Business, Corporate.
Building a learning organisation - a learning organisation is an organisation that learns and encourages learning among its people. This produces a very flexible organisation where people will accept and adapt to new ideas and change through shared vision. It promotes exchange of information between employees, hence creating a more knowledgeable workforce.
It is said that the only constant in life is change and organisations are not spared. - those organisations that can manipulate the information available have a bigger chance to succeed. Change brings about not only uncertainty and risks but also opportunities for growth. It is therefore important for everyone to be more knowledgeable about the work environment they are in. It is not a new theory but a concept that has become an increasingly widespread philosophy in modern companies, from the largest multinationals to the smallest enterprises. Building a learning organisation is a means to a business goal.
It is to be applied according to the circumstances of each business, which has to cater for it at strategic and operational levels. 'Systems Thinking' takes a holistic approach to learning whereby not only does the organisation learn but so do all its employees, irrespective of their role within the organisation. - therefore the message is clear: any organisation that is committed to future success must become a learning organisation in order to compete and survive. Information has to be disseminated to all levels and does not stop at top management, facilitating learning through, thus flexibility and open communication by removing barriers to communication and adopting flatter organisational structure and design. Today continuous improvement is a must. "Any organisation is only as good as its people and continuous improvement in business is about the development of people and therefore creating a learning culture. " (Sheppard) Systems Thinking. Gould - Kreutzer Associates Inc. defined it as" a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things. The idea behind the concept coined' Systems Thinking' in the 1950' s was that enterprises need to be aware of both the company as a whole as well as the individuals within the company - taking a holistic approach to managing. To see the forest and the trees. " System Thinking therefore tries to change the managerial view so that it includes the ambitions of the individual workers, not just the business goals.
Systems Thinking nowadays is synonymous with Peter Senge, one of the modern day gurus, who in his book" The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organisation" popularised the concept of the learning organisation, and referred to' Systems Thinking' as the Fifth Discipline. - however, it was only during the 1990' s that this concept started to be taken seriously by organisations. Since its publication in 1990, more than a million copies of this book have been sold and in 1997, Harvard Business Review identified his book as one of the seminal management books of the past 75 years. The five disciplines that he identifies are said to be common to all learning organisations. According to Senge, learning organisations are" organisations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together. " Senge posits that the dimension that distinguishes learning from more traditional organisations is the mastery of certain basic disciplines, which he regards as a series of principles and practices that we study, master and integrate into our lives. They are: PERSONAL MASTERY. People with a high level of personal mastery live in a continual learning mode, continually clarifying and deepening their personal vision.
This is the discipline of' continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, and of seeing, of developing patience reality objectively. - this takes place by assessing the gap between their current knowledge and the desired knowledge, and by practising and refining skills. MENTAL MODELS. This develops self - esteem and creates the confidence to tackle new challenges. These are' deeply ingrained assumptions, or even pictures, generalisations and images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action. ' The discipline of mental models starts with turning the mirror inward. Every individual has his own perception of the things around him.
Learning to unearth our internal pictures of the world, to bring them to the surface and hold them rigorously to scrutiny. - this happens consciously and unconsciously and therefore, if team members can, constructive criticism, through positive, challenge each others' ideas and assumptions, they can begin to perceive their mental models, and to change these to create a shared mental model for the team. BUILDING SHARED VISION. This is important as the individual' s mental model will control what can or cannot be done. Senge sees this as' the capacity to hold a shared picture of the future we seek to create. 'When there is a genuine vision( as opposed to the all - to - familiar' vision statement' ), people excel and learn. With a shared vision, people will do things because they want to, not because they have to. To create a shared vision, large numbers of people within the organisation must draft it, empowering them to create a single image of the future.
TEAM LEARNING. - people need to be able to act together, as virtually all important decisions occur in groups. Such learning is viewed as' the process of aligning and developing the capacities of a team to create the results its members truly desire. ' It builds on personal mastery and shared vision, but these are not enough. Adults learn best from each other and with team learning, the learning ability of the group becomes greater than the learning ability of any individual in the group. The cornerstone of any learning organisation is this fifth discipline. SYSTEMS THINKING.
