the learning organization
TRANSCRIPT
The Learning Organization@lucamerolla
Luca MerollaMaster in Business Administration (MBA)B.Sc. Computer Science
EPFL Attestation Startup Board MemberPG Certificate in International BusinessDiploma in Managerial EconomicsDiploma in Management of Technological InnovationDiploma in Management of Information Systems
linkedin.com/in/lucamerolla @lucamerolla
What is a Learning Organization?
Definition :
“A learning organization is the business term given to a company that facilitates the learning of its members and
continuously transforms itself.”
How do we facilitate learning?
What prevent us from constantly transforming?
How does our brain works?
Mental Models
Emotional vs Rational
Confirmation Bias❏ Favour information and opinions that confirm our beliefs
❏ Selectively search for evidence that support our beliefs
❏ Actively suppressing or discarding everything else that contradicts our beliefs
❏ Intuitive thinking
❏ Involves emotions
❏ Simple mental rules
❏ Cognitive biases
System 1 thinking
System 2 thinking
❏ Rational thinking
❏ Systematic
❏ Considered evaluation
❏ Logical conclusions
Extrinsic Motivation
win an awardCompeting in a sport to...
receive a promotionI work hard to...
get a good gradeI study to...
obtain acknowledgement, fame, respectI learn to...
Intrinsic Motivation
I find it enjoyable and relaxingI read a book because...
I feel content and fulfilledI develop a new skill because...
I find it interesting and excitingI play a game because...
it makes me feel goodI learn because...
Fixed-Mindset Thinking❏ They believe intelligence and aptitude are fixed
❏ Are driven to perform for external rewards
❏ React defensively when they make mistakes
❏ Avoid situation where failure is likely
❏ Internal culture of fear
Growth-Mindset Thinking❏ They believe intelligence and aptitude can grow with
effort
❏ Are internally driven to master tasks or subjects
❏ Seek challenges and opportunities to extend their skills
❏ Are not destabilized by negative feedback
❏ Accept mistakes and failures
What is an High Performance Learning Organization
High Performance Learning Organization
=The Right People + The Right Processes + The Right Environment
The right people
Self-determination TheoryPeople has an innate psychological need for:
❏ Autonomy
❏ Effectiveness
❏ Relatedness
Thus they will perform better if these conditions are met
Self-efficacy Theory❏ Is our belief in whether we can or cannot do something
❏ Strong Self-efficacy❏ More comfortable in tackling new challenges❏ More likely to succeed
❏ Self-efficacy influence how we view threats❏ Anxiety❏ Stress
Theory X mindsetTheory X Managers believe that:
❏ Employees are lazy and not ambitious
❏ Employees are resistant to change
❏ Management’s job is to use punishments and rewards to motivate and modify employees’ behaviors
Theory Y mindsetTheory Y Managers believe that:
❏ Employees have the capacity to assume responsibility
❏ Employees can contribute to the organizational good
❏ Management’s job is to create the environment and opportunities for employees to grow
No one has ever admitted to be Theory X Manager!
Still they behave and talk like...
The Learning Environment
Employee-centric policiesInternal learning system should consistently align:
❏ Company culture
❏ HR policies
❏ Enable and promote learning mindsets and behaviors
❏ Measurements
❏ Rewards
High Employee EngagementTo obtain High Employee Engagement organizations needs to stimulate a positive learning environment that meets employees needs for:
❏ Autonomy❏ Effectiveness❏ Growth❏ Development❏ Relatedness
High Employee Engagement Examples❏ I have the opportunity to do what I do best
❏ In the last 6 months someone gave me feedback
❏ In the last year, I have had the opportunities to grow and develop
❏ At work, my opinions seem to count
❏ My supervisor, or someone at work, cares about me as a person
❏ I have a best friend at work
Learning Organization Culture❏ Treating others with dignity and respect
❏ Free to speak policies
❏ Conditional permission to make mistakes that leads to learning
❏ Seeking for truth
❏ Seeking feedback and stress test beliefs
Behaviors counts!❏ Being open minded
❏ Being empathetic and humble
❏ Managing one’s fear and other emotions
❏ Managing one’s ego defenses
❏ Actively listening
❏ Being positive emotionally
The Learning Processes
We overestimate how good we are
At thinking, relating and learning and how much we think we know.
We operate too much on autopilot
System 2 thinking and conversations are necessary for learning to occur
Although, a person can speak at only 100-150 words a minute
The brain can process up to600 words a minute
50 % body language, 38% tone of voice
Only 7% is represented by words
Unspoken emotional messages
System 2 & Learning ConversationsLearning is triggered by our engagement and emotional system.
Setup constructive conversations
Disagreement can be good:
❏ Being comfortable with disagreement❏ Openly engage: no EGO about who is
right or wrong
Critical Thinking Tools
Help us to mitigate our tendencies to be lazy thinkers!
Critical Thinking Tools can be useful in every domain of learning
Treat everything you think you know as hypotheses to be constantly re-tested by
new data.Critical Thinking Tools can help to abandon
any belief that is not supported by evidence
Critical Thinking Tools Examples❏ Unpacking assumptions
❏ Toyota 5 Whys
❏ Lean Startup
❏ PreMortem Tool
“The good senior leader always go back and reset the assumptions
underlying what they think it’s true.”Jeff Bezos, Amazon
Critical Thinking ExercisesWrite 2 articles for a newspaper in the future:
❏ My-company-name: a story of success❏ The demise of my-company-name: a sad story
Imagine to be replaced. Write a letter to your successor:
❏ What would you like your successor to do that you are not doing right now?
Why Organizations Don’t Learn Enough?
Biased toward SUCCESS
We want to WIN!
We don’t focus on the potential to learn
Biased toward ACTION
Exhaustion
Lack of reflection
Pain + Reflection = Progress
20% better performance on 4 weeks period for teams thatsystematically apply 15mins of reflection daily
Biased toward FITTING IN
The need to conform can limit the strengths we bring to the organization
“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
Steve Jobs
Biased toward EXPERTS
Experts of the… past.
Resistance to change
Lack of empowerment
Asking, not telling
Humble inquiry is a necessary skill and process for learning conversations. It is a process discovery.
Bridgewater Associates
Meaningful work and meaningful relationships through radical truth and
radical transparencyEmployees rated 4.4 out of 5
Bridgewater’s culture as key of its success
Radical Transparency
Meetings are recorded and available to every employee
You can’t talk behind somebody’s back
Best Independent Thinkers
Through disagreement and thoughtful conversations you get to know the talents and weaknesses of people
Let’s agree to disagree
Don’t let emotions hijack your thinking.
Appreciation for the fact that people are different
Why people cannot peacefully disagree?
Fail, Learn, Move Forward
Fail is part of the process, not unusual
Culture of feedback
Gets over who’s right or wrong.
Focus on accurate or inaccurate
Bridgewater Associates’Personal Growth Tools
Personal Growth ToolsThe 3 purposes of the Bridgewater Associates Personal Growth Tools are:
❏ Know people strengths and weaknesses
❏ Track performance over time
❏ Place people into position of their strengths
The Baseball Card
Each employee has a daily Index score on how they perform
The data is used for determining job and assignment fit
The Dot Collector &The Dot Connector
Each employee has the possibility to evaluate every employee transparently
The Pain Button
Each employee has an app on their phone to report their feelings
The purpose is to write down and reflect on the “pain”
Feedback? Let’s try!
Leave your transparent and honest feedback
@lucamerolla
#TheLearningOrganization
#SoftShake
Thanks!
All the people who gave me accurate feedback...
Special Thanks to...
Mémé aurait aimé - Illustrations