Embedding action learning for strategic transformation: a reflective account of practice at Ping An Bank

This account of practice examines the use of action learning at Ping An Bank, a large Chinese financial enterprise, to address strategic challenges while developing leadership capability. Through the creation of multi-topic and single-topic action learning sets involving middle and senior managers, the organisation pursued both individual and collective learning objectives. Drawing on participant and facilitator reflections, the paper illustrates how questioning, reflection, and collective inquiry supported organisational learning and leadership development. Explicit links are made to Revans’ theory of action learning and to Pedler and Abbott’s work on facilitation and system learning. The account aims to demonstrate how action learning can be embedded at scale through reflective facilitation, internal capacity building, and alignment with strategic priorities in a complex organisational context.