There is little understanding of what happens to change commitments after formal learning programmes. Schön’s metaphor of the mountaintop and the swamp appears helpful in seeing this setting through a different lens. Building on the ontological distinction provided from either perspective, this study highlights the temporal experiences of putting knowledge to work after formal learning programmes. It explores the role of time in practising change commitments as well as the development of an intervention - a temporal visualization tool - to facilitate the practising of commitments.

A process tracing approach supported the development and evolution of the visualisation tool over 5 years as well as its use, evaluation and impact. Informed by a social psychological stance, five dimensions of temporality, incorporated within a recontextualisation framework, were core to data capture, analysis and representation.

The findings suggested a steep initial fall-off in practising after a highly-regarded customized programme. Use of the tool improved practising over a variety of measurement criteria and generated a range of practical impacts. The findings further suggested a role for temporal stages, norma-temporal practices, contradictions and interactional expectations in ‘crowding out’ the practising of change commitments. They also appeared to support greater explicit recognition of temporality within the processes of recontextualisation. A range of limitations, particularly surrounding a narrow conceptualisation of the individual, challenged the headline findings and results of the study. Ultimately greater appreciation of time, process and recontexualisation would appear helpful in addressing the persistent issue of putting knowledge to work from a theoretical and a practice perspective.