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Book Reviews Editorial

Macro- and micro-level perspectives of learning

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The reviews in this edition of the Journal range over the topics of the learning society, training, leadership, coaching and action learning. The first two reviews relate to books which explore learning from different perspectives. At the macro-level Mike Pedler reviews Joseph Stiglitz and Bruce Greenwald's Creating a Learning Society: A New approach to Growth, Development, and Social Progress. The core concern of the book is related to industrial and public policy on learning, and how to organise to maximise this in societies and economies. The relevance to the action learning community according to Pedler is ‘that learning should be at the heart of public policy and debate and is something that concerns us both as citizens and as professionals aspiring to contribute to social enhancement’. Jane Dowson continues with the theme of learning and training albeit at a micro-level in which she reviews Emma Weber's Turning Learning into Action. She highlights that the purpose of the book is to introduce the Turning Learning into Action methodology (TLA) as a new approach to an old problem: that of ineffective training which fails to deliver real-world results and benefits back into organisations. The review explores how the book challenges traditional formulaic approaches to procedural and declarative learning.

The next three reviews relate to leadership and coaching. John Edmonstone reviews Nick Obolensky's Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. The book is described as offering a much deeper understanding of the ways in which both the global and micro-level forces of chaos and complexity affect organisational evolution and the importance of adaptive leadership. Thomas Hoyland's review of Geoff Mead's Telling the Story: The Heart and Soul of Successful Leadership is a book with a heartfelt message to challenge leaders to break with the past and imagine a better future. As noted in the review the book endeavours to educate people as to how stories shape us and our organisations. Mary Holmes reviews Peter Hawkins’ Leadership and Team Coaching in Practice. It is a book that draws on practical experience, grounded in a depth of analysis and a range of theories for those who live and work with teams. Finally, Eileen Henderson reviews Skipton Leonard and Arthur Freedman's Great Solutions Through Action Learning: Success Everytime. The book is aimed at Action Learning Team Coaches (ALTC) and is reviewed as being well referenced and having a focus strongly on the relationship between learning and problem solving. However, Henderson concludes that the book is centred more on this performative ethos than relating to personal growth and achievement of human potential. Overall the reviews in this edition of the journal explore the macro- and micro-environments of practice and what we can learn from each perspective.

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