16876228 the Art Practice of the Learning Organization...Quite Gud Almost Done Gud Cccc Must

8/4/2019 16876228 the Art Practice of the Learning Organization...Quite Gud Almost Done Gud Cccc Must

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2007

YeditepeUniversity

KeremKseolu

[ORGANIZATIONAL

LEARNING]TheArt&PracticeoftheLearningOrganization


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CONTENTS

Abstract....................................................................................................................................................................................4

LiteratureReview................................................................................................................................................................4

WhatisOrganizationalLearning .......................................................... ................................................................. .......5

Definition............................................................................................................................................................................5

CharacteristicsofaLearningOrganization ....................................................... .................................................. 5

DisciplinesoftheLearningOrganization..................................................................................................................6

SystemsThinking............................................................................................................................................................6

BalancingProcesswithDelay...............................................................................................................................6

SelfSustainingvsSelfLimitingGrowth ...........................................................................................................6

ShiftingtheBurden ............................................................... ..................................................................... ...............7

TragedyoftheCommons........................................................................................................................................7

PersonalMastery ............................................................. .................................................................. .............................7

MentalModels..................................................................................................................................................................8

BuildingaSharedVision..............................................................................................................................................8

TeamLearning ........................................................ .................................................................. ....................................... 8

LearningDisabilities ........................................................... .................................................................. .............................9

IAmMyPosition .......................................................... .................................................................. .............................9

TheEnemyIsOutThere...........................................................................................................................................9

TheIllusionofTakingCharge....................................................................................................................................9

TheFixationonEvents.................................................................................................................................................9

TheParableoftheBoiledFrog..................................................................................................................................9

TheDelusionofLearningfromtheExperience..............................................................................................10

TheMythoftheManagementTeam....................................................................................................................10

LawsofLearningOrganizations....................................... .................................................................. ........................ 11

StepsToALearningOrganization............. .................................................................. .............................................. 13

AssessingLearningCulture ............................................................... ..................................................................... . 13

PromotingthePositive ............................................................. .................................................................. ............... 13

SafetyforThinking .......................................................... .................................................................. .......................... 13

RewardingRiskTaking............................................................ .................................................................. ............... 14

HelpingPeopleBecomingResources..................................................................................................................14

PuttingLearningPowerToWork......... .................................................................. .............................................. 14

MappingtheVision ......................................................... .................................................................. .......................... 15


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BringingVisiontoLife .............................................................. ..................................................................... ............ 15

ConnectingSystems......................................................... ................................................................. .......................... 15

GettingtheShowOnTheRoad ......................................................... .................................................................. ... 15

LeadershipinLearningOrganizations .......................................................... .......................................................... 16

LeaderasDesigner.......................................................... .................................................................. .......................... 16

LeaderasTeacher............................................................ .................................................................. .......................... 16

LeaderasSteward ........................................................... .................................................................. .......................... 16

TransformationalLeadership .......................................................... .................................................................. .... 16

CultureandLearningOrganizations ............................................................. ........................................................... 17

LevelofPowerDistance...... .................................................................. .................................................................. .. 17

IndividualismvsCollectivism.......................... .................................................................. ..................................... 17

MasculanityvsFemininity ....................................................... .................................................................. .............. 17

UncertaintyAvoidance ............................................................. .................................................................. ............... 17

ScopeofOrientation ........................................................ .................................................................. ......................... 18

SampleArticleonLearningOrganizations............................................................................................................18

Abstract .......................................................... .................................................................. ................................................ 18

Methodology ........................................................... .................................................................. ..................................... 18

EU............ .................................................................. .................................................................. ................................... 18

UK ...................................................... .................................................................. .......................................................... 18

Variables ......................................................... ................................................................. ................................................ 19

EU............ .................................................................. .................................................................. ................................... 19

UK ...................................................... .................................................................. .......................................................... 19

Model&Findings ............................................................. .................................................................. .......................... 20

EU............ .................................................................. .................................................................. ................................... 20

UK ...................................................... .................................................................. .......................................................... 20

AHolisticModel........................................................... .................................................................. .......................... 21

Findings.......................................................... .................................................................. ................................................ 21

Common............................................................... ..................................................................... .................................. 21

EU............ .................................................................. .................................................................. ................................... 21

UK ...................................................... .................................................................. .......................................................... 22

Conclusion ......................................................... .................................................................. ................................................ 22

References ......................................................... .................................................................. ................................................ 22


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ABSTRACT

This paper outlines the concept of learning organizations. After the definitions of learning

organizations, the disciplines and disabilities of organizational learning are underlined. After

defining the common laws of learning organizations, the steps required to transform an

organizationintoalearningorganizationarediscussed.Effectsofleadershipstyleandcultureon

learning organizations are also within the scope of this paper. Finally, a sample empirical

researchhasbeenanalyzed.

LITERATUREREVIEW

In1975,MarchandOlsenattemptedtolinkupindividualandorganizationallearning.In

theirmodel,theyhavefoundarelationship

between individual beliefs and

organizational action, where individual

actionistheinterveningvariable.Asaresult

of organizational action, environmental

responsemodifiesindividualbeliefandthe

recursivecyclesustainsitself.

In 1978, Argyris and Schon made the

distinguishment between singleloop anddoubleloop learning. In single loop

learning, organizations try to solve current

problems with methods from the past. In

doublelooplearning,entitiesseektochange

deeperaspectsoftheorganizationtosolve

thesourcesofproblems.

In 1993, Kim integrated March and Olsens

approachwithanothermodelfromKofman

into a single model, where he analyzed all

the possible breakdowns in theorganizational information flow leading to

failuresinorganizationallearning.

In 1995, Nonaka and Takeuchi started by

differentiating Tacit Knowledge from

Explicit Knowledge. The term tacit

knowledge is used to define subjective

personal information, while explicit

knowledge defines systematic, formal and

easy to communicate information. They

stated that tacit knowledge can be

transformed into explicit knowledge

(externalization). This process is very

importantforalearningorganization.

In 1999, Flood discussed the concept oforganizational learning of Peter Senge. The

author developed concepts by integrating

themwithkeytheoristssuchasBertalanffy,

Churchman,Beer,ChecklandandAckoff.

