Problem identification in Change Laboratories

Abstract

Formative interventions aimed at workplace learning and agency are crucially dependent on the identification of problems for gaining collective momentum. This is in particular the case today, as workplaces face the challenges of increasingly operating in broad coalitions in response to acute societal needs. The literature on problem framing has advanced our understanding of how collectives identify problems. This chapter offers a different perspective, by bringing together the theoretical lenses of expansive learning, relational agency and transformative agency by double stimulation with Getzels’ pioneering views on problem identification. The chapter discusses problem identification in three interconnected Change Laboratory formative interventions aimed at inclusive and democratic practices within and across the sectors involved in eradicating homelessness in Finland. The study shows that workplace experience and knowledge are resources for problem identification which can also be generative in the development of policies to respond to urgent societal needs. The study indicates that the experience and knowledge of frontline workplace practitioners can be vital input for problem identification among heterogenous work coalitions.