A couple of days ago I held a seminar. My speech was entitled ‘The Power in a Learning Organization’. The other speakers at the event spoke about the necessity for good communication within an organization and also about the new generations Y and Z, and their demands upon the workplace. These subjects provided very good material for my speech: ‘The Learning Organization’.
You and your organization need to constantly improve in order to serve your customer in a positive way and to stay ahead of the competition. For you this means constantly improving your skills in the areas that matter most for your success both professionally and for you personally. Consequently for the organization it means the necessity to constantly improve the ways that the value is created for your customers.
The organization’s improvement must be earned. There is nothing for free. You have to build a culture within your organization that promotes continuous learning. According to the American scientist Peter Senge there are five fundamentals for a successful learning organization:
Firstly you need to have an understanding of the System’s Thinking, meaning that you have to understand the mechanisms within the organization and how value for the customers is created.
Secondly, you need to have Personal Mastery, where you as a person develop continuously. This is important as organizations are built out of people.
Thirdly, you need to have a Mental Model, of the culture and the mindset needed to improve.
Fourthly, you need to have a Shared Vision that everyone knows and works towards.
Fifthly and finally, you need to have Team Learning, that means synchronization between the team members’ personal learning so that it is developed into something more expansive within the team.
Your organization needs to improve, as the future demands will be more challenging than those of today. The customer increasingly demands faster service with higher quality, all within the context of a global market with more competition than before. The new generations that will join the workforce will also make increased demands upon the working environment. If you are still configured as a line organization with its 250 years heritage of conceiving people as being lazy, then it is time for a drastic rethink. How will the next generations with their concept of being free and more focused on ‘me’ than on ‘we’, alongside their inherent ability to constantly question authority, fit into your organization? I believe that these generations will also influence the older generations as well – with the same rebellious thoughts. Especially as those born in the 60’s and 70’s are more open to change.
That means that there will be a huge pressure on the organization to improve in order to meet the new demands, from both the inside and the outside.
How does your organization measure up to the term ‘A Learning Organization?
Until next time, spend time planning how to nuture your organization into becoming A Learning Organization.
To learn more and to kick-start your development, contact me to schedule an in-house seminar.
Please share and comment!
To you and your organization’s excellence.
Matts
PS
If you want to have more free material regarding Business Excellence, please sign up for the newsletter on the right hand side.