In2002,NickBontismadeanempiricaltest

on flow of information across three levels:

Individual, team and organization. Results

showedanegativerelationshipbetweenthe

misalignment of information flow and

organizationalperformance.

In2003,Imantsmadeadetailedanalysisof

paradoxes for organizational learning in

schools and came up with two observed

mechanisms: Steering information about

teaching and learning, and encouraging

interaction among teachers and workers.

These mechanisms are critical for learning

organizations.

In2004,Commondiscussedtheconceptof

learning organizations in politicalenvironments to improve public policy

making.

In terms of books, Peter Senges The Fifth

Discipline: The Art & Practice of the

LearningOrganizationcanbeconsideredas

the most comprehensive guide about

learning organizations. Another book of

interestisSaunders&KlinesTenStepsTo

A Learning Organization, where an

organizational transformation processtowards a learning organization is being


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discussed in a stepbystep guide. Details

aboutboth of these books can be found in

thereferencessectionofthispaper.

WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL

LEARNING

DEFINITION

Theideaoforganizationallearningisbased

upon destroying the illusion that an

organization is created of separate,

unrelated forces. People in an organization

learn all the time, this is a natural thing.

However,ateamofpeoplewithIQlevelsof

120canmakeadecisionwhichsoundstoan

outsiderasifithasbeenmadebyamindof

level60. Howis that possible? What isthe

differenceofsuchorganizations?

Imagine two basketball teams with similar

members. Each member of the each team

will have their own strengths and

weaknesses.Somepeoplewillbelong(but

slow);somewillbeshort(butagile).Some

will be better shooters, and some will be

betterdefenders.

Now, imagine that team A has just been

founded this morning with kids from

differentneighborhoods.Ontheotherhand,

members of team B are playing together

since a year. They know each others

strengths and weaknesses very well. Each

memberknowswheretheotheronewould

bewaitingforapass,howtheyfake,which

passing sequences are proven to be good,

etc.

Despitethefactthatbothteamsarebuiltby

members of the same strength, team B is

muchmorelikelytowin,right?TeamBisno

longer a group of people thinking

individually.Theyhavelearnedtothinklike

asinglesystem,andtoactlikeone.

Tomakealongstoryshort;teamBhappens

tobecomealearningorganizationbecause

individuals are so well organized, their

cooperationtransformsthemintoonesingle

system that acts and achieves far beyond

individual evaluations and decisions.

People, on the other hand, will experience

being part of something larger than

themselves.

In one sentence, a learning organization is

an organization that has developed the

continuous capacity to adapt and change.

Most organizations engage in singleloop

learning; where errors are corrected

dependent on past routines and present

policies. In contrast, learning organizations

use doubleloop learning; where error

corrections involve the modification of

organizations objectives, policies and

standard routines. Doubleloop learning

challenges assumptions and norms of an

organization; and therefore, it can provide

possibilities of dramatic jumps in

improvement.

Itisimportanttounderstandthatbecoming

alearningorganizationisnotagoaltoreach

and pass. It is an ongoing process of a

lifetime.Justlikepeoplehavetolearnallthe

time,organizationsalsohaveto.

CHARACTERISTICSOFALEARNINGORGANIZATION

Althoughtheywilldiscussinmoredetailin

advance, here are the characteristics of a

learningorganization:

There exists a shared vision whicheveryoneagreeson

People discard their old ways ofthinking and the standard routines

theyusetosolveproblems

There is an opensystems approachamongallmembers

People openly communicate witheach other horizontally and

vertically without fear of criticism

andpunishment

Peoplesublimatetheirpersonalselfinteresttoworktogethertoachieve

organizationssharedvision


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DISCIPLINES OF THE

LEARNINGORGANIZATION

Just like an airplane is built by different

pieces which must be working together to

make it fly, a learning organization isbuilt

by different disciplines which must exist

together. However,havingthese disciplines

in an organization is not enough. It is also

important to make sure that they work

togetherwell.

SYSTEMSTHINKING

Systems thinking is an approach to

integration that is based on the belief that

the component parts of a system will act

differentlywhenisolatedfromthesystem's

environment or other parts of the system.

Thisapproachproposestoviewsystemsin

a holistic manner, and it is one of the key

pointsoforganizationallearning.

If people are expected to act together as a

single organism, they should be able toforecast the global consequences of each

action performed. A member with a (only)

personal or (only) departmental point of

viewcanmakebaddecisions.

Here is an example to systems thinking.

Lets assume that we want to improve the

brakingsystemofacar.Insteadoflookingat

thematerialcompositionofeachelementin

great detail, we need to focus on the

interaction between them; such as brakedisks, sensors, hydraulics, driver reaction

time, tires, road conditions, weather

conditions,etc.

Now,wewillobservesometypicalscenarios

where lack of systems thinking is

dangerous.

BALANCINGPROCESSWITHDELAY

A balancing process is a process where acondition or an action causes a response

that tends to slow or cancel out the initial

action.Asimpleexampletothisideaisthe

attempttobalancethewatertemperaturein

theshower.Whenyouthinkthatthewater

is too cold, you try to balance it by

increasing the flow of hot water. However,thetemperaturedoesntchangeattheexact

momentyouturntheknob.Thereisadelay

betweenthetimeyouturntheknobandthe

temperaturechanges.

Ifyouarenotawareofthisdelay,youwill

keep turning the hot water knob until you

get some temperature change. And when

finallyhotwaterstartstoflow,itwillbeso

hotthatitcandamageyourskin.

This phenomenon is observable in manyplaces; such as job and stock markets,

expanding&downsizingcompanies,etc.

SELF SUSTAINING VS SELF LIMITING

GROWTH

Wealltendtobelievethatgrowthisagood

concept to force in a competitive market.

Which might be true, but with one

prerequisite: Speed of growth must be

balanced.

Consider an electronics company, who

doubled its sales after three years of its

foundation. The managers will probably

want to make a new investment of new

plant to be able to produce more so the

company can grow more. However; the

growth of the company might have some

countereffects:

The bigger the company gets, theharder it will become tokeepcosts

low

When the market is satisfied, salesvolume will decrease and the

companywillendupwithtoomany

people&resourcesinhand

Letsassumethatthecompanyfiredthe excessive people and rented its

investments. When sales volume is

increased once more, the company

maybecaughtoffguardandstarttoreinvestagain.


