Cranfield Executive Development (CED) took on board their own good advice when they created and delivered an impactful development journey for their own people.
Welcome back to the second instalment of our three part series in which David Deegan shares intentions, insights and learnings from CED's own development journey.
Part 2: How we did it
At CED we believe the creation of a learning solution which lives on post-programme only happens by touching the viscera of an individual, and at the same time we recognise the riskiness of that approach.
As we were delivering a programme which would help our people connect better with both clients and executive education participants, we knew our people had to understand how those clients and participants would feel.
To keep us true to our vision, we developed a set of Guiding Principles against which we regularly sense-checked our approach.
The CED Development Journey must always be:
- Aligned to the CED strategy.
- A 70:20:10 learning journey.
- Inclusive, collaborative and collegiate learning; facilitated experiences.
- Grounded in CED reality – the “What”.
- Role-modelling real CED/ client behaviours – the “How”.
- Utilising skills-assessment and integrated with our PDR process.
- Connected to personal mastery; personal ownership – being an active learner; developing reflective practice.
- A psychologically-safe environment.
- A celebration of success.
As part of engaging people in this journey, we sought their views on the challenges they currently faced and common themes in their conversations with clients and participants, and used this to inform our design. Furthermore, before the first module we transparently shared both our guiding principles and our design process, inviting them to recognise that the journey would stretch them, but had their aims and ambitions at its heart.
The 70:20:10 structure is shown below, with the blue representing the 9 face-to-face modules which, with a few exceptions, were delivered by myself and other members of the CED Senior Management team. Just as we do when we design our customised programmes, a lot of thought was put into not only the content, but also the order in which the content is presented, and how.
Programme design
The “Equality, Diversity & Inclusion” module was specifically chosen as the second module, delivered by faculty, with no senior CED managers present, so that early in the journey our people could explore their own sense of psychological safety.
The “Impact & Evaluation” module also featured early on as this reflects our belief that Impact must be “designed-in” to any solution, and therefore feature in initial client conversations.
“Self Awareness & Managing Self” was the sixth module, which might feel a little late, but this was a deliberate choice. Self-reflection had commenced in Module 1, with an unpacking of personal objectives, values and ambitions, and continued to feature in subsequent modules, particularly during “Learning to Learn”.
We felt that focussing purely on “Self Awareness and Managing Self” later in the journey would hopefully mean our people had gathered considerable data on themselves to serve as learning material for that module. It was also to be the most challenging and visceral experience so we wanted to ensure our people were sufficiently prepared so that they could, with our support, manage their emergent reactions to the experience.
Solo
"Self Awareness & Managing Self” took place over 3 days at a retreat in the Yorkshire Dales. The central feature was an entire day spent on a hillside, each person totally isolated from everyone else with no access to electronic devices. All they were allowed to take with them was food, water, a small tent for shelter (which they had to erect themselves), paper and writing/drawing materials, and some reflective questions in an envelope they could choose to open or not. The intent was to enable them to disconnect from everything other than the simplicity of nature, and thereby create an environment that facilitates internal connection.
We describe it as a “Solo”.
The process is risky. Physical health and safety are relatively easy to manage; what is unknown is the emotional reaction people may have to this prolonged period of total isolation. They themselves cannot foresee the places their mind might go.
Day 1 of the module was spent preparing them for the Solo. We explored the scientific research behind this type of transformative experience, and how to prepare themselves mentally in order to extract the most benefit. We gave them techniques for translating feelings into verbal constructs that can be processed, and techniques for managing feelings that won’t allow themselves to be transformed into words. And finally, before the evening meal, we taught them how to erect their own tent.
There was deliberately no formal debriefing process immediately following the Solo on Day 2; people were allowed to process the experience in their own way, knowing they could access support from myself and colleagues facilitating the module if they wished.
On Day 3 the experience was carefully unpacked, deliberately focussing on more right-brain activities such as metaphor, painting and poetry so that each person had a range of ways to express the intensity of their own experience.
Naturally the results are confidential, but I can confirm that we had definitely rocked each person’s boat. What is gratifying to report is that all the advance preparation we had done, along with the careful unpacking and, most importantly, the way every colleague personally committed to fully immersing themselves in the process, meant that everyone stayed afloat.
The journey continues
We continued to risk provoking the visceral with Module 7 - “Discovery, Consulting & Design”. This featured roleplay within a business simulation I wrote, containing typical challenging conversations based on real experiences. The level of realism in the challenge created some explosive conversations which, when unpacked in subsequent confidential debriefs, brought insightful recognition of personal triggers.
In Module 8 - “Facilitation Skills” every person ran a mini-teach for the rest of the group, and received critical but constructive feedback on both content and style.
In their own words
But my description of the journey is meaningless without some of their words as to how the visceral, riskier aspects landed with them.
“l could have spent longer on the hill. I was surprised at how long it took my mind to ‘release’ its to-do lists and for the internal chatter to subside. I felt like I was just getting into a flow state with my writing when the time was up. Truly a great experience.”
“The Hill has caused me to reflect the most and allowed me to understand that this silence is something I want to do more of.”
“I learnt a lot about myself and left a lot behind which I wasn't aware I was carrying.”
“I thought that I was reasonably good at self-reflection, but I was truly blown away by how powerful the poetry writing was. I just never would have expected it. It's something that I will take with me.”
“I feel I grew so much personally and we became so much closer as a team. I still have goose pimples now as I reflect on those days and all I learnt.”
“I felt like my brain had been scrubbed clean and that I am mentally more alert, resilient and engaged as a result of the process.”
“This was a huge awakening to just how special an organisation I work with truly is. How much CED values its employees and their development. The time and space afforded us, the carefully thought-out sessions and the team bonding meant that I feel more motivated than I ever have in an organisation.”
So what next?
Those are just a few of the anonymous comments gathered immediately after modules, but the true benefit of learning is only realised when one looks at the longer-term impact.
In the third and final article I will share the effect the CED Development Journey has had on our colleagues, and consequently on our business.
