What is Team Academy?

“If you really want to see the future of management education,

you should see Team Academy.”

Peter Senge

The Learning Pyramid

Attributed to National Learning Laboratories, USA

A way of learning• A Team Academy is a learning community

underpinned by the belief that when real world actions go hand-in-hand with the acquisition of theoretical knowledge then learning is more likely to stick.

• Entrepreneurship is viewed as a process of growing a set of behavioural competencies and personal capacities as well as acquiring a body of knowledge, which together enable learners to develop the necessary skills for creating their own futures.

Spheres of entrepreneurial learning

HardSkills

BehaviouralCompetences

PersonalCapacities

Three Principles of Learning

1. Individuals build their own knowledge (constructivism)

2. Knowledge is time-bound (”Just-in-time –knowledge”)

3. Knowledge is social – communities and co-operation

Hakkarainen & others: Tutkiva oppiminen (no English translation available)

Learning and entrepreneurship

Slow Relational Sociallyconstructed

Emotional as well as

intellectual

Educational philosophyNot ... But ...Students Team entrepreneursClassrooms An open plan officeTeaching LearningTeachers CoachesSimulations Real businessControl Personal responsibilityRegulation Shared values

“We get the information when we need it which means we learn better and remember” (Level 3 student, Tiimiakatemia, Jyvaskyla)

Phases of Knowledge Creation

Dialogue

Learning by Doing

Tac

it kn

owle

dge

Explicit know

ledge

Interaction and conversations with others, brainstorming, intensive

thinking, self-reflection

Action, implementation, doing

Trasferrable knowledge, analysis, plan, list, picture,

model, book, knowledge base, manual

“Silent knowledge”, intuitive knowledge, practical

knowledge, hard-to-describe -knowledge

Window 1Talking, “throwing ideas”,

“talking during breaks, formal dialogue sessions

Window 1Talking, “throwing ideas”,

“talking during breaks, formal dialogue sessions

Window 2Crystalising ideas, enumerating

key points, finding leverage points

Window 2Crystalising ideas, enumerating

key points, finding leverage points

Window 3Making specific plans and

prototypes, creating models, finding relevant ideas and

theories from books

Window 3Making specific plans and

prototypes, creating models, finding relevant ideas and

theories from books

Window 4Testing ideas in practice, using

plans to generate action

Window 4Testing ideas in practice, using

plans to generate action

SocialisingInteraction

ExternalisingCrystalising ideas

InternalisingAction and

testing ideas

CombiningCreating a model

or a theory

Nonaka & Takeuchi: The Knowledge-Creating Company

Learning by doing• Students are placed into groups of 10 – 18 team

entrepreneurs using profiling tools such as Belbin and the Learning Styles inventory.

• Their core task is to form and trade a limited company for three years.

• The knowledge, skills and competencies required of a company are learned and assessed through this vehicle.

The ATP (Applying Theory to Practice) model

Pre-Motorola Report

Book of Books and developing an appropriate

reading programmeProject Plan

Pre-launch

Project workSupport of the

team coachCross-fertilisation

Motorola ReportBirth-Giving

Project report

ImplementationPost

implementation

Reflection Paper

The importance of dialogue• Through weekly dialogue sessions the team

entrepreneurs learn from experience the skills of listening, questioning, building on ideas, supporting, challenging and tolerating ambiguity and chaos.

• From the creative processes generated in these sessions come the ideas that will be turned into products and seervices.

Dialogue

Isaacs: Dialogue - The Art Of Thinking Together; adapted

Voicing

Listening

Respecting

Suspending

Expressing oneself and one’s feelings genuinely.

Suspending oneself from making conclusions, judgements or opinions.

Acknowledging other’s position and the impossibility of understanding it totally.

No resistance or forcing

Theory1. Book of Books – books on learning,

entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing, innovation, teams, coaching and personal development

2. Book Points – 120 in three years or between 60 and 80 points based on the degree of difficulty of the book

3. Reading Plan4. Book essays – not reviews in isolation but

critical evaluations relating the book to the student experience

Developing the team company• Each team starts out by creating its vision,

mission and values – called Leading Thoughts – and by getting to know the strengths and potential contributions of each member.

• The team must decide if it will have a leader and if so how the leader will be chosen, how to manage money, allocate responsibilities and make each individual accountable for their own performance.

• Products and services are developed in response to customer intelligence, so customer contact comes early in the process.

The Team Entrepreneur’s week• 2 x 4-hour dialogue sessions facilitated by the team

coach• Team roles eg team leader, finance manager, sales

manager• 3-4 revenue-generating projects• Customer visits• Reading, writing critically about the books they have

read and sharing their reviews with fellow team members

• Reflective papers on the entrepreneurial journey

Assessment• Team companies keep planners to show where all

team members are with their different targets• Targets are a mix of individual, team and company

targets, both quantitative and qualitative.• Supporting each other to reach individual targets is

core to the model• Formal assessment for degree grade is based on an

e-portfolio containing reflection papers, book essays, group presentations, learning contracts, pre and post-motorolas and other appropriate documents