Does Your Organization Have a Learning Disability - Disability #1 - "I Am My Position"

Does your organization have a learning disability?Learning Disability 1 - "I am my position"
As we progress through life we are required to learnWe are so loyal to our jobs that they have begun to
new skills to advance to the next level. Even when wedefine who we are and how we think. Many people
enter the working world we are required to learn newcan't see themselves doing anything else and when
skills. We stop growing and advancing as soon as weasked what they do for a living will respond "I am an
believe we have learnt everything we need to know.accountant" or the equivalent. They usually do not see
At that point we begin vegetating.the purpose of the organization they work for or how
The same can be said for organizations. Everythey contribute to the whole. Most see themselves
organization grows with enthusiasm up to a point andwithin an organization over which they have little
then it slows and even stops. An organization needs toinfluence.
learn to grow. When an organization believes it knowsA job is seen as that, a job - defined by limits and
everything it needs to know it will stop growing. Thetasks. Something which we try and cope with and do
problem, in the case of an organization, is that it needsour time in, according to the job description. Jobs and
to learn just to stay in one spot let alone advance.functions do not overlap. We do not see how our job
Think about how computers have changed the facehas any impact on another function within the
of business. By refusing to learn about computers aorganization.
company today could not hope to compete. WithoutThe problem with "I am my position" is that we see the
computers there are very few companies that canorganization as a bunch of silos, none interacting with
survive and thrive.the others. An accountant only does accountant work
In 1983 a Royal Dutch/Shell survey found that a thirdand a marketing manager only does marketing work.
of the firms in the Fortune 500 in 1970 had vanished.The accountants are not concerned with how their
They were not just smaller but they ceased to exist.decisions impact any other positions or functions within
The survey estimated that the average lifespan of athe company. They make accounting decisions based
large industrial company is less than forty years. Noton accounting impact and not organizational impact.
long considering all the effort that goes into building aThe other problem associated with this learning
company.disability is that people have little sense of responsibility
Peter Senge in his book "The Fifth Discipline" identifiesfor the results attained when the different silos interact.
7 learning disabilities found in organizations. Over theThey only see their responsibility for their silo and no
next 6 eZines I will cover each of these disabilities. Ifmore. As a result when problems occur it can always
you can see any of these disabilities in your companybe blamed on 'someone else'. Problems get lost and
then we really suggest you put some effort intonothing is learnt from unexpected results.
solving the problem. We addressed one disability "TheA learning organization on the other hand ensures
Myth of the Management Team" in a previous eZine.systems thinking - the process of seeing the
Follow this link to read about that disabilityorganization as a whole interacting organization. Where
The best way we have found to create a learningeach decision is evaluated on how it impacts the
organization is through Best Year Yet. Everything thatwhole. Holistic management in Best Year Yet terms.
is needed in a transformation is addressed within theDo your people interact? Do they understand how
program.their decisions impact the entire organization?