What is a Learning Organization?

by Moya K. Mason

Introduction

Learning organizations are not simply the most fashionable or current management trend, they can provide work environments that are open to creative thought, and embrace the concept that solutions to ongoing work-related problems are available inside each and every one of us. All we must do is tap into the knowledge base, which gives us the "ability to think critically and creatively, the ability to communicate ideas and concepts, and the ability to cooperate with other human beings in the process of inquiry and action (Navran Associates Newsletter 1993).

A learning organization is one that seeks to create its own future; that assumes learning is an ongoing and creative process for its members; and one that develops, adapts, and transforms itself in response to the needs and aspirations of people, both inside and outside itself (Navran Associates Newsletter 1993).

What learning organizations do is set us free. Employees no longer have to be passive players in the equation; they learn to express ideas and challenge themselves to contribute to an improved work environment by participating in a paradigm shift from the traditional authoritarian workplace philosophy to one where the hierarchy is broken down and human potential is heralded. Learning organizations foster an environment wherein people can "create the results they truly desire," and where they can learn to learn together for the betterment of the whole (Rheem 1995,10).

Peter Senge is a leading writer in the area of learning organizations. His seminal works, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, and The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization, describe five disciplines that must be mastered when introducing learning into an organization:

1. Systems Thinking - the ability to see the big picture, and to distinguish patterns instead of conceptualizing change as isolated events. Systems thinking needs the other four disciplines to enable a learning organization to be realized. There must be a paradigm shift - from being unconnected to interconnected to the whole, and from blaming our problems on something external to a realization that how we operate, our actions, can create problems (Senge 1990,10).
2. Personal Mastery - begins "by becoming committed to lifelong learning," and is the spiritual cornerstone of a learning organization. Personal Mastery involves being more realistic, focusing on becoming the best person possible, and striving for a sense of commitment and excitement in our careers to facilitate the realization of potential (Senge 1990,11).
3. Mental Models - must be managed because they do prevent new powerful insights and organizational practices from becoming implemented. The process begins with self-reflection; unearthing deeply held belief structures and generalizations, and understanding how they dramatically influence the way we operate in our own lives. Until there is realization and a focus on openness, real change can never take place (Senge 1990,12).
4. Building Shared Visions - visions cannot be dictated because they always begin with the personal visions of individual employees, who may not agree with the leader's vision. What is needed is a genuine vision that elicits commitment in good times and bad, and has the power to bind an organization together. As Peter Senge contends, "[b]uilding shared vision fosters a commitment to the long term" (Senge 1990,12).
5. Team Learning - is important because modern organizations operate on the basis of teamwork, which means that organizations cannot learn if team members do not come together and learn. It is a process of developing the ability to create desired results; to have a goal in mind and work together to attain it (Senge 1990,13).

To summarize, a learning organization does away with the mindset that it is only senior management who can and do all the thinking for an entire corporation. Learning organizations challenge all employees to tap into their inner resources and potential, in hopes that they can build their own community based on principles of liberty, humanity, and a collective will to learn.

Why is it for Us? What Steps are Needed to Create a Culture that Supports a Learning Organization?

To compete in this information-saturated environment we are currently living in, it is necessary to remain dynamic, competitive, and to continue to look for ways to improve organizations. As David Garvin of Harvard University writes, "continuous improvement requires a commitment to learning" (Garvin 1994,19). Change is the only constant we should expect in the workplace, and therefore, we must rid ourselves of traditional, hierarchal organizational structures that are often change-averse, or undergo change only as a reaction to external events (Johnson 1993). Learning organizations embrace change and constantly create reference points to precipitate an ever-evolving structure that has a vision of the future built-in. According to Richard Karash, learning organizations are healthier places to work because they:

• Garner Independent Thought
  
• Increase Our Ability to Manage Change
  
• Improve Quality
  
• Develop a More Committed Work Force
  
• Give People Hope that Things Can Get Better
  
• Stretch Perceived Limits
  
• Are in Touch with a Fundamental Part of Our Humanity: The Need to Learn, To Improve Our Environment, and To Be Active Actors, Not Passive Recipients (Karash 1995).

The very first thing needed to create a learning organization is effective leadership, which is not based on a traditional hierarchy, but rather, is a mix of different people from all levels of the system, who lead in different ways (Senge 1996). Secondly, there must be a realization that we all have inherent power to find solutions to the problems we are faced with, and that we can and will envision a future and forge ahead to create it. As Gephart and associates point out in Learning Organizations Come Alive, "the culture is the glue that holds an organization together;" a learning organization's culture is based on openness and trust, where employees are supported and rewarded for learning and innovating, and one that promotes experimentation, risk taking, and values the well-being of all employees (Gephart 1996,39).

To create a culture and environment that will act as the foundation for a learning organization begins with "a shift of mind - from seeing ourselves as separate from the world to connected to the world" (Senge 1996,37); seeing ourselves as integral components in the workplace, rather than as separate and unimportant cogs in a wheel. Finally, one of the biggest challenges that must be overcome in any organization is to identify and breakdown the ways people reason defensively. Until then, change can never be anything but a passing phase (Argyris 1991,106). Everyone must learn that the steps they use to define and solve problems can be a source of additional problems for the organization (Argyris 1991,100).

How to Achieve the Principles of a Learning Organization

The first step is to create a timeline to initiate the types of changes necessary to achieve the principles of a learning organization.

• Stage One is to create a communications system to facilitate the exchange of information, the basis on which any learning organization is built (Gephart 1996,40). The use of technology has and will continue to alter the workplace by enabling information to flow freely, and to "provide universal access to business and strategic information" (Gephart 1996,41). It is also important in clarifying the more complex concepts into more precise language that is understandable across departments (Kaplan 1996,24).
  
  
• Stage Two is to organize a readiness questionnaire, a tool that assesses the distance between where an organization is and where it would like to be, in terms of the following seven dimensions. "Providing continuous learning, providing strategic leadership, promoting inquiry and dialogue, encouraging collaboration and team learning, creating embedded structures for capturing and sharing learning, empowering people toward a shared vision, and making systems connections" (Gephart 1996,43). The questionnaire is administered to all employees or a sample of them, and is used to develop an assessment profile to design the learning organization initiative (Gephart 1996,43).
  
  
• Stage Three is to commit to developing, maintaining, and facilitating an atmosphere that garners learning.
  
  
• Stage Four is to create a vision of the organization and write a mission statement with the help of all employees (Gephart 1996,44).
  
  
• Stage Five is to use training and awareness programs to develop skills and understanding attitudes that are needed to reach the goals of the mission statement, including the ability to work well with others, become more verbal, and network with people across all departments within the organization (Navran 1993).
  
  
• Stage Six is to "communicate a change in the company's culture by integrating human and technical systems" (Gephart 1996,44).
  
  
• Stage Seven is to initiate the new practices by emphasizing team learning and contributions. As a result, employees will become more interested in self-regulation and management, and be more prepared to meet the challenges of an ever-changing workplace (Gephart 1996,44).
  
  
• Stage Eight is to allow employees to question key business practices and assumptions.
  
  
• Stage Nine is to develop workable expectations for future actions (Navran 1993).
  
  
• Stage Ten is to remember that becoming a learning organization is a long process and that small setbacks should be expected. It is the journey that is the most important thing because it brings everyone together to work as one large team. In addition, it has inherent financial benefits by turning the workplace into a well-run and interesting place to work; a place which truly values its employees.

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