AbstractThis article explores the use of action‐training methods in a highly centralized and control‐oriented public sector. It focuses on the Technical Assistance and Training Programme for Departmental Development Corporations (PATC‐CORDES), an innovative programme in Peru initially supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Successive sections review a particularly influential alternative to conventional classroom training proposed by Honadle and Hannah (1982); provide relevant background; describe PATC‐CORDES organization and objectives; examine its training activities; assess the resulting institutional impacts; and posit important insights from the case study. The PATC‐CORDES experience demonstrates that action‐training methods can produce positive results in agencies that are part of a rigid public sector and, more importantly, that such methods can be linked to bureaucratic reorientation and institutional reform. Perhaps the most interesting and controversial conclusion is that recruitment of central administrators to lead training exercises can be a useful tactic for bureaucratic reorientation. The article is based on review of documents, reports, and evaluations prepared by persons working for USAID/Peru, PATC‐CORDES, and departmental development corporations (CORDES); extensive interviews with political leaders, managers, and professionals in these same organizations; analysis of Peruvian legislation; and other references cite