Building A Learning Organisation

A learning organisation is an organisation that learnsthose parts. This is the discipline used to implement the
and encourages learning among its people. It promotesother disciplines. Without it each of the disciplines would
exchange of information between employees, hencebe isolated and would fail to achieve its objective.
creating a more knowledgeable workforce. ThisHow to build a learning organisation
produces a very flexible organisation where people willThe challenges facing managers in applying these five
accept and adapt to new ideas and change throughdisciplines at the workplace are the following:
shared vision.. Building a sound base
It is said that the only constant in life is change and. Apply the Golden Rules
organisations are not spared. Change brings about notBUILDING A SOUND BASE
only uncertainty and risks but also opportunities forBefore a Learning Organisation can be achieved, a
growth. Those organisations that can manipulate thesolid foundation has to be in place. This can be
information available have a bigger chance to succeed.implemented by taking into account the following points.
It is therefore important for everyone to be more~ Awareness. Awareness of the benefits of a
knowledgeable about the work environment they arelearning organisation must permeate to all levels not
in. Building a learning organisation is a means to ajust the management level. A learning culture must be
business goal. It is not a new theory but a concept thatfostered among the employees that survival of the
has become an increasingly widespread philosophy infittest depends on having a knowledgeable workforce.
modern companies, from the largest multinationals toChange should start and be supported from top
the smallest enterprises. It is to be applied according tomanagement and this 'new' culture should be
the circumstances of each business, which has tomanifested in the commitment to learning, personal
cater for it at strategic and operational levels.development of the individual as well as valuing people
'Systems Thinking' takes a holistic approach to learningand their divergent views.
whereby not only does the organisation learn but so~ The Environment. The right environment must be in
do all its employees, irrespective of their role within theplace so that learning can take place. Centralised,
organisation. Information has to be disseminated to allmechanistic structures do not create a good
levels and does not stop at top management, thus,environment. Organisations having organic structures
facilitating learning through flexibility and openare well positioned to develop into a learning
communication by removing barriers to communicationorganisation. An organic structure places less emphasis
and adopting flatter organisational structure and design.on giving and taking orders and more on encouraging
Therefore the message is clear: any organisation thatmanagers and subordinates to work together in teams
is committed to future success must become aand to communicate openly with each other. Authority,
learning organisation in order to compete and survive.responsibility and accountability flow to employees with
Today continuous improvement is a must. "Anythe expertise required to solve problems. In a nutshell, a
organisation is only as good as its people andflat organisation, whereby communication can flow in all
continuous improvement in business is about thedirections and foster innovation amongst its
development of people and therefore creating aemployees.
learning culture." (Sheppard)~ Leadership. Managers must adopt open
Systems Thinkingcommunication management styles so that employees
The idea behind the concept coined 'Systems Thinking'will be able to question and come forward with ideas.
in the 1950's was that enterprises need to be awareUnderstand that mistakes and errors are part of this
of both the company as a whole as well as theprocess and therefore employees should not be in
individuals within the company – taking a holisticfear of reprimands. Managers must also provide
approach to managing. Gould-Kreutzer Associates Inc.commitment for long-term learning in the form of
defined it as "a framework for seeing interrelationshipsresources (money, personnel and time). The amount of
rather than things; to see the forest and the trees."these resources determines the quantity and quality of
System Thinking therefore tries to change thelearning.
managerial view so that it includes the ambitions of the~ Empowerment. Employees should be empowered
individual workers, not just the business goals.to take decisions and actions. Let them own the
However, it was only during the 1990's that thisprocess whilst monitoring all that is happening. Only
concept started to be taken seriously by organisations.through motivation and innovation will the employees
Systems Thinking nowadays is synonymous withgrow and learn, equal participation should be
Peter Senge, one of the modern day gurus, who in hisencouraged so that employees can learn from each
book "The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of Theother simultaneously. The benefits are for themselves
Learning Organisation" popularised the concept of theand the organisation.
learning organisation, and referred to 'Systems Thinking'~ Learning. Company-wide training is to be made
as the Fifth Discipline. Since its publication in 1990, moreavailable. This may take the form of simulation case
than a million copies of this book have been sold and instudies where brainstorming sessions will be beneficial
1997, Harvard Business Review identified his book asto all participants.
one of the seminal management books of the past 75APPLY THE GOLDEN RULES
years.The following practices and approaches can be used
According to Senge, learning organisations arewhile managing the learning process.
"organisations where people continually expand their1. Thrive on change. Management must not be afraid
capacity to create the results they truly desire, whereof change. There should be commitment to and focus
new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured,on the things that matter most. Change is necessary
where collective aspiration is set free, and whereand therefore clear objectives and plans must be in
people are continually learning to see the wholeplace. Change will translate itself into a learning
together. "opportunity.
