Learning Organization - Creating a Learning Organization and Leading it

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Knowledge economy, teamwork, Top management, learning, study, practise, I learned something, Jack Welch, Boston Celtics

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Principles of Learning Organization

Understanding the concept of learning organization needs a fresh look at the realities of life in organization. Clarity thus obtained shows that there are some basic principles according to which the learning has to happen, to be effective. Realistic understanding and acceptance of these principles is helpful in transforming any organization into a continually learning organization. The principles are:

• Yesterday's solutions are generally the source of today's problems.

The problems that crop up today have their seeds sown in the solutions of the past. But this is not that obvious to the managers at the first look. Because, the people who invent solutions and who inherit problems are often different. For example, a company had roaring sales in a quarter. But the sales figures were boosted by a rebate program. The manager responsible was hailed as hero and promoted. His successor was expected to perform at the same levels. But he could not. What is the reason? New manager's incompetence? Need not be.

Because, when the earlier manager was offering goods at discounted rates, potential customers grabbed products at lower prices. Hardly any are left with the need to buy the product. How can the new manager sell then?

•With wrong system in place, solution makes the problem worse.
Look at the problem of malnutrition in developing countries. When the aid flowed from developed countries to developing countries, the situation appeared to be improving. As aid aided, malnutrition levels declined, resulting in lower infant mortality rates. And this reduced death rates resulted in burgeoning population.
This time, the problem of malnutrition was even more threatening. The solution here, in reality, mitigated the problem. There must be some problem with the system in developing countries.

• The Right solutions are hardly obvious and easy. Most of the organizations commit the mistake of applying familiar solutions indiscriminately (even to new problems). Had the problem been simple, and solution obvious and easy, the problem would not have existed in the first place. But often organizations keep applying the same solutions to the fundamental problems as well as new problems.

• Easy or familiars solution can be worse than the problem.
Easy or familiar solutions may make the system ineffective. Generally, when there is a fundamental problem, any organization takes recourse to an easy solution. But this rarely solves the problem completely. The fundamental problem resurfaces. Again the easy solution is applied, the problems appear to have disappeared. Again resurfaces. Again solution. This way easy solution becomes an addiction. This process goes on and on, while the organization's capacity to really solve the problem deteriorates. Organization gets addicted to the easy solution, loses its capacity to solve its problem entirely, finally succumbing to that. Any long-term solution has to enhance the ability of the system to carry its burdens.

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