Asking the Right Questions: Action Learning and PMT 401

Six students form a rough circle seated in a seminar room at the Defense Acquisition Universitys Fort Belvoir, Virginia, campus. They lean forward, engaged in animated give-and-take. The students are enrolled in the Program Managers Course PMT 401,an intensive case-based, 10-week program aimed at improving leadership, critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making skills. Participants in this rigorous, in-residence program hail primarily from the military Services,defense agencies and the defense industry. Although most are program managers PMs, their experience encompasses a wide a variety of acquisition communities including, engineering, logistics and testing. A trained coach is on hand to focus on the learning, and steers clear of direct involvement in the problem-solving discussion. The coach makes sure, among other things, that the questions broached are open-ended and that all students actively take part and are committed to arriving at a consensus. This maximizes opportunities for learning and development.