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Reginald William Revans (14 May 1907 – 8 January 2003) was an Academic staff professor, administrator and management consultant who pioneered the use of Action learning. He was also a who represented Britain at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, where he finished 32nd in the long jump event. At the first British Empire Games, in 1930, he won the silver medal in both the long jump and triple jump competition.
In the late 1920s he was a doctoral student in astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. A Commonwealth Scholarship in 1930 took him to study astrophysics and astronomy at the University of Michigan, and on his return to Cambridge as a fellow to Emmanuel he worked at the Cavendish Laboratory under Lord Rutherford and Sir J. J. Thomson. There were five Nobel Prize prizewinners in the department, but Revans found them humble enough to share their puzzlements and to listen, rather than claiming to know and be able to instruct. Revans always remembered Albert Einstein saying to him: "If you think you understand a problem, make sure you are not deceiving yourself." The Times Times obituary It was here that Revans began to develop his thinking on the role of 'non-expert' in problem solving, distinguishing between knowledge and wisdom in so doing.
He moved into education to become assistant education officer for Essex (1935–1945) and then director of education for the National Coal Board from 1945 to 1950.
He is recognized as one of the top management professors by the International Institute of Management for his contribution to the field of corporate training by introducing of the Action Learning formula and methods: Learning (L) = P + Q; where L is learning, P is programmed (traditional) knowledge and Q is questioning to create insight. Programmed knowledge (P) is conveyed through books, lectures, and other structured learning mechanisms.
Revans strongly held that the key to improving performance lay not with 'experts' but with practitioners themselves. Hence he devised Action Learning as a process whereby the participant studies his own actions and experience in conjunction with others in small groups called action learning sets.
Revans was subsequently awarded with the nation's top honour by the King of Belgium.
In 1969, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) from the University of Bath.
In the 1990s he was associated with the City of London where he met Raymond Mahoney and Alan Wenham-Prosser who were using his techniques to solve peoples problems of managing their work load in the city, and other personal problems which had become long term when managing difficult situations. Reg Revans was made a Freeman of the City of London for the work which he did.
Revans made furniture as a hobby, played the trumpet and painted – even illustrating small books for his children. As well as being knighted by the King of Belgium, in 1997 he was awarded the freedom of the City of London. Revans died in Wem, Shropshire on 8 January 2003.
Recently the Revans Centre has moved to Manchester Business School becoming the Revans Academy. The Revans Collection is to be found at Salford University.
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