Learning Organizations' Trigger, Concept and Elements (1/3)

Learning Organizations' Trigger, Concept and Elements (1/3)

A learning organization is based on the assumption that organizations are similar to people in acquiring, preserving and applying knowledge. The company has the capacity to learn from its mistakes by systematically monitor its decisions and strategy to apply it in a small scale first then roll it out company wide. Its the ability to test results in a controlled environment in order to find a conclusion that might fits all.

However, the question is what trigger this concept and how it was evolved throughout organizations lifecycle. What kind of organizations are more concerned and related to such idea and could benefit more.

Start-ups

Companies begin as start-ups. It is structured informally with relatively small group of people. It has limited number of systems, procedures and processes. They might not be even formally written and documented. Work is carried according to employees’ experience and perception. Leaders personally involved in employees motivation and tend to adopt micro-management style.

Loyalty, enthusiasm and creativity is the drive engine of such companies. It is mainly a product of a charismatic leadership style. Organization structure tend to be flat with the leader connected to all teams and s/he is directly involved and aware of pretty much every decision made.

Mature

Eventually, start-ups grow out of its energetic and ad-hoc ways into more complex teams and organizations. Formality, specialization and control is born toward the end of this phase. At this stage, Its processes needs to be documented and shared. Newhires are required to be trained. Employees’ performance systematically measured and improved.

As start-ups grows to be mature, it becomes well-structured with different layers and specialties. This complex and rigid structure with different layers and specialties creates isolation and bureaucracy. It reduces quality and effectiveness. Teams works in silos and repetition tends to occur more often.

Eventually, initiatives start to emerge to overcome bureaucracy and isolation between different departments. Initiatives created that stresses on teamwork, training, team briefings, closing down redundant branches and outsourcing service. Reorganization tend to be initiated toward the end of this phase in order to reduce layers and/or prevent functions’ repetition. Matrix management where horizontal project teams replaces the traditional vertical authority model. The aim is to reduce some of the formality, improve communication and focus the attention toward customers and employees performance rather than control and order.

Many more initiatives are established as a short term solution to the challenging fact of alienation between different organizations within the same company. Although it seems that those are short term efforts, they are essential in reaching the next phase which is an integrated organization.

Integrated

Within an integrated organization a sense of linkage and integration exists between different parts, people, functions and ideas that were previously seen as separate. Every part of an integrated organization heading toward achieving the same objectives. It is similar to the engine and its different components. Different parts are integrated in a sense that they work with each other seamlessly and the only thing you notice and see is the engine as a whole. It is also the phase of Total Quality Management (TQM). Confrontation of ethics and morality occur at this phase as well. Therefore, working on ethics and behaviors programs is another way of discovering the integrated phase.

The transition from the mature to the integrated organization revolved around organizational Development (OD) and Action Learning/Self-Development. Organizational Development is all about reducing bureaucracy and improving communication. However, all initiatives and strategies were short fix and not permanent. For instant there were about 13 different change programs targeted toward all employees at the same time at one of the major UK utility companies. Every initiative has its own championing director, each competing for resources, each getting in the way of the other 12" (Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell, 1991). Self-Development & Action Learning is about putting the effort and focus of the organization on its employees’ development and progress through formal and informal ways. However, it often did not move the whole company forward apart than the personal growth of a limited number of employees. Toward the end of this phase, the essence of a learning organization starts to appear.

According to the field of training and development there have been two main streams of responses. Organizational Transformation came out of the Organizational Development and Learning Organization came out of Self-Development and Action Learning. Organizational Transformation describes how the company emerge from one phase to another. On the other hand, learning organization suggests that organizations learn from its operation, mistakes and practice as well as individuals.

References:

Mike Pedler, John Burgoyne and Tom Boydell, The Learning Company, McGRAW-HILL, 1990.