This is the ability to see the bigger picture, to look at the interrelationships of a system as opposed to simple cause - effect chains. - this is the discipline used to implement the other disciplines. Systems thinking shows us that the essential properties of a system are not determined by the sum of its parts but by the process of interactions between those parts. Without it each of the disciplines would be isolated and would fail to achieve its objective. The challenges facing managers in applying these five disciplines at the workplace are the following: . How to build a learning organisation.
Building a sound base. . - building a sound base. Apply the Golden Rules. Before a Learning Organisation can be achieved, a solid foundation has to be in place. Awareness of the benefits of a learning organisation must permeate to all levels not just the management level. This can be implemented by taking into account the following points. ~ Awareness. A learning culture must be fostered among the employees that survival of the fittest depends on having a knowledgeable workforce.
The right environment must be in place so that learning can take place. - change should start and be supported from top management and this' new' culture should be manifested in the commitment to learning, personal development of the individual as well as valuing people and their divergent views. ~ the environment. Centralised, mechanistic structures do not create a good environment. An organic structure places less emphasis on giving and taking orders and more on encouraging managers and subordinates to work together in teams and to communicate openly with each other. Organisations having organic structures are well positioned to develop into a learning organisation. Authority, responsibility and accountability flow to employees with the expertise required to solve problems. Managers must adopt open communication management styles so that employees will be able to question and come forward with ideas.
In a nutshell, whereby communication can, a flat organisation flow in all directions and foster innovation amongst its employees. ~ Leadership. - understand that mistakes and errors are part of this process and therefore employees should not be in fear of reprimands. The amount of these resources determines the quantity and quality of learning. ~ Empowerment. Managers must also provide commitment for long - term learning in the form of resources( money, personnel and time) . Employees should be empowered to take decisions and actions. Only through motivation and innovation will the employees grow and learn, equal participation should be encouraged so that employees can learn from each other simultaneously.
Let them own the process whilst monitoring all that is happening. - the benefits are for themselves and the organisation. ~ learning. This may take the form of simulation case studies where brainstorming sessions will be beneficial to all participants. Company - wide training is to be made available. APPLY THE GOLDEN RULES. Thrive on change. The following practices and approaches can be used while managing the learning process.
Management must not be afraid of change. - change is necessary and therefore clear objectives and plans must be in place. There should be commitment to and focus on the things that matter most. Change will translate itself into a learning opportunity. Change will bring along uncertainty and risks. Encourage experimentation.
Experimentation is a necessary risk. - learning from mistakes is often more powerful than learning from success. Accept mistakes as a normal process and encourage employees to come forward with ideas. The most important thing is to' fail intelligently' to learn something from mistakes. Communicate success and failure. Apply reviews of the whole change process and reward individual effort.
Let there be a communication system of disseminating information and knowledge that reaches everyone efficiently, through company journals, for example, website, job rotation programs etc. - learn from internal factors such as processes and procedures at work and find ways of how to improve learning from competitors. Facilitate learning from the surrounding environment. Avoid their mistakes and copy their well - achieved results. Build a relationship with customers. Can also form alliances to have a cross fertilisation of ideas. Apply an outside - in policy to strategies.
After all, the organisation survives through satisfying customers. - customers provide free advice through their complaints, suggestions and surveys. Theirs might be the best advice. Offer continuous learning and multi - skilling opportunities. Facilitate learning from employees. Remove hierarchies and empower people to experiment and take decisions. This means that more often than not, the employees themselves know what needs to be done to improve the business.
The people at the lower ranks in an organisation are the ones who know most of the problems within the business. - reward learning. Remember that everybody wants their work to be appreciated. Have a proper performance appraisal system to reward those employees who are embracing the learning culture to boost morale. Make sure therefore that individual performance is linked with organisational performance. It is important to keep a record of processes and achievements so that learning will not be lost.
Intentionally retrieve and retain company memory. - it can be passed on to those coming later on into the company and also the company can refer back to information held. It must be monitored and reviewed all the time. The learning process must be planned and objectives for it set. Through the learning organisation process people will develop, the brains of all employees are switched on, not just those of the few, and a feel good factor is created through greater motivation. People will become more creative and social interaction will improve. A more flexible workforce evolves by building organisations fit for human beings.
Teams and groups will work better through knowledge sharing, increasing responsibility at, becoming more interdependent all levels and developing an entrepreneurial spirit. - the company will benefit from better customer relations, the breaking down of traditional communication barriers, and from the increased creativity and innovation of its people that should give it a competitive edge.