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This situation of self limiting growth will

surely have a negative effect on the

company.Acompanyshouldbeawareofthe

natural fact that the market will have mid

termorientedfluctuations.

If you are producing more whendemand is low, and producing less

when demand is high, you have a

selflimitinggrowth

If you are producing less whendemandislow,andproducingmore

when demand is high, you have a

selfsustaininggrowth

Making sure that the company has self

sustaining growth requires a good

understandingofsystemsthinking.

SHIFTINGTHEBURDEN

When a problem occurs within an

organization,therealsourceoftheproblem

isusuallydifficulttoaddress.However,the

symptomsarenot.Therefore,peopletendto

shifttheburdentothesymptomsandcure

them,leavingtherealproblembe.

Atypicalexampleistocurestresscausedbyrole conflicts by drinking or meditation.

Withthesesolutions,yousurelycanmanage

stress in the short term. However; in the

longrun,youaregoingtoneedtosolvethe

roleconflicttocurestress.

Youmustbecautiousaboutthis.Symptom

curing solutions can only be shortterm

oriented.

Solution of this problem is to focus on thefundamental solutions. Symptomatic

solutions can be used to gain time while

workingontherealone.

TRAGEDYOFTHECOMMONS

This phenomenon happens when

individuals use a commonly available but

limited resource on the basis of individual

need.Atfirsttheyarerewardedforusingit.

But eventually, the resource ends up usedup.

A common example of this problem is a

common grass field of 10 farmers, who let

theirsheep,feedonthatground.Iftheylet

theirsheepmultiplywhengrassisplentiful,

theywillendupwithoutanygrass.

Solution of this problem is to manage

commons through education & self

regulation systems, or official regulating

mechanisms.

PERSONALMASTERY

Personal mastery is about becoming

committedtoclarifyinganddeepeningones

personal vision and sustaining lifelong

learning. It is the phrase used for thediscipline of personal growth and learning.

Organizations learn only through

individuals who learn. Since an

organizationslearningcapacitycantexceed

the levelof its members,personal mastery

happens to be one of the key points of

organizationallearning.

As a discipline, personal mastery underlies

two movements. The first one is to keep

clarifying what is important to us. Secondone isto keep learninghow tosee current

realitymoreclearly.

Surprisingly few employees seem to be

experts at personal mastery. They work to

survive and reach certain goals, but only a

fewhaveaninnervisionandkeeplearning

toturnitintoreality.Inmanycases,people

even resist against personal mastery

because of their cynicism. They made the

mistake of turningideals into expectations,

and when they became disappointed, their

visionscouldntsustainanylonger.

To develop a sense of personal mastery, a

seriesof practicesshouldbe applied, which

arethefollowing:

PersonalVision.Theabilitytofocusonultimateintrinsicdesiresinstead

of secondary goals isa cornerstone

ofpersonalmastery.

Creative Tension. Throughout time,ourvisionwilltrytopullourmind


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up, while the reality tries to push

our mind down. Its our

responsibilitytohelpourvisionwin.

Structural Conflict. Our vision willtry to sustain our development,

while our beliefs in powerlessnessor unworthiness tries to keep it

back. Its our responsibility to help

ourvisionwin.

CommitmenttotheTruth.Itmeanscontinually broadening our

awareness. It is not about seeking

the truth; its rather about a

willingnesstorootoutthewayswe

limitordeceiveourselvesfromwhat

is.

MENTALMODELS

Mental models are assumptions,

generalizations and beliefs rooted deep

inside ofus, whichaffects howwe observe

and evaluate the things around us. Very

often, we are not aware of our mental

modelsandhowtheywork.

Thats also the reason why the best ideas

usually fail. The ideas which we believe tobe the best are usually rooted to our own

mental models which may be far from the

reality. Therefore, it is very important to

keep improving our mental models and

bringingthemclosertothereality.

Herearesomekeypointstomakesurethat

our ideas dont rely on our mental models

only:

Make your reasoning explicit. Thismeans,youshoulddescribethepath

through which you arrived at your

view.

Defineyourassumptionsclearly. Encourage others to explore your

viewandpointoutgaps.

Encourage others to providedifferentviews.

Inquire into others views. Youshouldanalyzeotherpeoplesviews

andcomparetheirpathideawith

yourowns.

BUILDINGASHAREDVISION

Every member of an organization has

his/her own goals. However; an

organizationisagroupofpeoplewhocome

together to reach a common goal / vision.Forinstance;Polaroidhadasharedvisionof

Instant Photography. Apple had a shared

vision of Computing for Everyone.

Building and clarifying a shared vision and

keeping the feedback towards members of

the organization flowing is very important

fromalearningorganizationspointofview.

Itisimportanttobuildonesingleorganism

ofmanypeople.Butitsalsoimportanttolet

theorganismknowwheretogo.

A shared vision starts with encouraging

personal visions. A realistic shared vision

can only then be built by detecting the

commonpointsamongpersonalvisions,and

makingthemvisibletoeveryone.Doingthis,

you will end up with a group of people

havingacommonvision.

TEAMLEARNING

Teamlearningisasysteminwhichenergies

of individual members work at cross

purposes to maximize the success of the

team. As mentioned before, a team of

managers with individual IQs of 120 can

have a collective IQ of 60 if their team

learningdisciplineisweak.Whenteamsare

learning, they produce extraordinary

results,andindividualmembersgrowmore

rapidlyaswell.

Team learning is about knowing other

members well. When that happens, each

membercanalmostsensethenextstepin

the process, how other members will act,

and what he/she is going to have to do.

Typical examples to organizations with a

high level of team learning are NBA

basketballteamsandexperiencedjazztrios

whoimprovisealot.

To ensure team learning; sustaining

dialogueanddiscussionamongmembersis


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veryimportant.Whenthathappens,levelof

teamlearningwillincreasewithpractices.

LEARNINGDISABILITIES

There are some common points of view,

which will stop an organization from

becoming a learning one. In this section, I

am going to explain the most significant

ones.

