Prepare - act - reflect

The learning model underlying Practicing Management and praxis@MIT Sloan

Core ideas Three elements are key for learning from experience. Practicing Management and praxis learning enables and supports all three parts of the process: preparing, acting, and reflecting. Of course, the sequence continues: in praxis, reflection is useful only if it enables better action the next time around. So this is an iterative loop, which fits with our notion of the learning spiral. The prepare-act-reflect-prepare-act.... process also emphasizes the capabilities central to MIT Leadership Center's Distributed Leadership Model.

Preparation
domain-specific education, project skills

Learn domain knowledge
Learn relevant theories, perspectives, tools, and models
Develop observation and reflection skills, including the four distributed leadership skills of sensemaking, relating, visioning, and inventing
Generate usable frameworks and templates for data: Do the groundwork necessary to extract learning from the action

Action
implementation focus,
built-in data collection

Learn skills by using and applying frameworks, templates, theory, tools, etc.
(both content- and process-related)
Learn domain knowledge as demanded by situation
Learn by interacting with others
Generate results (or lack thereof)

Reflection
what to make of this experience

Learn what you don't know, and want to know, and figure out how to learn more: What new classes do I want to take next? What new questions do I have?
Learn by reflecting on the use of theory, frameworks, data templates: Did I draw on the right things? Did I capture what I needed to in order to make sense of what happened?
Learn from other students' experiences---peers are key
Generate new frameworks and templates: How am I adjusting my mental models?
Design effective next steps, correct course, return to "preparation" phase