Building a Learning Organization

Learning organizations are organizations that continue to expand capabilities to create the results that people truly want, nurture new and broader thought patterns, liberate collective aspirations, and continue to teach people to see the whole together (Senge, 1990). The vision of a learning organization is not just to train people.  A learning organization is an organization that facilitates learning for all members of the organization and facilitates continuously transforms itself (Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell, 1996). Learning organizations are characterized by full employee participation in a collaborative, collectively responsible change process that focuses on the shared values ​​or principles (Watkins and Marsick, 1992).

The following five disciplines outline support a learning organization to build a model in which all individuals in an organization can work towards a common goal (Senge, 1990).

1.       Personal Mastery
2.       Shared Vision
3.       Mental Models
4.      Team learning
5.      Systems Thinking

 

1. Personal Mastery.

When creating a learning organization, personal mastery is referred to as the "cornerstone". Personal mastery is the development of the ability to achieve personal goals (Morales, Montes and Jover, 2007).  Learning organizations can do this by creating an environment in which employees can develop a sense of their own vision through reflection and by creating an organizational environment help to support for members of the organization to understand how the world looks, what is important to them, and what they want to contribute (Dhiman, 2011). Said Senge: “Personal vision is the soil in which shared vision can be grown” (Senge, 1990).

 

2. Shared Vision.

A shared vision can only be achieved in an environment of trust and cooperation rather than following advice from top (Senge, 1990). Corporate leadership can create a trust and cooperation environment by working with employees with a common vision (Paroby and White, 2010). At the same time, corporate leadership must listen to the organization's employees and work to maintain a corporate environment in which employees feel (Barker and Camarata, 1998).

 

3. Mental Models.

With a mental model, we understand how our deeply rooted assumptions and generalizations affect our interactions and decisions (Rook, 2013).  We need to reflect on the difference between hearing what someone is saying and really understanding what they are saying, and understanding the gap between what actually happened and what we see happening (Morgan, Fischhoff, Bostrom and Atman, 2002). “In a non-reflective environment, we take what we see as truth (Senge, 1990).

 

4. Team learning.

Team learning can only take place when team members are “humble” and when they want to reflect and take into account the opinions of others, suspending personal bias to work as a whole in a collaborative environment (Senge, 1990). When teams do not learn, it is likely that the organization will suffer (Sarin and McDermott, 2003). Through the Teamwork teaches essential communication and social skills, such as active listening and effective speaking (Savelsbergh, Heijden and Poell, 2010).

 

5. Systems Thinking.

System thinking is the idea that we are part of an interconnected system not disassembled personal silos; Systems thinking addresses the whole and creates an understanding of how parts are interconnected (Caldwell, 2012). "Systems of thought are empathy - for the subtle interactions that give living systems their unique nature"(Senge, 1990).

The members of the organization should be trained to think as bellows (Kim, 1999)

•          Think of connections instead of disconnections/silos,
•          Think in circles instead of in a linear manner,
•          Think in wholes instead of parts,
•         Think of synthesis instead of analysis,
•        Think of relationships instead of about things in isolation,

The environment of the organization must be maintained in a way that is appropriate for the members of the organization to be holistic (Monat and Gannon, 2015).

 

 

List of reference

Barker, R.T. and Camarata, M.R., 1998. The role of communication in creating and maintaining a learning organization: Preconditions, indicators, and disciplines. The Journal of Business Communication (1973), 35(4), pp.443-467.

Caldwell, R., 2012. Systems thinking, organizational change and agency: A practice theory critique of Senge's learning organization. Journal of change management, 12(2), pp.145-164.

Dhiman, S., 2011. Personal mastery and authentic leadership. Organization Development Journal, 29(2), p.69.

Garavan, T., 1997. The learning organization: a review and evaluation. The learning organization.

Garcia-Morales, V.J., Lloréns-Montes, F.J. and Verdu-Jover, A.J., 2007. Influence of personal mastery on organizational performance through organizational learning and innovation in large firms and SMEs. Technovation, 27(9), pp.547-568.

Kim, D.H., 1999. Introduction to systems thinking (Vol. 16). Waltham, MA: Pegasus Communications.

King, W.R., 2001. Strategies for creating a learning organization. Information Systems Management, 18(1), pp.12-20.

Lunenburg, F.C., 2011. Systems thinking and the learning organization: The path to school improvement. Schooling, 2(1), pp.1-6.

Monat, J.P. and Gannon, T.F., 2015. What is systems thinking? A review of selected literature plus recommendations. American Journal of Systems Science, 4(1), pp.11-26.

Morgan, M.G., Fischhoff, B., Bostrom, A. and Atman, C.J., 2002. Risk communication: A mental models approach. Cambridge University Press.

Paroby, D. and White, D., 2010. The role of shared vision and ethics in building an effective learning organization. Southern Journal of Business and Ethics, 2, p.133.

Pedler, M., Burgoyne, J.G. and Boydell, T., 1996. The learning company: A strategy for sustainable development. In The learning company: a strategy for sustainable development (pp. 243-243).

Rook, L., 2013. Mental models: A robust definition. The learning organization.

Sarin, S. and McDermott, C., 2003. The effect of team leader characteristics on learning, knowledge application, and performance of cross‐functional new product development teams. Decision sciences, 34(4), pp.707-739.

Savelsbergh, C.M., van der Heijden, B.I. and Poell, R.F., 2010. Attitudes towards factors influencing team performance: A multi‐rater approach aimed at establishing the relative importance of team learning behaviors in comparison with other predictors of team performance. Team Performance Management: An International Journal.

Senge, P.M., 1990. The art and practice of the learning organization.

Watkins, K.E. and Marsick, V.J., 1992. Building the learning organisation: a new role for human resource developers. Studies in continuing education, 14(2), pp.115-129.