and convert them into new values. Also, the success of any leader depended on their ability to identify crucial problems and fixing them.