IAMMYPOSITION

This is the tendency to put our own

identities aside and define ourselves with

our position in the organization. This cancause an employee to limit his

responsibilities with the boundaries of his

position. It can cause a blindness of the

production caused by the interaction

between many positions. Instead, people

will see their limited production only and

might consider themselves successful even

ifthegeneraloutcomeisnotasintended.

If people define themselves with their

position only, they will have a hard timeactingtogether.

THEENEMYISOUTTHERE

Peopletendtofindsomething/someoneto

blamewhentheydontsucceed.Marketing

blames manufacturing for low quantity;

manufacturingblamesmarketingforpushy

deadlinesformassiveproduction.

This disability can be considered as abyproductof I Am My Position disability.

When people dont consider the whole

system and the way it works, it becomes

very easy to find something to blame for

theirfailures.

THEILLUSIONOFTAKINGCHARGE

Takingchargeisthetermtotakeinitiative

and act early before things get out of

control. However, this proactive approach

can lead to bigger problems sometimes.

Consider a company outsourcing its

software development needs to another

company. A proactive IT manager can

foresee that thedevelopmentrequirements

willraisedramaticallyinthefollowingyears

because of the new ERP system they areplanningtobuy,andcandecidetohiretheir

owndeveloperstocutexpenses.

Thismaysoundlikeagoodidea.However;

while celebrating the illusion that he took

chargeofthesituation,hewillmissthefact

that the best programmers in the market

are working as consultants or freelancers.

Thedevelopershecanhirewillprobablybe

inexperienced or inadequate. In this case,

lack of systems thinking will cost the

company greatly in terms of software

qualityandproductivity.

Dont forget that in many cases,

proactivenessisreactivenessindisguise.

THEFIXATIONONEVENTS

Thisdisabilityisaboutthetendencytofocus

on shortterm events instead of longterm

developments. Consider a fresh productionmanager of an icecream company who

orders ingredients based upon the weekly

orders of distributors. If he focuses on the

weekly schedules only, he will probably

missthepointthatsummerisapproaching

and ice cream orders will rise so quickly

thathewonthaveenoughtimetoprocure

ingredientsfromsuppliers.

Likemanyothers,thecureforthisdisability

is to promote systems thinking. Long term

orientationisalsouseful.

THE PARABLE OF THE BOILED

FROG

Thisdisabilityisaboutthefamousstoryof

the boiling frog. If you throw a frog into

boilingwater,hewilljumpoutimmediately.

However,ifyouputhimintocoolwaterand

boil the water gradually, he will be boiled

without resistance. The reason of thisphenomenonlieswithinthenervesystemof


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the frog. A frogs anatomy is built to make

surethatitwillreactuponsuddenchanges.

If its environment changes slowly, the frog

isnotabletonoticeit.

This parable happens in organizational life

as well. It is a natural result of short time

orientation and lack of systems thinking.

One good example of this parable is the

American automobile industry, where

Japanese companies slowly and gradually

tookoverthemarketfromasharelevelof

4% to 40% throughout 1962 2005. If

Japan would have entered the market and

gainedashareof40%inoneyear,American

companieswouldhavereactedimmediately.

However,theygotboiledovertime.

THE DELUSION OF LEARNING

FROMTHEEXPERIENCE

It is certain that one of the best learning

methodsislearningfromdirectexperience.

If we do it by ourselves, we learn solidly.

The most important prerequisite of this

methodisgettingfeedback.Weneedtosee

theconsequencesofouractionstolearnif

wediditrightornot.

However, when we are acting in an open

system, it is very hard to see the global

resultsofourdecisionsandactions.Primary

consequences usually lie in the distant

future or a distant part of the system. The

thingswelearninsuchanenvironmentcan

beright,buttheycanbewrongaswell.Just

because something seems to work right in

ourownlearninghorizon,doesntmeanthat

it was correct generally. For example, realconsequences of decisions in R&D will be

visibleaftersales.Justbecauseahairdryer

seemstoweighlessafterchangingthetype

of plastic of the cover, the R&D scientist

shouldnt hurry to learn that the new

plastic type is better. After a year, the

marketshareofthehairdryercandecrease

becauseitfeelscheap.

THE MYTH OF THE MANAGEMENT

TEAM

Themanagementteamisbuiltofmanagers

from different departments of the

organization.Theresponsibilityofthisteamis to make sure that departments are

interactingcorrectly,andthecommongoals

are being approached. This involves

eliminationofdisabilitiesmentionedabove.

However, the management team is built

from humans, and like any other team,

management teams can also fail on basic

points.Likeinotherteams,amemberofthe

management team can try to avoid things

which will make him look bad. In normal

situations, management teams usually

perform well. But under pressure, the

quality of discussions and decisions will

decrease.

Usually, solving an urgent problem is the

subjectofamanagementteammeeting,and

a good solution will be rewarded. On the

other hand, questioning the companys

current policies will not. It is obvious that

the second approach is more important

from the learning organization point of

view.


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LAWS OF LEARNING

ORGANIZATIONS

In this section, we are going to see the

commonlawswhichmakeanorganizationa

learningorganization.

T O D A Y ' S P R O B L E M S C O M E F R O M Y E S T E R D A Y ' S " S O L U T I O N S . "

A solution to settle a problem of the past

may affect the organizations current

situationinanegativeway.Considerashoe

companymakingabigseasonaldiscountto

compete with the new company entering

the market. The manager may have saved

theday;butafterthediscountis over,sales

may decrease because many customers

decided to rather wait for the next big

discountinsteadofpayinglotsofmoneyto

thefamousbrand.

Did the sales manager really solve the

problem of the new competitor?Or did he

just postpone the problem to the future?From the learning organization point of

view, longterm effects of each alternative

solutionshouldbeconsideredcarefullywith

abroadvision.

T H E H A R D E R Y O U P U S H , T H E H A R D E R T H E S Y S T E M P U S H E S B A C K

The more effort you expend trying to

improve matters, the more effort seems toberequired.Adramaticexampleofthislaw

is the government aid program of USA for

the poor cities. The more the government

provided financial aid, the more aid was

needed. The reason behind this

phenomenon was simple: People, who

managed to save enough money simply

moved to better cities. At the same time,

lowincome people from better cities

started to move to the aided cities to take

advantageoftheaids.

