Learning Organizations and You

Learning Organizations and You Colleen Wheeler, Wheaton D. Grainger Wedaman, Brandeis October 2, 2012

Outline The Gap Quiz Experiment The Idea Characteristics and Tensions Learning Organization Academy

The Gap An Experimental quiz

Quiz Think about the time in your life you learned best. What were the details of that experience? What did it feel like?

Quiz A. Name the context in two words (like “chess with my uncle”).

Quiz B. Pick a word to describe how it felt to learn.

Quiz C. Compare your learning experience to your general experience of work. Plot it on a 1 – 10.

Results Safety, trust, risk tolerance, small group, feedback, reflective, intellectually challenging, motivating, sense of growth, humor, passion, insight, fun . . . Similarity to work? Uh – oh!

The Idea of the Learning Organization

“We must become able not only to transform our institutions, in response to changing situations and requirements; we must invent and develop institutions which are ‘learning systems’, that is to say, systems capable of bringing about their own continuing transformation.” Donald Schon, Beyond the Stable State

idea A collective enterprise in which learning is the organizational principle.

rather than Other organizing principles! Alternating states of change and stability. Being disrupted.

history Robert Hutchins, The Learning Society, 1970 Donald Schon, Beyond the Stable State, 1973 Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline, 1990.

characteristics tensions and

problem Learning is in many ways contradictory to workplace norms.

balance You need consistent activities for identity and coherence. Learning disrupts consistence. Learning Orgs balance these.

anxiety Learning new ways to work causes a lot of anxieties. Learning Orgs are open about this and help manage it.

competence A primal fear in the workplace: been seen as a failure or incompetent. Learning requires incompetence.

talk To learn, people need “psychologically safe” places, to be able to say what they think, to discuss, to disagree. Learning Orgs create these.

motivation You learn best when “instrinsically” motivated. The workplace uses extrinsic motivation. Learning Organizations find ways to let people explore the things they care about.

passion People learning together experience happiness – joy – passion. Reluctantly allowed by the workplace. Learning Orgs encourage and appreciate passion.

play Play, experimentation, construction combine learning, discovery, and fun. They don’t happen much. Learning Orgs provide “Duckworth” environments.

mindfulness Paying attention to yourself, your feelings, your triggers, your hopes, is crucial to learning. Workplaces don’t reinforce self-awareness. Learning Orgs promote mindfulness

reflection Feedback and reflection are necessary for learning. Most workplaces avoid these activities. Learning Orgs promote both.

ideas Continual change requires a flow of generative ideas. Workplaces don’t have ways to create and manage an idea flow. Learning Orgs are gardeners of ideas.

sum No perfect example We all know of moments Learning Organization is a goal

LOA Learning Organization Academy

history Infamous 2010 Focus Group LOA Formed 2012 First cohort in session

model Summer immersion in learning, mindfulness, joy Year-long inquiry projects

examples Building DH community of practice Implementing “exploration time” Creating on-boarding program Visual thinking in portfolio management

examples Revamping customer relationship management Supporting creativity in the workplace Developing “learning” consultants

Learning Organizations and You Colleen Wheeler, Wheaton D. Grainger Wedaman, Brandeis

Learning Organizations and You