ADAPTING IN ACTION

BEING ADAPTIVE MEANS MORE THAN CHANGE IT’S ABOUT STAYING AGILE AND RESPONSIVE IN A SHIFTING WORLD.

Adapting isn’t just about making changes—it’s about using tacit knowledge to help teams become more effective, responsive, and open to learning.

This project treated learning events as opportunities to learn by doing, exploring how tacit knowledge shapes adaptive management.

Leaders weren’t just participants—they facilitated learning events with their teams, applying adaptive approaches in real time.

Transfer of learning was central, equipping both leaders and participants with practical skills and reinforcing that learning isn’t about what’s taught but what’s applied.

Adaptive facilitation meant listening, adjusting, and responding in the moment—whether refining the agenda, shifting session dynamics, or navigating power imbalances. The key? Trusting the audience.

When facilitators embrace uncertainty, learners take ownership, making learning stick and turning insights into action.

Adapting in Action

Being adaptive means more than change— it’s about staying agile and responsive in a shifting world..

Adapting isn’t just about making adjustments—it’s about staying responsive to real-world challenges. It means continuously assessing what’s working, what’s not, and making meaningful shifts based on evidence, experience, and feedback—Tacit Knowledge. More than just a process of change, adapting requires a mindset

Transfer of Learning

Transfer of learning happens when new knowledge and skills are applied in real-world settings, making learning practical and relevant beyond the workshop. It’s not just about what happens in the room—it’s about ensuring insights stick and lead to real change.

The facilitator doesn’t know what the learner will learn but he/she can design the trainings to maximise the relevance to the learner’s reality.

This insight was built into the Tacit Knowledge and Adaptive Learning process by guiding leaders and teams to choose learning themes that mattered to them beyond the project.

When organisations create the right conditions, insights don’t stay locked in individuals’ minds; they flow through teams, shaping better decisions and driving real change.

This happens when leaders make space for learning, teams embed reflection into daily routines, and individuals develop the confidence to challenge assumptions and trust their lived experience.

Strengthening facilitation, mentoring, and coaching capacities ensures that learning isn’t just a concept—it becomes the way work gets done.

"One important skill as a facilitator is the facilitator's mindset, and it starts with acknowledging that I don’t have an answer to everything."

Sophie Bruas, CHC Facilitator

The first workshop wasn’t just about learning—it was about doing.

Leaders were equipped with skills, tools and a model to facilitate the second workshop, ensuring real-time transfer of learning about facilitation of Adaptive Learning processes.

Participants weren’t chosen at random; they were selected because they could apply what they learned in their daily work, making the process immediately relevant.

Sessions used experiential learning techniques, turning ideas into action through reflection, discussion, and hands-on application.

Examples were carefully chosen to align with participants' context and respect their experience and knowledge.

Throughout, feedback loops kept learning sharp and practical, with questions like: "What are your takeaways?", "What would you do differently?", and "What might get in the way of making this happen?"

From the outset, this project was designed to be adaptive.

Facilitators actively modelled openness to change—co-producing, refining, and adjusting facilitation approaches and the agenda in real time to navigate challenges such as limited time, integrating unexpected perspectives, and allowing space for deeper exploration of learning insights that participants found particularly valuable.

Adaptive Facilitation: Listening, Adapting, and Learning in Real Time

Facilitators approached both the design and workshops with an open mindset, embedding real-time feedback loops to keep learning relevant and dynamic. Leadership and participants were engaged throughout, using reflective questions like: What are your expectations and why? What will disappoint you? What’s working? What’s not? How can we improve? These prompts fostered ownership of the process, ensured discussions stayed relevant, and built trust.

Adaptation wasn’t an afterthought—it was built in.

Facilitators regrouped in the moment to refine the agenda, adjust facilitation techniques, and respond to participants’ needs. Changes ranged from shifting session timings and balancing theory with practice to incorporating Somali dialects.

Facilitation is more than delivering content—it’s about mindset, observation, and listening. It requires questioning assumptions in real time: Do these still hold true? For whom? What needs to change, by whom, and when? By staying flexible and responsive, facilitators kept the learning process meaningful and effective.

Richard, ACTED Somalia (INGO)

Confidence in Facilitation – Trusting the Audience

A major barrier to adaptive learning is a facilitator’s lack of confidence, leading to rigid adherence to the workshop agenda and design rather than responding to emerging needs. The challenge lies in knowing when to steer the group forward and when to make space for deeper exploration.

In both workshops, power dynamics surfaced differently, shaping how facilitators navigated the discussions. In the first, power emerged as a central theme in understanding collaboration.

Rather than avoiding the topic, facilitators leaned into the dynamics of the room—using real-time interactions to explore how power influences partnerships, decision-making, and knowledge-sharing. This allowed participants to engage in an honest and reflective conversation about what equitable partnerships truly require.

"Not only as a humanitarian working for MCAN, but as a teacher, learning about adaptive learning has been a great capacity building for me, I have learnt the facilitation skills, learning cycle that will be helpful with my interaction with my students."

Naima Abdulkadir, Board member MCAN (NNGO)

In the second workshop, with a broader and more diverse audience, the conversation on power took a different form.

Facilitators had to balance adaptability with structure, ensuring that all voices—especially those less dominant—were heard and respected.

They carefully created space for open dialogue while maintaining enough structure to keep discussions productive and safe.

By adjusting their approach to the composition and needs of each group, facilitators demonstrated the agility required to enable genuine learning and critical reflection on power in action.

Confidence and experience shape the ability to be agile, but at its core, it’s about trusting the audience.

When learners shape the conversation, they become the subject of learning—and that’s the essence of tacit knowledge.

OUR PARTNERS

This project was supported by the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH) and funded by UK International Development in collaboration with our learning partners in Somalia: GREDO, MCAN, SADO, REACH IMPACT &ACTED SOMALIA

ADAPTING IN ACTION

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