by Ken Blanchard
from LEVERAGE, No. 9
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There is a lot of talk today about the learning organization. To me, this talk is quite refreshing. It suggests that the classroom and the workplace have at long last merged, and that business is quickly moving from being a place of rules and regulations to one that focuses on personal and collective growth and improvement.
Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, defines learning as "the expansion of one's capacity to produce results." On an individual level, people gain new insights and modify their behaviors, actions, and perspectives about the world as a result. The same is true for a group of individuals who collectively build upon their shared knowledge.
There are many aspects that contribute to an effective learning environment. To me, three of the most important are openness, recall, and objectivity.
Openness
Probably the key to establishing an effective learning environment is to have an institutionalized acceptance of "openness," in which bringing up questions is encouraged. When the environment is truly open, an individual can express concerns without fear of retribution; hidden agendas do not exist; and people say the same things in a business meeting that they would after work. At a different level, managers also need to encourage and pick up on suggestions made by employees—often championing other people's ideas through to completion.
Recall
In order to learn constantly, you have to have good recall of what you already know and can build upon. This "memory" is harder to achieve in an organization than in an individual. When addressing a new issue, problem, or decision, we try to start by collectively remembering what we know about the issue at hand or about related issues from our past experience. In our company, we've found that we have to systemically capture learning situations as they occur and then document them as widely as is necessary. Thus, when we come to a consensus on an issue in a meeting, we record it in the minutes with its relevant rationale. Anyone not at the meeting gets a copy of those decisions, which are often also summarized in the company's newsletter if they pertain to the entire organization.
Objectivity
Just as important as being open and having good recall is trying to be objective; that is, seeking the best answer to a question based on available data, logic, and pre-established criteria. In our company, we seek objectivity by first clarifying our purpose and then imagining what a good solution would look like. Then, especially on important or emotional decisions, we systematically ask a set of questions about the issue or decision, including:
• What are we excited about?
• What are we nervous about?
• What is likely to go wrong?
• How could we make it work? We find that these specific questions allow the group to better focus on the overall best solution to the problem.
One of our five core, explicitly stated values is "learning." We view ourselves as a learning laboratory and, as a result, constantly have experiments in progress. This value, for us, has three operational parts: constantly thriving to innovate, continually refining our products and services, and applying knowledge in new ways to develop people and organizations.
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