Later at Fuller, as I was studying about leadership training models I read Malcolm Knowles’ famous book—The Modern Practice of Adult Education. In that book, Malcolm Knowles stated that growth projects are the major means of development for adult learners over their entire lifetimes. When one considers a time-line of a given individual and recognizes that formal education (from adulthood on) is probably less than 6 or 7 years and non-formal means all told probably add up to less than 2 years it is clearly seen that most of the development must come through informal means if at all. Below is how I defined the notion of growth projects, usually self-initiated, which may help one become aware of them and deliberately and proactively begin to design these on a regular basis.    Over the years I have had lots of growth projects—most of them having to do with my “word giftedness.”

Definition - A growth project is an attempt by an adult learner to progress in development of some area of his/her life through some form of planned learning that involves personal goal setting with regards to the project, can be accomplished in a relatively short period of time, and can be assessed after completion.

Two Main Types:

   Type I: Growth projects can be self-initiated and be categorized under:

    • Structured Experiences;    

    • Study Oriented (most of mine have been in this category);    

    • Observation Oriented;    

    • Perhaps something in a formal or informal program.

    Type II: Growth projects can be other initiated and be categorized under:

    • Internships    

   • Apprenticeships    

   • Short intensive courses with some Institute           

   • Other kinds of training modules

    Key elements in a growth project include:

1.       A desire to learn and enough desire to do something about it.    

2.     The commitment to some goals for this learning and a means to bring it           about—the more specific, the better likely to complete it.    

3.    A doable project in a given specified time.

    4.    The design of the project in terms of whatever will best bring about the learning       whether structured experiences, study oriented, observation oriented, or some other design.    

    5.    A short enough time that you can actually bring closure to the project and a long enough time that you can do it. Too long may result in a sag in the middle of the project and the eventual death of it without finishing. Too short may discourage you since you could not get it done.   

    6.    Closure evaluation of the learning and use of it in life.

    Here are some examples I have done:

•  learning of a given word processing program in order to produce written materials

   for training;    

•  the study of self-teaching materials in order to learn how to design them;    

•  reading of a Christian biography in order to learn leadership lessons;   

•  reading of other books dealing with areas in which I wanted to grow;    

•  recruiting a mentor to help me in some area I wanted growth. 

Biographical Information:  Bobby Clinton, 1993-present, coordinates the Leadership concentration in the School of Intercultural Studies (formerly the School of World Mission). Bobby models as well as teaches the concepts of life-long learning, spiritual-gift development, and different mentoring relationships. His materials include extensive biblical examples of leadership development. His extensive publications on leadership development include Spiritual Gifts (1985), The Making of a Leader (1988), Leadership Emergence Theory: A Self-Study Manual for Analyzing the Development of a Christian Leader (1989), Connecting: The Mentoring Relationships You Need to Succeed in Life (1992), and Focused Lives (1995). Before coming to Fuller, Bobby and his wife Marilyn were missionaries in Jamaica. He has also taught and ministered in Papua New Guinea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France, and Singapore, among other places.