Learning Organisation (Blog 3)

Introduction to Learning Organization

Dr Senge Peter who created the term, described a learning organization as one ‘where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together’. It is to focus on collective problem-solving within an organization using team ‘learning’ whereby all the possible causes of a problem are considered in order to define more clearly those which can be dealt with and those which are insoluble (Senge, 1990).

Garvin (1993) defines a learning organization as one which is ‘skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights’. He believes that learning is an essential ingredient if organizations are to survive that management is responsible for creating an emotional climate in which all staff can learn continuously. Later, the concept of a learning organization, has been defined by Scarborough and Carter (2000) as one ‘that is able to discover what is effective by reframing its own experiences and learning from that process’

(Figure 1: Learning Organisation)

Principles of Learning Organization

Miller and Stewart (1999) propose the following key principles of the learning organization:

• Learning and business strategy are closely linked
• The organization consciously learns from business opportunities and threats
• Individuals, groups and the whole organization are not only learning but also learning how to learn
• Information systems and technology serve to support learning rather than control it;
• There are well-defined processes for defining, creating, capturing, sharing and acting on knowledge 

Creating and effectively leading a learning organization is at the heart of successful knowledge management in education. Dr Peter Senge (2006) describes five core disciplines or “component technologies” that are critical for building a learning organization:

(Figure 2: Five Disciplines)

1. Personal mastery - clarifying one's personal vision, focusing energy, and seeing reality.
2. Shared vision - transforming individual vision into a shared vision.
3. Mental models - unearthing internal pictures or models and understanding how they shape actions.
4. Team building/learning - suspending judgments and creating dialogue.
5. Systems thinking - fusing the four learning disciplines so the one sees the whole picture, rather than the parts

References

• Garvin, A. (1993) ‘Building a learning organization’, Harvard Business Review, July-August, pp. 78-91.

• Miller, R. and Stewart, J. (1999) ‘People Management’, Opened university, 5(12), pp. 42-46.

• Scarborough, H. and Carter, C. (2000) ‘Investigating Knowledge Management’, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, London.

• Senge, P. (1990) ‘The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization’, The new paradigm in business: Emerging strategies for leadership and organizational change, Doubleday, London.

• Senge, P. (2006) ‘The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization’. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

• Figure 1: Learning Organisation : [Online] Available at: https://www.healthcatalyst.com/enable-knowledge-management-in-healthcare [Accessed on: 25 August 2018]. 

• Figure 2: Figure 2: Five Disciplines : [Online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/353462270738096421/ [Accessed on: 25 August 2018].