Activists
They want practical tasks and very little theory.
- Activists involve themselves fully and without bias in new experiences
- They enjoy the here and now and are happy to be dominated by immediate experiences
- They are open-minded, not skeptical, and this tends to make them enthusiastic about anything new
- Their philosophy is: "I'll try anything once"
- They tend to act first and consider the consequences afterward
- Their days are filled with activity. They tackle problems by brainstorming
- As soon as the excitement from one activity has died down, they are busy looking for the next
- They tend to thrive on the challenge of new experiences but are bored with implementation and longer-term consolidation
- They are gregarious people constantly involving themselves with others but in doing so; they seek to center all activities on themselves
Strengths
- Flexible and open-minded.
- Happy to have a go.
- Happy to be exposed to new situations.
- Optimistic about anything new and therefore unlikely to resist change.
Weaknesses
- Tendency to take the immediately obvious action without thinking.
- Often take unnecessary risks.
- Tendency to do too much themselves and hog the limelight.
- Rush into action without sufficient preparation.
- Get bored with implementation/consolidation.
Learns best from...
Activists learn best from activities where:- There are new experiences/problems/opportunities to learn.
- They can engross themselves in short "here and now" activities such as business games, competitive teamwork tasks, and role-playing exercises.
- There is excitement/drama/crisis, and things chop and change with various diverse activities to tackle.
- They have a lot of the limelight/high visibility, i.e., they can "chair" meetings, lead discussions, and give presentations.
- They can generate ideas without policy, structure, or feasibility constraints.
- They are thrown in at the deep end with a task they think is difficult, i.e., when set a challenge with inadequate resources and adverse conditions.
- They are involved with other people, i.e., bouncing ideas off them and solving problems as part of a team.
- It is appropriate to "have a go."
Learns least from...
Activists learn least from and may react against activities where:- Learning involves a passive role, i.e., listening to lectures, monologues, explanations, and statements of how things should be done, reading, and watching.
- They are asked to stand back and not be involved.
- They are required to assimilate, analyze and interpret lots of "messy" data.
- They are required to engage in solo work, i.e., reading, writing, and thinking independently.
- They are asked to assess beforehand what they will learn and to appraise afterward what they have learned.
- They are offered statements they see as "theoretical," i.e., an explanation of the cause or background
- They are asked to repeat essentially the same activity over and over again, i.e., when practicing.
- They have precise instructions to follow with little room for maneuvering.
- They are asked to do a thorough job, i.e., attend to detail, tie up loose ends, dot the i's, cross t's.