A quest for realism

Abstract

There is a tale about a man who was considering a challenge: could he walk a thousand paces with his severed head carried under one arm? When asked what he thought would be the most difficult part of this proposed feat to accomplish he replied that, so long as he could complete the first step without allowing his head to fall on the ground, he though he would otherwise be all right. It is the first step that counts. There is a similar difficulty in action learning; once we have taken the first step, we run into few further problems. Nobody gives up, nobody says it is all a waste of time, most discover their own unused abilities, all are ready to advise their friends to try it for themselves. It is the first step that offers the supreme challenge, but it seems to be a challenge from which the British are much inclined to shrink.

Citation

Revans, R. (1978), "A quest for realism", Education + Training, Vol. 20 No. 6, pp. 167-168. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb016556