Building a Learning Coalition

How can learning leaders form a true coalition of a diverse group of people with limited resources? By demonstrating how such an arrangement can add value for everyone involved.

The concept of building a learning coalition is interesting. There is a fairly large body of knowledge, research and documentation regarding the composition and characteristics of a coalition. The nature of a coalition becomes apparent when it’s contrasted with a team:

• A team is a group of individuals with similar values, characteristics and priorities working toward a common goal.
• A coalition is a group of individuals with dissimilar values, characteristics and priorities working toward a common goal. The members of a coalition forgo their own goals for the mission of the coalition.

It’s interesting that the key difference between a team and a coalition is the similarity or dissimilarity of the members. This seems academically sound but not especially useful if you’re actually trying to build a coalition.

When Kathy Wojcik, manager of leadership development and learning at Gates Corp., was asked to contribute her thoughts to this article, her first question was, “What is a learning coalition?” It’s not an easy thing to define, let alone assemble. This got the ball rolling on a discussion about what a learning coalition might look like and how it might operate.

The term “coalition” is most often associated with organizations that are working toward a broad and altruistic goal, such as eliminating world hunger. The word also is used when referring to a governing body that contains several factions, such as a coalition government. These all sound nice, but don’t quite capture the essence of what a useful learning coalition should be.

Why would anyone build a group that by definition is comprised of members who have dissimilar values, characteristics and priorities? It seems a team approach — in which members are similar — would create less conflict and allow for quicker decision making. After all, the aim is to have a learning solution that adds value to the business.