At 07:13 7/31/96 EDT, you wrote:
>It would be easy to quibble with Keith's list (below) because there are so
>many words that cry out for definition. My suggestion is that we do NOT
>quibble, but try to add and refine the list in a syergistic and
>constructive way.
>
>== Keith's prior note ==
>
>I think I am looking for the set of corporate behaviours that DISTINGUISH
>LOs from other organizations...
I agree that it is easy to quibble with the list, but oh what a temptation
it is to refine the list! After lurking for a couple of days, this one is
just too tempting to withhold comment, so here goes. From my experience
and reading, it seems that learning organizations tap into the very
powerful informal network that exists in most (I would say all)
corporations (and the public sector). The ground in the informal realm is
fertile for "real learning" to occur, because it is unstructured, freely
choosen by those who participate, it is social and free from (or occurs in
spite of) traditional organizational rules (policies and procedures).
Perhaps the last two items are most important. Many of us were taught in
the traditional educational setting that we are not supposed to be social
at work--we have a job to do--and yet conversations at the water cooler,
walking to the car at the end of the day or during lunch are often the
most animated and spirited. When these conversations move to what the
organization could be, what drives employees, how we can learn from each
other, people get excited, and yet I don't think we (leaders) deliberately
encourage or provide the environment for these type of discussions to
occur--because we all have a job to do and possibly fear?. I would
suggest a refinement to the list would be:
recognition of the power and knowledge that exists in the informal network
(or culture) of an organization, removal of barriers to that network and
cultivation of the learning abilities of the network (plant a garden and
watch it grow)
recognition of the importance of the social aspect of learning and
encouragement, rather than discouragement of that phenomenon
--Debbie Broome <debbieb@linux.plano.gov>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>