Organisation development in healthcare: a critical appraisal for practitioners

There is also a QR code for each theme, leading to video material on You Tube, and then five reflective questions, with two blank pages beneath each question for the owner of the journal to make notes. Themes relate to issues of identity and self-knowledge (with questions such as ‘What do I notice about myself when I am fully present?’ ‘How do I unearth my blind spots?’), as well as process issues of working with the action learning set (examples: ‘How do I inspire the set to be curious?’ ‘What do I appreciate about the set members?’ ‘What challenges do I experience when allowing the set to self-direct?’ ‘How do I listen attentively, without judgement?’) Many of the questions in the journal are likely to prompt meditation and reflection rather than quick answers, and some may lead the journal’s users to begin enquiring conversations with fellow facilitators. Indeed, many of the questions might be used to start discussions in groups of facilitators who have gathered together for their own personal development. Whilst any of the 50 questions may prompt facilitators to think of aspects of their practice that they wish to improve, almost all of them ask the user only to reflect on their current state and their current practice – I counted only three that explicitly asked me to identify areas for improvement. The short You Tube videos, accessible through the QR codes, provide material from other dimensions, with a different texture from the rest of the journal. They include an interview with Reg Revans (talking about the difference between cleverness and wisdom), four TED talks, a reflection by Oprah Winfrey, an explanation of the Enneagram, a presentation on Grateful Leadership, and a brief narration by Laurence Olivier. They are each a small surprise package – you only find out what is at the end of the link by opening it. The relevance of the video to the theme is not always entirely clear. The questions are not related to the videos, but to the user’s own action learning practice. I bought a hardback copy of the book, at a time when it was not available as an interactive pdf, and the postage costs for anyone outside South Africa add considerably to the price. The hardback is a beautiful artefact, and I can’t imagine defacing it by actually writing in it – when the times have come to put pen to paper, I have written the thoughts provoked by its questions in an everyday notepad. I found this a quiet, thought-provoking book. If you have come this far in reading this review, you probably know whether or not it is a book you will value. It seems particularly appropriate that a book for practitioners of action learning contains more questions than statements.