Groups: Where We Learn and Bond

During our orientation session at Lagos Business School for the Executive Master of Business Administration (“Executive MBA”) programme, each one of the cohorts was asked their objective for the programme. An overwhelming majority of us indicated that amongst other things, we had hoped to have learnt and networked.

At a subsequent session, we were informed that we would be assigned to various groups, each group will have about ten members and structured to ensure as much diversity of expertise as possible. This grouping, we were made to understand, is one of the learning cadences at Lagos Business School’s Executive MBA programme. One of our facilitators further explained that learning as the school saw it, happened at three levels:

1. At the individual level: self-study, trying to understand the subject matter on one’s own, without external support.
   
2. Peer learning: discussion amongst group members, outside the classes. This assumes an element of self-study would have taken place to optimize, however it is expected that one learns from other members of the groups or reinforces what one already learnt through the interactions.
   
3. In class: This assumes that both individual and group learnings have taken place, and in addition to those, draws on the broader perspectives of other groups and individuals, under the guidance of the facilitator.

When the above is analysed, one can identify the limitations of each learning step and how the three steps reinforce one another. At the individual level, our understanding is limited to what we know, our understanding of the subject and our biases.

At the group level, we are likely to leverage the perspectives of peers and learn from those who better understand the subject matter. Our thoughts are refined and we may even be able to identify and overcome some of our biases that had limited learning at the individual level. The encouragement from peers can also be very helpful. However, one may still be unable to fully grasp salient points or indeed understand the specific learning outcome, which may require additional guidance.

This additional guidance is typically provided by the facilitator in class, in addition to the broader insights from the larger class which has already been refined by the individual groups which further elevates one’s thoughts and understanding in respect of the subject matter. However, time is class can be limited, some questions may go unanswered, or concepts assumed to be obvious.

We had been advised that majority of our learning will occur at the group level. What that meant was not clear at the time. In fact, one of the facilitators was more categorical when he said, “you cannot succeed in this programme by doing it alone. The groups are essential to your success.” And looking at the limitations of the learning cadence, it is clear why. This is reminiscent of the words of Sir Ken Robinson, British author, speaker and advisor, “most learning happens in groups. Collaboration is the stuff of growth.”

One has the most interactions and most bonding at the group level. Indeed, the predominant objectives of most of the Executive MBA students – ‘learning and networking’, are mainly achieved at the group level.

“You can learn faster from inspiration and a highly motivated group of people”, remarked an unknown internet user. This was better put by Peter Michael Senge, an American systems scientist, senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and author, “when teams are truly learning, not only are they producing extraordinary results, but the individual members are growing more rapidly than could have occurred otherwise.”