Aclassicalstorybetweenthewindandsun

demonstrates this principle very well. The

sun and wind were arguing about their

powers.Thewindpointedamanandblew

strongly to blow off his coat. But the

stronger it blew, the tightly the manwrappedhiscoataroundhimself.Lateron,

it was the suns turn. The sun just shined

warmer and brighter, and very soon, the

mantookhiscoatbyhimself.

B E H A V I O R W I L L G R O W B E T T E R B E F O R E I T G R O W S W O R S E

The key word of this law is eventually.

Symptomatic cures upon problems will

make things look better for a while; buteventually, problems will arise again. In a

typical example, a software developer may

bypass the testing process to deliver a

delayed project in time. From the

management point of view, the developer

will be praised because of the undelayed

deployment. However; over time,

application failures because of lack of

testingwillgivethedeveloperahardtimeat

his performance appraisal. Perhaps worse

than the scenario where he would admitthattheprojectdelayed.

T H E E A S Y W A Y O U T U S U A L L Y L E A D S B A C K I N

This law reminds us of the drunken man

whoissearchinghiskeys(whichhelostat

some dark corner) under the streetlight

because it is more luminous. Insisting on

familiarsolutionstosolveourproblemswill

notalwayscarryustothebestscenario.

Anextremeexampletothislawcouldbea

carpenter who is trying different type of

hammerstogetanailoutofacabinet.What

hereallyneedsisapairofpincers.

T H E C U R E C A N B E W O R S E T H A N T H E D I S E A S E

Alcoholism may start as simple as socialdrinking: A way to solve the problem of


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workrelated stress. However, continuous

drinkingcanleadtoa muchbiggerproblem

inthe long run: stress caused because ofa

diseased liver. In organizations lacking the

approachofLearningOrganizations,short

term solutions can be worse than theproblemitselfifnotchosencarefully.

F A S T E R I S S L O W E R

The story behind this law is old: The slow

turtle wins the race against the fast (but

careless)rabbit.

In all natural systems, growth has an

optimal rate and all organisms follow this

rule inevitably. However; most of theorganizations today push to grow as much

andfastaspossible,withoutconsideringthe

consequences of growth. When growth

becomes excessive, the organization will

have a hard time coordinating itself and

slowitselfdown.Atsuchascenario,evenits

survivalmightbeatriskbecauseofraising

costs.

Asa managerialprinciple,itisa betteridea

to remove the factors limiting growthinsteadofpushinggrowth.

C A U S E A N D E F F E C T A R E N O T C L O S EL Y R E L A T E D I N T I M E A N D S P A C E

During our childhood, the source of the

problem is never too far away from the

problem itself. As some children grow up

and become managers, this approach of

themstillexists.Ifthereisaprobleminthe

production, theycheck theproduction line.Ifsalespeoplecantmeettheirtargets,new

salespeoplearehiredinstead.However;ina

complex open system, real reasons of

organizational problems may be far away

from the problem itself in terms of both

timeandspace.

S M A L L C H A N G E S C A N P R O D U C E B I G R ES UL TS .. .B UT T HE A RE AS O F H IG HE ST L E V E R A G E A R E O F T E N T H E L E A S T O B V I O U S

Sofar,ithasbeenstatedthatmostobvious

solutionsdontalwaysbringthebestresults.

However; sometimes, a very small (but

insignificant) change can cause a very big

improvement. This systems thinking

conceptiscalledasleverage.

There are no simple rules to find high

leveragechanges. But asthe first step, one

can start learning to see underlying

structuresratherthanevents.

Forinstance,whenschoolofficialsmakethe

decision to introduce educational reforms,

simply sitting down with teachers oneon

oneattheoutsetandeasingtheirconcerns

abouttheimpactthesereformswillhaveon

theirlivescangoalongwaytowardpavingthe way for a smooth transition to new,

moreeffectiveteachingmethods.

Y OU C AN H AV E Y OU R C AK E A ND E AT I T T O O B U T N O T A L L A T O N C E

From the systems point of view, some

dilemmas are not dilemmas at all. For

instance; many production managers will

tellthattheconceptsoflowcostandhighquality are oxymorons which means,

they cant exist together. However, the

process of decreasing costs and increasing

quality can go together over time. A close

exampleisIKEAforinstance.Someitemsin

Ikeas catalogue of 2008 are cheaper than

thecatalogueof2007.IKEAstatedthatthis

happened because they were able to

decrease the price because of the high

volume of sales and new production

methods.D IV ID I NG A N E LE PH AN T I N H AL F D OE SN O T P R O D U C E T W O S M A L L E L E P H A N T S

Open systems have integrity. It is not

possible to take a part of a system and

expectittofunctionwellisolated.

Organizations, like living organisms, have

integrity. Their character depends on the

whole. To understand most managerialissuesyoumustviewthewholesystemthat


13/22

generated the issue. Of course; seeing

whole elephants doesnt mean that every

organizationalissuecanbeunderstoodonly

bylookingattheentireorganization. Some

canbeunderstoodbylookingonlyatmajor

functions, while others require looking atcritical systemic forces within a functional

area.Thekeyistheprincipleofthesystem

boundarywhich says the interactions

that must be examined are those most

importanttotheissueathand,regardlessof

parochialorganizationalboundaries.

However, this is difficult in practice. Most

organizational designs keep people from

seeingimportantinteractions.

STEPS TO A LEARNING

ORGANIZATION

In this section, we will see the steps

requiredtotransformanorganizationintoa

learningorganization.

ASSESSINGLEARNINGCULTURE

If the culture of the organization doesntsupport learning, it is impossible to

transform it into a learning organization.

Therefore, making learning part of the

cultureshouldbethefirst(andperhapsthe

mostfundamental)steptowardsalearning

organization.

The biggest barrier in building a learning

cultureisfearintheorganization.Ifpeople

are generally afraid of anything (the boss,

beingfired,lossoftheirposition,etc),itwillbe very hard for them to assess the

qualificationsneeded.Eliminationoffearin

the organization should be the first step

towardsalearningculture.

Anotherbarrieristhefactthatsomepeople

hatechange.Ifpeopleareensuredthatthey

will be given the tools and education

required and the uncertainty is minimized,

resistanceagainstchangecanbeminimized.

