Lectica in organizations

Selected case studies

Lectica's mission is to build tools and methods that advance learning, development, and real-world competence. Here are a few examples of projects that we and our accredited consultants have completed during the last 20 years.

From 2002 to 2006, we worked with the U. S. Intelligence community to (1) study the development of leadership skills especially skills for managing VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, & ambiguity) conditions; (2) develop a leadership decision-making course that doubled the amount of learning that took place relative to other courses offered at the time; and (3) describe developmentally informed competencies for management roles. Our LDMA (Lectical Decision Making Assessment) was originally developed during this program, as were the General and Precise Role Complexity Analyses we use to determine role fit.

Contributed by Mark Keily—mkeily@cornerstoneintegral.com

Applying VCoL (Virtuous Cycle of Learning) to the challenges faced by busy executives brought about life changing benefits.

Context

In early 2017, a colleague and I were engaged to design and implement a leader development program for a major Australian multinational corporation. The program featured structured residentials in addition to developmental coaching. The coaching was based on the diagnostic insights provided by the Lectical Leadership Decision-Making Assessment (LDMA) and the Lectical Self-Understanding Assessment (LSUA). The purpose of the program was to prepare participants for more senior roles. Participants were in demanding roles, and as it turned out, they shared a concern that their challenging work schedules inhibited the amount of time they could invest in learning new skills.

VCoLing – “Start with real issues first”

The program commenced with a vibrant 5-day residential, and participants emerged with the motivation and energy that fresh insights often bring, enthusiastically setting learning goals based on these insights. Unfortunately, most participants set goals without taking daily workplace demands into account, and many of them later expressed the view that their goals were unachievable due to job related time constraints.

Because time constraints were inhibiting learning, we decided to teach the participants to practice a learning technique called VCoLing, which can be practiced in context in real-time. These features make VCoLing a great learning technique for individuals who are under time pressure. VCoLing involves working a learning cycle with four simple steps —(1) setting a learning goal, (2) gathering information, (3) applying what you've learned in real-world contexts, and (4) reflecting on the outcome. VCoLing in-the-moment in real-world contexts speeds up learning while deepening knowledge and building competence.

To help participants learn how to VCoL, we worked with them to create a set of wirtten VCoLs designed to help them build some of the skills they identified as important. All participants committed to practicing these VCoLs each time life presented them with an opportunity to practice one of the targeted skills. Most participants practiced multiple times a day for a period of 2 weeks. At the two-week review, participants reported progress in the development of their VCoLing skills as well as the skills targeted in the written VCoLs. They also reported an increased understanding of learning as a process—especially the role of real-time reflection when learning from experience.

Insights gained by program developers

The program developers discovered the value of (1) including participants in the process of identifying skills to practice, (2) focusing narrowly on the skills they view as most critical to their own success, then (3) developing relevant VCoLing practices designed to support the development of those skills.

Contributed by Denise R.

I thought I was a good learner. In school, I got straight A’s, found it easy to grasp new ideas, and always did well on tests. But when I was promoted into my first leadership position, my “academic” knowledge wasn’t enough to make me successful. I was close to giving up on leadership when I took my first LDMA. One of the suggestions in my report was to learn how to VCoL. I watched the VCoL video as suggested and the proverbial light bulb glowed in my brain. Knowledge isn’t the same as skill! My coach helped me learn how to VCoL by using everyday decisions as little learning experiments. Soon, I found myself VCoLing without even thinking about it. Three years later, I’m loving this leadership gig—and I’ve been promoted twice.

We care about evidence

If your organization is interested in conducting research with our assessment and learning tools, please contact us.

 

Selected funders

IES (US Department of Education)

The Spencer Foundation

NIH

Dr. Sharon Solloway

The Simpson Foundation

The Leopold Foundation

Donor list

Selected clients

Glastonbury School District, CT

The Ross School

Rainbow Community School

The Study School

Long Trail School

The US Naval Academy

The City of Edmonton, Alberta

The US Federal Government

Advisory Board

Antonio Battro, MD, Ph.D., One Laptop Per Child

Marc Schwartz, Ph.D. and former high school teacher, University of Texas at Arlington

Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Ed.D., University of Southern California

Willis Overton, Ph.D., Temple University, Emeritus