| We are headed in a direction where we have never been; the route is unfamiliar, the warning and safety signs nonexistent. We are, quite literally, laying the path as we walk it. In this bold, new world of the 21st century, traditional economic growth fueled by high volume production is increasingly giving way to economic growth as a high-value proposition. Implications of this high-value proposition ripple through organizations in the form of amorphous organizational structures designed to foster innovation and reinvention, changing professional skills needed to function effectively, and relationship-centered leadership ability required to lead these new enterprises. These implications present traditional leaders with numerous challenges as many of them are leading organizations that look nothing like the organizations that they were socialized and educated to operate. With social, political, and economic forces continuing to necessitate quantum and constant change in individuals, businesses, and whole economies, methods of developing leaders to lead in this new world require equal revolution. Employing a multidimensional case-study research design, I set out to explore and understand the experiences of one company as it engaged its leaders in deeper forms of learning in order to develop their abilities to lead in the high-value proposition of the 21st century. In studying what is referred to in the literature as "transformative learning," qualitative research takes center stage and forms the largest body of methodological approach with respect to this concept. My methodology continues that tradition but advances the research by providing process observation of a deep learning experience. My research design incorporates opinion-polling of subject matter experts, semi-structured interviews and participant-observation methodology in ethnographically describing the practices and organizational supports of the case-study company to foster deep learning in its leaders. In this research, I draw heavily from the literature of leadership development, transformative learning, adult learning theory and humanistic psychology. My findings propose that deep learning occurs as a result of an often unpredictable and dynamic interplay amongst a variety of components. I suggest that these meta-components represent the foundational aspects of facilitating deep learning in organizations. Following the identification of these components, a theoretical model was created to articulate their interaction. Finally, suggestions for the model's use as both a design and diagnostic tool are offered. |
