Whether an innovator seeking access to NHS markets, a clinician striving to improve patient experience or a commissioner seeking innovative solutions, the path to success can be filled with challenges.
Financial barriers can make progress difficult: budget siloes can mean the benefits of an innovation appear in a different part of the system from where the investment is made, while block contracting arrangements can sometimes limit the scope for improving productivity or patient flow. Organisational factors also play a role: under day-to-day pressures, teams may struggle to find space to try new things, leaders may not be fully engaged or there may simply not be enough of an imperative to drive change. Sometimes, the intervention itself creates challenge: it may not offer a clear enough advantage over existing practice or alternatives. Equally, the governance required for implementation may add complexity and delays.
It is human nature to seek the familiar (1). Faced with complex challenges, it is common to get stuck and need to find different ways of looking at a situation to uncover effective solutions. In such instances Action Learning can help.
Action Learning was a term coined by Reg Revans, a physicist at the University of Cambridge. Working in a high achieving, high challenge environment, he noted that more could be achieved when colleagues worked together to problem-solve. More than this, he concluded that deeper learning was achieved through skilled open, sometimes challenging, questioning to enable people to think differently and develop new approaches – supported by specific actions – to their problems. He developed Action Learning Sets (ALS) based on the conviction that learning and action are mutually dependent and necessary to one another.
An Action Learning Set usually brings together five or six peers and a facilitator – though in more established sets a member can take on the facilitation role. Participants meet as equals, with no hierarchy, and the group agrees ground rules and a shared contract for how to work together over the course of four to six sessions. Each meeting follows a simple process led by the facilitator. In each session, a participant (‘the presenter’) talks freely about a challenge they want to explore, without interruption. The rest of the group then asks open, curious questions designed to help the presenter look at their situation from new angles. There’s no advice-giving and no nudging toward particular solutions – the focus is on curiosity, not direction. By the end of the discussion, the presenter has fresh insights and a set of clear, practical actions to take forward.
Action Learning offers a supportive but stretching space to reflect, learn and grow as an individual and as part of an organisation. When teams or leaders are looking for a new direction, Action Learning offers a chance to step back from a ‘how we’ve always done things’ approach to current practice and explore better ways of working.
Used well, Action Learning boosts performance, lifts morale and helps connect personal development with what matters to participants and communities they serve.
As part of the NIHR ARC East of England fellowship programme health Innovation East facilitated a series of Action Learning Sets for 11 fellows. Key listening and questioning skills were introduced at the launch event and the first of session was used contract with Set members and to start to build trust within a psychologically safe space.
The series of four sessions gave every member the opportunity to explore a current challenge in-depth, with their peers. Set members navigated a range of challenges and in exploring them experienced a range of emotions. Participants described several benefits from the process, including improved listening and questioning skills, learning and benefiting from hearing others talk about their challenges and increased confidence in seeking support.
“Action Learning has taught me the value of talking through concerns and problems and the benefit of other people’s perspective to help work through solutions and actions..”
ARC East of England Research Fellow 2025/26
At Health Innovation East, we know great ideas only make a difference when they are put into practice. One way we help achieve this is by facilitating Action Learning Sets. Skilled facilitation (from accredited facilitators) to helps partners work through challenges and achieve their goals. We also tailor support to groups that are too large for a traditional set by creating Action Learning Communities. No matter the model, senior colleagues will consult with you to unlock fresh thinking and practical solutions that fit your context and timelines.
Action Learning can be genuinely transformational, not just for short-term projects, but also for strengthening organisational culture and developing confident, reflective leaders. The approach can be leveraged alongside innovators working out next steps, commissioners seeking to collaborate more effectively with providers, research teams turning findings into real-world impact or health and care providers implementing change. Whatever the situation, Action Learning builds momentum to implement change.
To discuss how we can support you using Action Learning, please fill in Health Innovation East’s consultancy engagement form. If you are an innovator or a healthcare provider looking for support with a challenge or project, please also click here.
(1) Kambi, B. (2014) Status quo bias: Is it human habit to prefer the current situation and abhor changes? Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, IISTE. Available at: https://www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/RHSS/article/viewFile/13237/13398
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