THE LEARNING ORGANISATION

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITIONS

CHARACTERISTICS & RELEVANCE

BUILDING A LEARNING ORGANIZATION

 WHEN THE RATE OF CHANGE OUTSIDE
EXCEEDS THE RATE OF CHANGE INSIDE,
THE END IS IN SIGHT.

-JACK WELCH
 INTRODUCTION

LEARNING:
Any relatively permanent change in behaviour
that occurs as a result of experience.

LEARNING ORGANISATION:
An organization that has developed the
continuous capacity to adapt and change.
 DEFINITIONS

A Learning Company is an organisation

that facilitates the learning of all its
members and continually transforms
itself.
-PEDLER, 1991
Organizations where people continually
expand their capacity to create the 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 to learn
together.
- PETER SENGE
LEARNING ORGANIZATION

Personal Mental
Mastery Models

Learning
Organization
Systems Shared
Thinking Vision

Team
Learning
 CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristic Definition Associated Positive By-
Best Practices products

Self mastery- The ability to 1.Sharing 1.Greater

honestly and experiences commitment
individual openly see reality 2.More interaction 2.Ability to face
time between limitations
as it exists supervisory levels 3.Ability to deal
3.Emphasis on
feedback with change
Mental models - The ability to 1.Time for learning 1.Less avoidance of
compare reality 2.Forgiveness
individual with perceptions; 3.Flexibility difficult situations
reconciling both
into a coherent

understanding

Shared vision - The ability of a 1.Trust 1.Faster change

group of 2.Empathy 2.More effective
group individuals to hold 3.Co-operation communication
a shared picture of 4.A common
a mutually flows
language
desirable future
Team learning - The ability of a 1.Consensus 1.Group self-
group of building awareness
group individuals to 2.Top-down and 2.Heightened
suspend personal bottom-up collective learning
assumptions about communication 3.Enhanced
each other and flows
engage in
creativity
"dialogue.

Systems thinking - The ability to see 1.Practicing self 1.Long-term

interrelationships mastery improvement
group rather than linear 2.Possessing 2.Decreased
cause-effect consistent mental organizational
models conflict
3.Possessing a 3.Continuous
shared vision learning among
4.Emphasis on
group members
team learning
 IMPLEMENTATION OF LEARNING
ORGANIZATION
MECHANICAL SYSTEM NATURAL SYSTEM
PARADIGM PARADIGM

VERTICAL
STRUCTURE HORIZONTAL
STRUCTURE
ROUTINE RIGID CULTURE
TASKS EMPOWERED ADAPTIVE
ROLES CULTURE

FORMAL COMPETITIVE STRATEGY SHARED COLLABORATIVE

SYSTEM INFORMATION STRATEGY
 BUILDING A LEARNING
ORGANIZATION
Learning organization seems to fall naturally into three
categories:

I. The application of the academic theory systematic

learning to business. The key factors which are aimed
at enhancing an organizations creative capability are:
a) Team Learning
b) Building a Shared Vision
c) Mental Models
d) System thinking
e) Personal Mastery
II. The presentation of definitions followed by
perspective ,practical solutions:

a) Organizational Intention
b) Autonomy
c) Fluctuation and creative chaos
d) Redundancy
e) Requisite variety
III. The work of practitioners who decry a
prescriptive approach but offer guidelines
and practical hints as to how
organizations can develop a bespoke
approach.

A.) Systematic problem solving.

B.) Experimentation