Catalyst Consulting Team :: Experiential Learning

The Chinese philosopher Confucius once said "I hear and I forget. I see and I believe. I do and I understand." Catalyst's Experiential Learning programs were created to help people learn by doing.The value of experiential learning is that it incorporates not only the cognitive, but the emotional and physical. By using experiential learning, people get immediate feedback on the actions.

For 20 years Catalyst Consulting Team has helped "break the mold" through programs that challenge individuals and groups to create new ways of working together. At the center of this approach is our Experiential Learning methodology that focuses on cooperation and creative problem solving to improve the quality of human interaction. Catalyst uses this approach for corporate off-sites, management development programs, teamwork programs and team-building exercises.

Issues such as trust, communication, listening and consensus building often present problems within organizations. We address these concerns head-on through hands-on experiences that help people 'see' the existing dynamics within their groups so they can have productive discussions and consider new ways of behaving. Catalyst facilitators share astute observations - and make connections between those observations and what is happening on an unspoken level, allowing participants to gain insight and make applications to their work life.

How it Works

Catalyst's Experiential Learning programs create metaphors that bring common situations faced by workgroups into sharp focus. Our experiential activities range from one-hour problem- solving exercises to half-day business simulations. Participants discover new approaches to solving problems and weave this new-found approach into their DNA so that it permeates every facet of their work interactions.

Some programs take people out of the comfort - and restrictions - of their offices and present them with new kinds of problems to address and solve. Participants are presented with seemingly unachievable challenges, and through individual, peer and team coaching work together to exceed their expectations and goals.

In the natural world, when an organism is challenged it has the opportunity to learn new ways of adapting. If successful, these new learning paths become permanent competencies. Organizations are the same. We "kick-start" the process by involving employees at all levels in a process to see their environment in ways that they normally do not in their daily work life and to talk honestly about what prevents them from accomplishing the results they want.

Click to download our white paper See the Unseen, Speak the Unspeakable