The Learning Organization

The Learning Organization

continuously transforming itself able to be nimble, flexible, adaptive to a constantly

changing environment uses an interconnected way of thinking; people continually

learning to see the whole together grounded in member commitment to the shared vision; a

sense of being part of something larger than themselves; belonging; mattering

people continually expand their capacity to create the results they desire and better understand their purposes

learning is seen as a process, not an event

Peter Senge

M.I.T. Management and social systems modeling Decentralizing the role of leadership to

enhance the capacity of all people to work productively toward common goals

Believes real learning gets to the heart of what it means to be human – we become able to re-create ourselves. This applies to organizations as well.

Learning

Adaptive learning Expanding our ability to respond to changing

environmentGenerative learning

Learning that enhances our capacity to create

A shift in seeing people not as reactive to their reality, but as shaping their reality. Able to create their future.

Features of Learning Organizations

Systems ThinkingPersonal MasteryMental ModelsShared VisionTeam Learning

Systems Thinking

Being able to see the organization as a system of interrelationships rather than isolated parts.

Being able to understand and address the whole and to examine the relationships between the parts and the whole.

Today’s problems come from yesterday’s solutions

Systems Thinking

Choose a social issue Create a mind-map that shows the systemic

nature of the problem. Illustrate causes Illustrate effects

Personal Mastery

An individual commitment to lifelong learning, and learning to see reality objectively and systemically

An organizational culture that encourages the growth of all group members, rather than seeing them as “finished.”

People in the group are living in continual learning mode. They never “arrive.”

Mental Models

Deeply held assumptions and generalizations that influence how we understand the world and how we take action.

Learning to identify our mental models, become aware of them so they can be scrutinized. Learning isn’t hard. Unlearning what we

already “know” is incredibly difficult.

What shape do you see?

Mental Models

We are unlikely to discover when it is our mental models that cause us to make errors.

Organizational culture often presses toward conformity and group think

What are the barriers in organizations to recognizing assumptions and questioning them?What can you do to create an organizational culture that identifies and questions its assumptions?

Shared Vision

Creating a shared picture of the future we seek to create, binding people together around a common identity and sense of destiny.

Fostering genuine commitment to a shared vision, rather than compliance

Examples? When have you truly felt part of a shared vision? How did the group get there?

Team Learning

Involves dialogue and the capacity of members of a team to suspend assumptions and enter into a genuine “thinking together.” Dialogue: free-flowing of meaning to discover

insights not attainable individually NOT Discussion: heaving ideas back and forth

competitivelyRecognizing patterns of interaction in teams

that undermine learning (defensiveness, competitiveness, etc.)

Challenges to Creating a Learning Organization

Fragmentation Problems are broken into pieces and considered

separately (budgeting, technology, marketing..)Competitiveness

Members try to out do each other rather than collaborating

Reactiveness Organizational change only occurs in response to

external forces rather than a spirit of continual creating

New beliefs about Change

Change starts small and grows organicallyChange is only sustainable if it involves

learning Develop the mindset of conducting experiments –

an inquiry approach. Try multiple strategies and take intentional time to reflect on the lessons learned from them.

Pilot groups are incubators for change

The new role of Leaders

Old view: leader sets the direction, makes the decisions, and energizes the troops.

New view: Designers – creating a space for individual and tea

learning, shared vision, questioning of assumptions and systems thinking

Stewards - shaping the narrative, holding the larger story of the organization, holding the vision

Teachers – focusing attention, defining reality in a systemic way, and helping members truly understand how to think this way

Not a New Idea?

Lao-tzu: The bad leader is he who the people despise The good leader is he who the people praise The great leader is he who the people say “we

did it ourselves”

Misunderstanding of Learning Organizations

“We are a learning organization, we fund professional development and on-going employee training.”

Systems Thinking Personal Mastery Mental Models Shared Vision Team Learning

Senge, Peter M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization. Doubleday.

National Leadership Symposium, 2006.George Roth, (2006). Personal

Communication