Honey & Mumford Learning Styles – Strengths and Weaknesses
If you are an Activist - you involve yourself fully and without bias in new experiences. Enjoy
the "here and now" and are happy to be dominated by immediate experiences. You are
open-minded, not sceptical, and this tends to make them enthusiastic about anything new.
Their philosophy is "I'll try anything once" and tend to act first and consider the
consequences afterwards. Your days are filled with activity. As soon as the excitement from
one activity has died down you are busy looking for the next.
The Activist strengths
The Activist weaknesses
Flexible and open minded.
Tendency to take the immediately obvious
action without thinking.
Happy to have a go
Often take unnecessary risks
Happy to be exposed to new
situations
Tendency to do too much themselves and
hog the limelight
Optimistic about anything new and
therefore unlikely to resist change
Rush into action without sufficient preparation
Get bored with implementation/consolidation
If you are a Reflector - you like to stand back to ponder experiences and observe them from
many different perspectives. Collect data, both first hand and from others, then prefer to think
about it thoroughly before coming to any conclusion. Then thorough collection and analysis
of data about experiences and events is what counts so they tend to postpone reaching
definitive conclusions for as long as possible. Your philosophy is to be cautious and
thoughtful and like to consider all possible angles and implications before making your own
point. Generally tend to adopt a low profile and have a slightly distant, tolerant unruffled air
about them.
The Reflectors strengths
The Reflectors weaknesses
Careful
Tendency to hold back from direct
participation
Thorough and methodical
Slow to make up their minds and reach a
decision
Thoughtful
Tendency to be too cautious and not take
enough risks
Good at listening to others and assimilating
information
Not assertive - they aren't particularly
forthcoming and have no "small talk"
Rarely jump to conclusions
If you are a Theorist - you adapt and integrate observations into complex but logically
sound theories. Then think problems through in a vertical, step by step logical way. You
assimilate disparate facts into coherent theories. Also you tend to be perfectionists who won't
rest easy until things are tidy and fit into a rational scheme. Generally like to analyse and
synthesize. Very keen on basic assumptions, principles, theories, models and systems
thinking. Your philosophy prizes rationality and logic. "If it's logical, it's good". Questions you
frequently ask are "Does it make sense?" "How does this fit with that?" "What are the basic
assumptions?" Also you tend to be detached, analytical and dedicated to rational objectivity
rather than anything subjective or ambiguous. Their approach to problems is consistently
logical. This is your "mental set" and rigidly reject anything that doesn't fit with it.
The Theorist strengths
The Theorist weaknesses
Logical "vertical" thinkers
Restricted in lateral thinking
Rational and objective
Low tolerance for uncertainty, disorder and
ambiguity
Good at asking probing questions
Intolerant of anything subjective or intuitive.
Disciplined approach
Full of "should's, ought's and musts"
If you are a Pragmatists - you are keen on trying out ideas, theories and techniques to see
if they actually work in practice. You will positively search out new ideas and take the first
opportunity to experiment with applications. You are the sort of people who return from
management courses brimming with new ideas that they want to try out in practice. Your
motto is to get on with things and act quickly and confidently on ideas that attract them. But
tend to be impatient with ruminating and open-ended discussions. Essentially practical, down
to earth person who like making practical decisions and solving problems. You respond to
problems and opportunities "as a challenge" with a philosophy of "There is always a better
way" and "If it works, it's good".
The Pragmatists strengths
The Pragmatists weaknesses
Keen to test things out in practice
Tendency to reject anything without an obvious
application
Practical, down to earth, realistic
Not very interested in theory or basic principles
Businesslike - gets straight to the
point
Tendency to seize on the first expedient solution
to a problem
Technique oriented
Impatient with waffle
On balance, task oriented, not people oriented