PROMOTINGTHEPOSITIVE

The next step is to change behaviors of

people so they learn to think positively.

Withoutdenyingreality,theyneedtoswitch

to the glass half full point of view from

glasshalfempty.

Oneinterestingexampletothisstepcomes

from a McDonalds restaurants. A female

employee wanted to make a smallpositive

change in her customers lives. Therefore,

she started to make a small contact with

them. Whenever she needed to return

change,sheheldhercustomershandbriefly

inherlefthandwhilegivingthechangewith

her right hand. It was a very small, gentle

and quick human contact. However, the

effectwasgreat:Peoplestartedtolineupin

front of her even when other clerks are

more available. After other clerks noticed

whatshewasdoing,theystartedtodothe

same thing and this restaurant was

transformed after a while. The atmosphere

was improved; and as a result of that,

interactions among the employees also

becamemorewarmandcaring.

Sinceinteractionamongemployeesisoneof

theprerequisitesofalearningorganization,

a positive climate proves itself to be aworthysteptowardsit.

SAFETYFORTHINKING

Thethirdstepistoensurethatideascanbe

expressedfreelyintheorganization.Weall

heardofinnovativethinkerswhowerefired

bytheiremployers,onlytobeginsuccessful

business of their own. A much more

common story is shared among manypeople who just gave up coming up with

good ideas. The price of this story is

immeasurable, which is consistent of lost

creativityandstunnedcareers.

There are three requirements to build a

thinkingsafeenvironment:

Toagreeuponastructuresupportedby the organization, about how the

organization is going to behave in

termsofnewideas


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To make sure that people willnurture and support each other

success

Tomakepeopleweartheirproblemsolvinghatsallthetime

A good example of the thinkingsafe

companies is Google, where employees are

freetoworkonprojectsoftheirownin20%

of their times. People are not only

encouraged to think, but they are also

encouragedtoimplementtheirnewideasin

pilot environments. Successful ideas are

thenimplementedintorealproductsofthe

company.

REWARDINGRISKTAKING

In todays partially unpredictable business

environment;takingmeaningful,reasonable

and moderate risks is becoming a

prerequisite of survival. Without intelligent

risks,survivalisimpossible.

In some cases, a new implementation of a

softwareistestedformonths.Thisprocess

includesvalidationsaswell.However,such

processes will cause the company 10.000sof $s per month. If the company takes a

little risk and relies on the capacity of the

softwarecompanytosoftwareproblemsas

they arose, the total cost of ownership

woulddecreasedramatically.

Tomakethisriskreasonable,riskofdata

loss can be minimized by taking daily

backups, for example. Risk taking is not

beatingyourheadagainstthewall.

Building a culture where risktaking issupported and mistakes are tolerated;

people will find a space to improve

processes of the organization. Otherwise,

mostofthemwilljuststicktothesafeside

anddonothingelse.

HELPING PEOPLE BECOMING

RESOURCES

The fifth step involves a change in thevisionsofemployees.Theyshouldseeeach

other and themselves as resources, not job

descriptions.Thebarrieragainstthistypeof

view are the excessive bureaucratic

structures. It wouldnt be fair to say that

bureaucracy should be eliminated totally.

However, it shouldnt be blocking possiblecommunication and coordination among

people.

Justlikenewideasaresupportedinaframe

of reasonable risks, people should also be

supportedtoeachotherbecausenoideacan

be implemented successfully with the

effortsofonesingleperson.

PUTTING LEARNING POWER TO

WORK

This step involves insurance of continuous

learning in the organization not only in

formal ways, but also in informal ways.

Learning should not only occur in

classrooms and formal trainings. Teaching

andlearningrealtime,whenandwherethe

workoccurs,shouldalsobeencouraged.

Although this sounds easy, there are three

barriers which will stop people fromsustainedlearning:

Thelogicalbarrier.Thisariseswhena crucial piece is missing from the

presentation of something we need

to learn, which makes it impossible

for us to understand. Most

teacherswillbeunawareofthose

gaps.

Weneedtoknowwhyweneedtoknow. This barrier arises when

students cant see the relevance

betweenthenewinformation.They

shouldbeinformedwhytheyshould

learn,andhowtheycanusethenew

informationtochangethings.

The ethical barrier. If we want tolearn something well, it must pass

ourpersonalethicalstandards.

Uponeliminationofthesebarriers,learning

willshowitstruepower.


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MAPPINGTHEVISION

In the section Building A Shared Vision,

the importance of a common vision wasalready underlined. The common vision

appears as the seventh step toward a

learning organization. When set clearly, a

sharedvisionandasharedsetofgoalswill

build a collective intelligence, in which

genuineeffortscanbeobserved.

Theimportantpointis;thecommonvision

should belong to everyone, and everyone

should be able to find common points

between the common vision and theirpersonalvisions.

BRINGINGVISIONTOLIFE

Havinga visionisnice.Butavisionwithout

actualimplementationisuseless.Therefore,

the next step in building a learning

organization is to make the required

implementations. Employees, who means

the organization, should observe actual

changes towards the vision. This

reinforcement will motivate them to do

more.

A very long term oriented vision

reinforcement beyond the patience of

employeeswillnothelpanyone.Thepathto

thevisionshouldbebuiltsothatemployees

shouldbeabletogetfeedbackcontinuously.

CONNECTINGSYSTEMS

In an organizational environment, many

people will use the term system in

different meanings, but most of them will

lacktherealmeaningofit.Whattheymean

by system is usually an illusion built by

bureaucratic imagination. This illusion will

slow things down and make everything

complicated.

Systems theory is supposed to help us see

how different elements work together to

makesomethinghappen.Ifyouchangeone

element,thewholesystemwillbeaffected.

Meaningandimportanceofsystemstheory

has already be underlined in the previous

chapters. As a step towards learning

organizations, it is important to make sure

that systems thinking is more than a

simpleentryinthecorporatepolicy.People

shouldbethinkingandactinglikea system,

inevitablyanopensystem.

GETTINGTHESHOWONTHEROAD

Thislaststepisactuallynotarealstep.It

impliesthatweshouldmakesurethatallof

thepreviousstepsarebroughttogether,andthattheyaresustainedthroughoutthetime.

