"It's a thing" is a series that highlights concepts that employers and managers use and sometimes evaluate employees with that they may not be aware.
A learning organization is the business term given to a company that facilitates the learning of its members and continuously transforms itself.
Learning organizations must continually develop because of pressures put on them by their competition. The concept of a learning organization stems from the work of Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline). Senge stated that a learning organization is a group of people working together collectively to enhance their capacities to create results they care about. In his popular conceptualization of a learning organization, Senge proposed five essential characteristics.
SYSTEMS THINKING
Systems thinking is the fifth discipline that unites the other disciplines into a body of theory and practice.
Systems thinking is a system of critical thinking where the analysis of relationships between the parts of a system are is considered so that better decisions can be made. Systems thinking assesses an organization in terms of its components and how they work together. Every organizations consists of many systems. Systems thinking pays close attention of how activities impact other components of an organizations. Without systems thinking departments like purchasing, marketing, R&D, IT, accounting, and Human Resources make decisions that benefit them with little regard to the organization as a whole.
PERSONAL MASTERY
Employees must consider their life and work the same as an artist or athlete regards their craft.
Personal Mastery is the employees commitment to the process of learning. A company whose workforce can learn more quickly than their competitors, has a competitive advantage. Learning is acquired through staff training, but the employee should not rely upon their company for training. The primary purpose of these articles are to promote an employee's autonomous learning. A learning organization should partner with each employee to continually learn and pursue mastery.
MENTAL MODELS
Those deeply ingrained assumptions that influence how we understand the world and how we function in it are mental models.
It is important for an organization to replace mental models that hinder the progress of the company with ones that help the organization. Everyone has attitudes or habits (mental models) they bring with them into the organization. Organizations also have "collective" mental models. It is important for an organization to identify these models (ways of thinking and acting) that hinder the organization and replace them with the wanted mental models.
SHARED VISION
When an organization has a clearly defined and communicated vision or purpose of being, the company excels.
A motivated staff is one that understands and "buys into" the company vision. The most successful vision builds upon the individual visions of the employees at all levels of the organization, thus the vision that comes from the top level of the company hinders a "shared vision." A vision that is shared by employees at all levels, propels the company forward.
TEAM LEARNING
When employees act as a team, suspend their assumptions, and participate in true dialogue are participating in team learning.
More simply, the accumulation of individual learning constitutes team learning. However, learning organizations have structures that facilitate learning, especially team learning. Team learning requires engaged employees, participation in real dialogue and discussion. There must be open communication and shared understanding.
So What?
Organizations are not naturally learning organizations. Most organizations learn as they are required to learn. Learning organizations build structure so that learning becomes the culture of an organization. For the employee that works for a learning organization, they should be an active participant in the learning process. For the employee that does not work for a learning organization, they should proactively pursue their own learning and mastery.
Going Further
1. Describe characteristics of your organization that shows that they are a learning organization.
2. What are the learning or development opportunities in your organization?
3. Rate your company on a scale of 1 to 10 on the existence or promotion of the five characteristics of a learning organization.
___Systems Thinking
___Personal Mastery
___Mental Models
___Shared Vision
___Team Learning
4. How could your company improve their culture of learning?
"It's a thing" is a series that highlights concepts that employers and managers use and sometimes evaluate employees with that they may not be aware.
Learning organizations must continually develop because of pressures put on them by their competition. The concept of a learning organization stems from the work of Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline). Senge stated that a learning organization is a group of people working together collectively to enhance their capacities to create results they care about. In his popular conceptualization of a learning organization, Senge proposed five essential characteristics.
SYSTEMS THINKING
Systems thinking is the fifth discipline that unites the other disciplines into a body of theory and practice.
Systems thinking is a system of critical thinking where the analysis of relationships between the parts of a system are is considered so that better decisions can be made. Systems thinking assesses an organization in terms of its components and how they work together. Every organizations consists of many systems. Systems thinking pays close attention of how activities impact other components of an organizations. Without systems thinking departments like purchasing, marketing, R&D, IT, accounting, and Human Resources make decisions that benefit them with little regard to the organization as a whole.
PERSONAL MASTERY
Employees must consider their life and work the same as an artist or athlete regards their craft.
Personal Mastery is the employees commitment to the process of learning. A company whose workforce can learn more quickly than their competitors, has a competitive advantage. Learning is acquired through staff training, but the employee should not rely upon their company for training. The primary purpose of these articles are to promote an employee's autonomous learning. A learning organization should partner with each employee to continually learn and pursue mastery.
MENTAL MODELS
Those deeply ingrained assumptions that influence how we understand the world and how we function in it are mental models.
It is important for an organization to replace mental models that hinder the progress of the company with ones that help the organization. Everyone has attitudes or habits (mental models) they bring with them into the organization. Organizations also have "collective" mental models. It is important for an organization to identify these models (ways of thinking and acting) that hinder the organization and replace them with the wanted mental models.
SHARED VISION
When an organization has a clearly defined and communicated vision or purpose of being, the company excels.
A motivated staff is one that understands and "buys into" the company vision. The most successful vision builds upon the individual visions of the employees at all levels of the organization, thus the vision that comes from the top level of the company hinders a "shared vision." A vision that is shared by employees at all levels, propels the company forward.
TEAM LEARNING
When employees act as a team, suspend their assumptions, and participate in true dialogue are participating in team learning.
More simply, the accumulation of individual learning constitutes team learning. However, learning organizations have structures that facilitate learning, especially team learning. Team learning requires engaged employees, participation in real dialogue and discussion. There must be open communication and shared understanding.
So What?
Organizations are not naturally learning organizations. Most organizations learn as they are required to learn. Learning organizations build structure so that learning becomes the culture of an organization. For the employee that works for a learning organization, they should be an active participant in the learning process. For the employee that does not work for a learning organization, they should proactively pursue their own learning and mastery.
Going Further
1. Describe characteristics of your organization that shows that they are a learning organization.
2. What are the learning or development opportunities in your organization?
3. Rate your company on a scale of 1 to 10 on the existence or promotion of the five characteristics of a learning organization.
___Systems Thinking
___Personal Mastery
___Mental Models
___Shared Vision
___Team Learning
4. How could your company improve their culture of learning?
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