From Saudi Arabia to Singapore, Sweden to South Africa, global leaders as diverse as Shell, Deutsche Bank, GE, and Sony share one powerful secret: they have created thousands of new products and services, improved service quality, and made fundamental changes to their organizations' cultures by unleashing the power of action learning. For over a decade, world-renown consultant, educator, and award-winning author Michael Marquardt has been helping organizations and world governments revolutionize the way they solve problems, build effective teams, develop leaders, and transform themselves into learning organizations. Now he calls on his pioneering experiences and the fundamentals first introduced in his bestseller Action Learning in Action to deliver the next generation tools and techniques to make action learning successful each and every time, in any organization. With over 20 best practices examples, checklists, and other hands-on guidance, Optimizing the Power of Action Learning puts the 'action' in action learning by focusing on the six essential components that make action learning work: the problem, group diversity, a reflective inquiry process, action strategies, a commitment to learning, and the all-important participation of a well-trained action learning coach. Marquardt explores the more recent innovations in the field, lays out the advanced skills needed for success today, and offers step-by-step procedures and specific strategies for introducing and sustaining action learning in any organization.