Instead of telling what everyoneshould be

doingintheidealcase,theleader(s)ofthe

organizationshavetomakesurethatthese

ideal cases are actually implemented as

muchaspossible.


16/22

LEADERSHIP IN LEARNING

ORGANIZATIONS

Amongallotherfactors,styleofleadership

playsaverysignificantroleinthecreation

of a learning organization. Classical

understanding of leadership will not be

enough. The leader of a learning

organization willhold multiple roles at the

same time, which we will cover in this

section.

LEADERASDESIGNER

Manypeoplewouldtendtodefinealeader

asthecaptainoftheship.However;what

goodresultcantheordersteer30degrees

west bring if it takes 6 hours to turn the

wheel? This would be the fault of the

designeroftheship,right?

Before considering becominga captain, the

leader in an organization should consider

becoming the designer of the organization.

It is fruitless to be the leader in anorganizationthatispoorlydesigned.

A typical case of Leader as Designer

principleoccursatERPimplementations.In

agoodERPimplementationproject,youwill

see managers and the IT staff working

together in the same room, designing and

tailoring the digital infrastructure of

business. A project, where managers dont

touch anything in the designing phrase,

wouldbefruitlessbecause afterthegolive,they would have a hard time trying to

managetheirbusinesssystemwhichwasnt

designedbythem.

LEADERASTEACHER

Standard teachers focus on what they are

teachingandhowtheydoit.Greatteachers,

on the other hand, create a space for

learningandinvitepeopleintoit.

Another role of the leader in a learning

organization is to build a learning climate

and sustaining it. This means, the leader is

notexpectedtoteacheverythingbyhimself

(it isveryhard, if not impossible,to find a

leaderwhoknowsitallanyway).Theleaderis expected to encourage and reward

learning in the organization. Learning

shouldbecomeoneofthecommonpractices

intheorganization.

LEADERASSTEWARD

The servant leader is servant first, leader

after. It is different from the classical

approach where people tend to become

leadersfirst,andserveafterwards.

Stewardship of leaders involves the desire

ofservingotherpeopleandbecominguseful

to them. This approach is based upon the

ideathatiftheleaderfocusesonsatisfying

the real needs of employees, they will

become much more productive, and things

will work out fine. After all, it is the

employees who do all the work, not the

leaders.

Thisleadershipstylealsoinvolvesservinga

largerpurposethantheleaderhimselfsince

all genuine commitment is to something

larger than oneself. The something is

ideallytheorganizationalmission/vision.

TRANSFORMATIONALLEADERSHIP

Wehaveinspectedthedifferentrolesofa

leaderinalearningorganization.Butwhat

about the leadership style? Contemporarystudies make a distinction between two

leadership styles: transactional and

transformational leadership. It is an easy

guess that learning organizations require

transformationalleaders.

Concept of transformational leadership has

the assumption that people will follow a

person who inspires them; and that the

inspirer can achieve great things if he/she

has the vision and passion by injectingenthusiasmandenergytothefollowers.


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Such leaders successfully develop and sell

their visions, and make sure that everyone

sharesthem.Wehavealreadydiscussedthe

importanceofasharedvision.Therefore,a

visionaryleadershipstylewillbethebestfit

toalearningorganization.

CULTURE AND LEARNING

ORGANIZATIONS

In this chapter, we will discuss the

relationship between culture and learning

organizations. Dimensions of Geert

Hofstedes cultural studies will be our

startingpoint.

LEVELOFPOWERDISTANCE

The first step in creating a learning

organizationistoassessalearningculture.

We have seen that the most significant

barrieragainstthisrequirementisfear.

In cultures with high levels of power

distance,especiallywhenleaderswithhigh

levelsofauthorityareinquestion,aclimate

of fear may arise. This will surely have anegativeeffectonorganizationallearning.

Communication is another key concept in

learningorganizations.Highpowerdistance

will affect vertical communication in a

negativeway.

Another key point is change. In cultures

with high power distance, change will be

implemented by the top management

vertically. In cultures with low power

distance, change will be implemented

cumulatively and horizontally. In terms of

change, cultures with low power distance

willhavetheiradvantage.

Considering these facts, we can say that a

moderatetolow level of power distance is

needed to build a healthy learning

organization. In cultures with high power

distance, people can try to soften the

barriers by creating common social

environments.

INDIVIDUALISMVSCOLLECTIVISM

Systemsthinkingrequirespeopletoseeand

evaluate everything as a whole. Empirical

study has shown that people from

individualistic cultures understandmicroeconomics better, while people from

collectivist cultures understand

macroeconomics better. Based upon this

information,wecanassumethatcollectivist

peopleareusedtoliveandactinasystem

of other people; therefore, they are more

used to think about causeeffect relations

systemwide.

An organization with individualistic

members should try to improve their

members systems thinking with open

discussions and transparent decision

makingprocesses.Iftheyobservesystems

thinking based decisionslong enough, they

willgetusedtothinkandactthatway.

On the other hand; members of

individualistic cultures tendto believe that

they can take initiative and change things,

whilecollectivistpeopletendtobelievethat

theycantchangeanythingandeverythingis

predetermined. When change is involved,individualistic people will have their

advantage because if someone doesnt

believe that he/she can do something,

he/sheprobablycantdoit.

MASCULANITYVSFEMININITY

Positivity is an important point in learning

organizations; which is provided better in

cultures with high femininity. Therefore;creatingapositiveclimatewillbeeasierin

suchcultures.

UNCERTAINTYAVOIDANCE

Incultureswithhighuncertaintyavoidance,

peoplewilltendtoescapefromchangeand

risktaking;whicharekeypointsoflearning

organizations. Therefore, cultures with low

uncertainty avoidance will have a big

advantageinthisscope.


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For refreshment, you can reread the

sections Assessing learning culture and

Rewardingrisktaking.

SCOPEOFORIENTATION

Alearningorganizationwillfavorlongterm

orientation instead of shortterm solutions

which cure symptoms only. It is easy to

guess that cultures with long term

orientationwillbuildlearningorganizations

much easier than cultures with short term

orientation.

For refreshment, you can reread the

sections Fixation on events, The parable

of the boiling frog and Shifting theburden.

