Learning Organizations' Trigger, Concept and Elements (3/3)
Learning Organizations' Trigger, Concept and Elements (3/3)
A learning organization is "the continuous testing of experience, and the transformation of that experience into knowledge- accessible to the whole organization, and relevant to its core purpose." (Ross, Smith, Roberts and Kleiner). Peter Senge in his book (The Fifth Discipline) described a learning organization as “a place where people continually expand their capacity to create results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free and where people are continually learning how to learn”.
Peter Senge (1994) explains 5 features of a learning organization which are Systems thinking, personal mastery, building a shared vision, team learning and mental models. However, it does not provide practical techniques to reach those 5 features. This demands elements or practical components that organizations stands on to help it emerge into a learning organization which this article is highlighting. Those elements tackle organization external and internal strategy and decision making channels.
Strategy
Learning organization policy and strategy formation, implementation, evaluation and improvement is structured as a learning process. It allows business plans to be developed and revised constantly. Managerial decisions is seen as experiments rather than solutions to existing problems. Planning process has an implementation of new strategies in small scale to learn from the implementation and amend it as it go on.
Looking In
It is similar to launching new strategy and initiatives as a pilot within certain organization to learn from its implementation. It is to learn from different initiatives that already have been implemented in the organization either in the past or in different part of the organization in order to not reinventing the wheel.
Management leads by questioning topical ways of business and always ask for new methods of doing business. Within a learning organization the bases of reward should be wider than monetary. It includes recognition, respect and voice to be heard. Even monetary rewards should be re-examined and its basic assumptions to be revaluated. Employee’s performance evaluation includes employee’s contribution to his/her department as well as the company. How far the company could benefit from his/her projects, knowledge and experience.
Resources centers, labs and different facilities are made public to the whole company and external stakeholders as well. With appropriate systems including systems for feeding back data, people are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and development. A whole range of required resources such as workshops, seminars, mentoring, couching are made available for people to participate in.
Looking Out
Just as knowledge management deals with knowledge within the company, external knowledge needs to be captured, organized and disseminated across the company. Employees who deals with external customers such as recruiters, public relations and sales are recognized as knowledge gatherers. They bring valuable knowledge from the external environment of the company and let it flow inside for business usage. It is not only internal knowledge that is valuable but external one as well.
Organization needs to be involved in its internal as well as external customers and stakeholders in policy and in major decision making. It is the mindset that look at diversity as a better option than unity. It leads toward more options and better implementation.
Integrated companies within the middleeast are heading toward becoming a learning organization but not yet there. It has various initiatives such as behavioral and transformational programs which are part of a learning organization’s components. However, there are some main elements that are missing such as a participative policy making, system thinking and a culture that notice projects and initiatives as a learning experience whether it fails or succeed.
Constant corporate learning and development is a cycle that never ends. It has to be embedded within the corporate strategy and culture. It is not a short term solution to existing issues which needs to be fixed. It is a sustainable long term process.
References
David Garvin, Building a Learning Organization, Harvard Business Review, Aug. 1993, pp. 78-90.
Grant Ricketts and Brook Manville, Governing the Learning Organization in an Era of Strategic Human Capital Development and Management, Saba.
Harvi Singh and Chris Reed, Achieving Success with Blended Learning, Centra Software, 2001.
John B. McGuire, Charles J. Palus, William Pasmore, and Gary B. Rhodes, Transforming Your Organization, Centre for Creative Leadership, 2009.
Mary J. Tomaselli, Are We Building A Learning Organization? A white paper from the office of Human Resources, 2009.
Mike Pedler, John Burgoyne and Tom Boydell, The Learning Company, McGRAW-HILL, 1990.
Office of the Chief Engineer, Knowledge Reapplication: Enhancing Organization Learning at NASA: Internal NASA Discussion Paper, NASA HQ, 2008.
Peter M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization. 1994, Currency Doubleday, NY, NY 10036.
Ross, Smith, Roberts, and Kleiner, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, p 49.