Innovative leader development : evaluation of the U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Adaptive Leader Program

• Author: Arroyo Center
• VerfasserIn: Straus, Susan G
• TeilnehmendeR: Arroyo Center; Rand Corporation; United States
• Place / Publishing House: [Place of publication not identified] : Rand Corporation, 2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: English
• Notes: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

"The Asymmetric Warfare Group offers the Asymmetric Warfare Adaptive Leader Program (AWALP) -- a 10-day course designed to enhance adaptive performance in leaders and promote innovative solutions in training in support of unified land operations. This report describes results of a systematic evaluation of AWALP, offers recommendations to improve the course, and provides recommendations for ongoing evaluation of AWALP and other courses or events that address adaptive performance and acquisition of other intangible skills. The study used a pretest-posttest design and collected data from 104 students who participated in AWALP. Results show substantial improvement in training outcomes, including students' self-efficacy for being adaptive and leading adaptive teams and knowledge of course concepts. Graduates also reported that they were applying course concepts on the job after returning to their units. In addition, students had exceptionally favorable reactions to AWALP and remained extremely positive about the course three months after graduation. Results indicate few needs for improvement in the course; the most important area to address is challenges in applying concepts on the job because of the command climate and entrenched leadership. Recommendations for ongoing evaluation focus on obtaining additional measures of adaptive performance, particularly to establish the impact of AWALP on subsequent job performance. The current success of AWALP suggests that its approach to training might be usefully expanded in the Army, and the authors discuss strategies to achieve broader dissemination. Finally, the authors describe how the methods used in this study might be applied to evaluating related training in other contexts."--Publisher's website.

Table of Contents

Introduction -- General approach and study design -- Reactions toward AWALP and attitudes toward adaptability -- Results: learning -- Results: application of AWALP principles on the job and longer-term attitudes toward AWALP -- Summary, conclusions, and recommendations -- Appendix A: Typical AWALP-like practical exercise: one rope bridge -- Appendix B: Items assessing reactions to training -- Appendix C: Main effects and interactions of individual characteristics and attitudes toward adaptive performance -- Appendix D: Interview questions -- Appendix E: Change in students' pre-post responses regarding need for adaptive performance.