SAMPLE ARTICLE ON

LEARNINGORGANIZATIONS

In this section, we are going to inspect a

journal about learning organizations. The

article in question is Factors Influencing

Learning in Work, and is written by Sally

Sambrook.

ABSTRACT

This article reports on factors influencing

learning. The research has been conducted

in two different companies (European and

UKbased).TheUKbasedprojectfocusedon

computerbased learning, while the

European project focused on the role of

human resources department on lifelong

learning.ThejournalresearchedELearning

findings because of the increasing

popularityofELearningsystemslately.

This article aims of shifting the focus of

trainingtothefocusoflearning.

The European project examined the

followingpoints:

Sociological aspects, such asorganization of work and changingfunctionalroles

Psychological issues related tolearning

The British project examined the following

points:

Pedagogical issues related to thequalityoftheelectronicmaterial

Investigating concepts of ELearning; such as instructional

design, accessibility, learner

centeredness

METHODOLOGY

EU

TheEuropeanprojectemployedqualitative

methods to explore questions in 28 case

studieswithfourorganizationsfromeachof

thesevencountries.Researchersconducted

semistructured interviews with managers,

HRDprofessionalsandemployees.

Atthesecondstage,thefindingsofthefirst

stage were tested with a questionnaire

surveyof140organizationsacrossEurope,

targetedatseniorHRDprofessionals.

UK

TheUKstudyinvolved159employeesfrom

the North Wales area. There was a wide

spread of age and experience among

participants. Five different ELearning

materialswereselected,offeringarangeof

subjects and required level of IT skills.

Participantswerefreetoselectthematerial

they liked. They worked on their selectedmaterial in their own time, and they were

asked to complete the Learner Evaluation

ToolintheLikertstyle.

This tool comprised 91 statements in five

categories:

Generalissues Accessissues Designissues Issues related to the quality of

learningexperience

Learningoutcomes


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They were also asked to write their

comments. Our article is focused on these

comments. The comments were analyzed

usingcontentanalysis.

VARIABLES

EU

Thevariablesinthisarticlevariedinthree

different levels: organizational, functional

and individual. These included the

organizationofwork,organizationalculture,

availableresourcesandskills&attitudes&

motivationsofmanagersandlearners.

The variables affecting learning in

organizationsarethefollowing:

MotivationThemeo Levelofmotivationo Roleclarityo Level of selfconfidence

(responsibility)

o Rewardso Enthusiasminlearningitselfo Confidencetolearn

HRDThemeo Roleclarityo Perception level of HRD

(support function vs.

strategicpartner)

CultureThemeo Strengthoflearningcultureo Managerialsupport

PragmaticsThemeo Amountoftimeo Amount of resources &

investment

UK

TheUKprojectidentifiedindividualfactors

asITskills,confidence,fearandmotivation.

Here are the most significant factors

defined:

Userfriendlyness: The extent towhichthematerialiseasytouse

Presentation: Clear and accurate,nomistakessuchasspellingerrors

Graphics: Number and quality ofimages

Interest: Whether the materialgeneratesinterestorboredom

Information: The amount andquality of information (too little or

overload)

Knowledge: The extent to whichnewknowledgeisgained

Understanding: Whether thematerial is easy of difficult to

understand Level: Whether the material is too

basicortoodeep

Type of learning: Whether deeplearningorrotelearning

Language: Whether the languagewastoodifficulttofollow

Text: The amount of text and thebalancewithgraphics


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MODEL&FINDINGS

EU

UK

HRD&

Resources

Strengthof

learning

Managerial

support

Motivation

LearningTraining

User

friendl

LearningTraining

Presentatio

n

Graphics&

Text Information

Knowledge

Understand. Level

Typeof

learnin


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AHOLISTICMODEL

FINDINGS

COMMON

Theremarkablethingaboutbothresearches

is that the moderating variables aresubjective rather than objective. For

instance;oneparticipantmayfindthesame

trainingtooshallow,whileanotheronecan

find it too deep. Therefore, managers must

be careful about analyzing the level of the

participantsofthetrainingfirst.

EU

Organiza)onal

Func)onalIndividual

ICTLearningMaterials

UserfriendlyGraphicsetc

LearningMaterials

Presenta)onStructureetc

Learning

TypeoflearningOutcomesetc


22/22

Findings from the EU research could be

constructed into three categories:

Organizational,functionalandindividual.

UK

FindingsfromtheUKresearchcouldeasily

be constructed into three categories:

Learning, learning materialsand computer

basedlearningmaterials.

Learning

o Knowledgeo Understandinglevelo TypeOfLearning

LearningMaterialso Presentationo Interesto Informationo Language

Computerbasedlearningmaterialso Userfriendlyo Texto Graphics

CONCLUSION

In this paper, the idea of learning organization was discussed. After general definitions of

organizationallearning,thedisciplinesoflearningorganizationsandlearningdisabilitieswereinspected.Lawsof learningorganizationsandstepstowardsa learningorganizationwerealso

discussed. At the last part, we have seen the leadership styles and cultural dimensions

influencingalearningorganization.

Asaconclusion,wecansaythatbecomingalearningorganizationisnotagoalinitself;itisa

pathtowardsanidealmodelwhichcanprobablyneverbefullyreached.Because;ifyouthink

thatyourcompanyhasreachedthisgoal,youprobablystartedtostoplearning.Thisprocesswill

requiresustainedtransformationandchangeintheorganization,whichcanonlybemadebya

transformationalleaderanditsopenmindedemployeeswhokeepcommunicatingineveryway

possible.

REFERENCES

Chawla, S., Renesch, J. (1995) Learning Organizations: Developing Cultures for Tomorrows

Workplace.NewYork:ProductivityPress.

Kline,P.,Saunders,B.(1998)TenStepstoaLearningOrganization .Utah:GreatRiverBooks.

Robbins,S.P.(2005)OrganizationalBehavior.NewJersey:PearsonEducationInc.

Sambrook, S. (2002) Factors Influencing Learning in Work, Journal of European Industrial

Training,24(2/3/4),pp.209219.

Senge, P.M. (2006)TheFifthDiscipline: TheArt & Practice of the Learning Organization. New

York:Doubleday.

http://www.changingminds.org

http://www.wikipedia.org

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