Creating a learning organization
If companies are to succeed and achieve more during times of volatility, opportunity and change, they need to be learning organizations where everyone and every function are encouraged and supported to continually adapt and improve.
Overview
Peter Senge proposed that organizations need to become learning organizations, where the full abilities of their people are harnessed to propel the company to achieve more and go further. A learning organization ensures that all aspects of a company – its people, processes and operations – are able to continually learn and adapt and are working together towards the same goal. Underpinning the learning organization is a culture of creativity: to think bigger, to think bolder, to think outside the box and, importantly, to know you can make it happen. To do this, companies need to address five areas(disciplines):
1. Systems thinking
2. Personal mastery
3. Mental models
4. Building a shared vision
5. Team learning
Each discipline is looked at from three perspectives. For each discipline, ask:
• What is the essence of what is hoped for?
• What are the principles that should guide this aspect?
• What are the practices that need to occur to make it happen?
Your people’s ability to question, challenge and create depends on the environment, processes and expectations within which they work, By creating the right environment, culture and systems, your company will respond to change more quickly, instigate new market standards and become the dominant player – in short, you’ll outdo the competition.
1. Systems thinking
Integrate all parts of the company – ensure that everyone and all processes are synced and are capable of continual learning and creating new possibilities. Systems thinking brings all the disciplines together and, for this reason, is considered the essence of a learning organization.
2. Personal Mastery
The success of an organization depends completely on enabling and empowering its people to learn, challenge and create.
3. Mental models
Mental models are the way we interpret the world around us and condition how we behave and react. While these models can be useful, we should not be constrained by them. True progress can only be made when we are liberated from following ingrained models and are free to explore options.
4. Building a shared vision
A shared vision gains commitment and motivates people to work well together and to think bigger. It guides people’s thinking, provides a rallying point for everyone in the business, and profoundly affects their decision-making. It’s as simple as that.
5. Team learning
Building creative and effective teams draws on many skills. Everyone should be working and learning together towards the same goals. By sharing knowledge and ideas, we learn more as a group than we would as individuals. Consequently, when companies ensure great teamworking, they are far more likely to be market leaders.
At the core of Senge’s Fifth Discipline is creation: it is not enough to be reactive; success requires us to be proactive.