Senge posits that the dimension that distinguishes2. Encourage experimentation. Change will bring along
learning from more traditional organisations is theuncertainty and risks. Experimentation is a necessary
mastery of certain basic disciplines, which he regardsrisk. Accept mistakes as a normal process and
as a series of principles and practices that we study,encourage employees to come forward with ideas.
master and integrate into our lives. The five disciplinesLearning from mistakes is often more powerful than
that he identifies are said to be common to all learninglearning from success. The most important thing is to
organisations.'fail intelligently' to learn something from mistakes. Apply
They are:reviews of the whole change process and reward
1. PERSONAL MASTERY. This is the discipline ofindividual effort.
'continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision,3. Communicate success and failure. Let there be a
of focusing our energies, of developing patience, andcommunication system of disseminating information
of seeing reality objectively.and knowledge that reaches everyone efficiently, for
People with a high level of personal mastery live in aexample, through company journals, website, job
continual learning mode, continually clarifying androtation programs etc.
deepening their personal vision. This takes place by4. Facilitate learning from the surrounding environment.
assessing the gap between their current knowledgeLearn from internal factors such as processes and
and the desired knowledge, and by practising andprocedures at work and find ways of how to improve
refining skills. This develops self-esteem and createslearning from competitors. Avoid their mistakes and
the confidence to tackle new challenges.copy their well-achieved results. Can also form
2. MENTAL MODELS. These are 'deeply ingrainedalliances to have a cross fertilisation of ideas. Build a
assumptions, generalisations, or even pictures andrelationship with customers. Apply an outside-in policy
images that influence how we understand the worldto strategies. Customers provide free advice through
and how we take action. 'their complaints, suggestions and surveys. After all, the
The discipline of mental models starts with turning theorganisation survives through satisfying customers.
mirror inward; learning to unearth our internal pictures ofTheirs might be the best advice.
the world, to bring them to the surface and hold them5. Facilitate learning from employees. Offer continuous
rigorously to scrutiny. Every individual has his ownlearning and multi-skilling opportunities. Remove
perception of the things around him. This happenshierarchies and empower people to experiment and
consciously and unconsciously and therefore, if teamtake decisions. The people at the lower ranks in an
members can, through positive, constructive criticism,organisation are the ones who know most of the
challenge each others' ideas and assumptions, theyproblems within the business. This means that more
can begin to perceive their mental models, and tooften than not, the employees themselves know what
change these to create a shared mental model for theneeds to be done to improve the business.
team. This is important as the individual's mental model6. Reward learning. Have a proper performance
will control what can or cannot be done.appraisal system to reward those employees who are
3. BUILDING SHARED VISION. Senge sees this as 'theembracing the learning culture to boost morale.
capacity to hold a shared picture of the future weRemember that everybody wants their work to be
seek to create. 'When there is a genuine vision (asappreciated. Make sure therefore that individual
opposed to the all-to-familiar 'vision statement'), peopleperformance is linked with organisational performance.
excel and learn. To create a shared vision, large7. Intentionally retrieve and retain company memory. It
numbers of people within the organisation must draft it,is important to keep a record of processes and
empowering them to create a single image of theachievements so that learning will not be lost; it can be
future. With a shared vision, people will do thingspassed on to those coming later on into the company
because they want to, not because they have to.and also the company can refer back to information
4. TEAM LEARNING. Such learning is viewed as 'theheld. The learning process must be planned and
process of aligning and developing the capacities of aobjectives for it set. It must be monitored and
team to create the results its members truly desire. 'reviewed all the time.
It builds on personal mastery and shared vision, butThrough the learning organisation process people will
these are not enough. People need to be able to actdevelop, the brains of all employees are switched on,
together, as virtually all important decisions occur innot just those of the few, and a feel good factor is
groups. Adults learn best from each other and withcreated through greater motivation. A more flexible
team learning, the learning ability of the group becomesworkforce evolves by building organisations fit for
greater than the learning ability of any individual in thehuman beings. People will become more creative and
group.social interaction will improve. Teams and groups will
5. SYSTEMS THINKING. The cornerstone of anywork better through knowledge sharing, becoming
learning organisation is this fifth discipline. This is themore interdependent, increasing responsibility at all
ability to see the bigger picture, to look at thelevels and developing an entrepreneurial spirit. The
interrelationships of a system as opposed to simplecompany will benefit from better customer relations,
cause-effect chains.the breaking down of traditional communication
Systems thinking shows us that the essentialbarriers, and from the increased creativity and
properties of a system are not determined by the suminnovation of its people that should give it a competitive
of its parts but by the process of interactions betweenedge.