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

outline Gap Quiz Experiment The Idea Characteristics and Tensions Learning Organization Academy Optional – Statistics Template

the gap An experimental quiz Optional – Statistics Template

quiz Think about a time in your life when you learned best. Optional – Statistics Template

quiz Name it in three words: “chess with uncle.” Optional – Statistics Template

quiz Pick one word to describe how it felt. Optional – Statistics Template

quiz Compare your feeling to your workplace experience. Optional – Statistics Template

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

the idea of the Learning Organization Optional – Statistics Template

“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 Schön, Beyond the Stable State Optional – Quote Template

idea Learning Organization: A collective enterprise in which continual learning is the organizational principle.

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

history Robert Hutchins, The Learning Society, 1968 Donald Schon, Beyond the Stable State, 1973 Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline, 1990 Edgar Schein, Organization Culture & Leadership, 2010 Optional – Statistics Template

characteristics and tensions Optional – Statistics Template

problem Learning is in many ways contradictory to workplace norms. Optional – Statistics Template

balance You need consistent activities for identity and coherence. Learning disrupts consistence. Learning Orgs balance these. Optional – Statistics Template

anxiety Learning new ways to work causes anxiety. Learning Orgs are open about this and help manage it. Optional – Statistics Template

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

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

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. Optional – Statistics Template

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

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

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 Quarterly town meetings Optional – Statistics Template

examples Building a DH community of practice Implementing “exploration time” Creating on-boarding program Visual thinking in portfolio project management Optional – Statistics Template

examples Revamping customer relations Finding ways to encourage creativity in the workplace Developing “learning” consultant team Optional – Statistics Template

Learning Organizations and You Colleen Wheeler, Wheaton D. Grainger Wedaman, Brandeis Required – End Slide