ABSTRACT
Early attempts to run personal development programmes for managers often deprived participants of the very attributes that they were trying to develop. The managers became dependent on their tutors. The tutors decided what was best for the managers – what they needed to learn and what was the best way to learn it. Tutors decided what resources were required and what learning processes were to be used. The managers became passive, increasingly looking to their tutors to decide which theories were valid or which techniques were useful. The implicit message was: ‘Don’t try to decide for yourself – there is always an expert you can ask. You don’t need to worry about how you are learning because when you need an update, you can always come back.’
