Natural growth goals and short- term training: a boomerang effect

The purpose of this research project was to determine the effect of a training session about achieving natural growth goals on perceptions of a university classroom as a learning organisation. The results indicated that a short training session on how to achieve natural growth goals in an organisation appeared to have a boomerang effect on perceptions of a university classroom as a learning organisation. This study should alert us to the inevitable consequence of having our best training efforts backfire when they conflict with powerful, though latent, beliefs or cultural values.