Building trust through action learning in an uncertain transorganizational context

Abstract

This research explored how action learning contributed to the development of trust in a temporary transorganizational system during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a world fragmented by digitalization, social upheaval, ethnocentric development policies, and global pandemics, trust among people, companies, and governments has eroded. The interdependencies within our society demand collaborative efforts that must not only address the challenges of fragmentation that makes task achievement difficult, but the uncertainty that comes with a lack of trust. This was the challenge for two universities on different continents and their stakeholders: to create a cross-cultural, temporary transorganizational (TS) system at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and deliver on the educational objectives of a master’s-level Organization Development (OD) practicum. The cyclical rhythms of action learning and trust building before and during the practicum contributed to its outcomes of collective knowledge creation and high performance in an uncertain time. Using theories of trust formation and action learning, the authors identified how action learning and trust cycles worked together in a TS system to foster collaboration.