By: Alex Jakupovic How Public Libraries Can Become Learning Organizations
Definition Organization that acquires knowledge and innovates fast enough to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing environment. Learning organizations (1) create a culture that encourages and supports continuous employee learning, critical thinking, and risk taking with new ideas, (2) allow mistakes, and value employee contributions, (3) learn from experience and experiment, and (4) disseminate the new knowledge throughout the organization for incorporation into day-to-day activities.knowledge environmentLearningorganizationscreatecultureemployee critical thinkingrisk takingideas mistakesvalueemployee contributions experienceexperimentincorporationactivities
The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (1990) Peter Senge The Five Disciplines: Personal Mastery Mental Models Shared Vision Team Learning Systems Thinking
Why is being a learning organization good for libraries? Libraries are always changing and need to adapt to strategies that will make the organization move forward. Problem solving is a productive and proactive process. Two types of learning that people experience Maintenance Anticipatory Senge says “Leadership is attending to conditions that would keep growth from happening” Libraries cannot afford the luxury of one person leadership
The role of library leaders The designer- builds foundation of core values and organizational purpose. The teacher (guide) The steward- protect the mission of the library
Strategies for library leaders Remember that: Everyone can be a source of useful ideas The people closest to the problem usually have the best ideas about solutions Learning flows up as well as down (commitment to learning) Open dialogue improves ideas A mistake is an opportunity to learn
Libraries and systems thinking can work!
Benefits of becoming a learning organization Understanding all the operations of the library and learning how they are inter-related Start to think in system terms rather than individual Adaptability Improve service People will resist what they do not understand Learning is not a destination it is a way of life
How libraries can be learning organizations Be a training department of one Get library staff involved (informal chats, coffee, lunch, 1:1) Start with one person and push forward Make knowledge available to everyone Training does not have to come from the upper hierarchy (brings creativity)
Obstacles for libraries to become a learning organization No one sees value in training Perception vs. Reality Each library is unique, cannot just copy other libraries versions of success Staff is afraid to talk openly Organizational structure
Examples of what actual libraries are doing Employee Annual Reviews (Denver Public Library) Learning Things (Charlotte, NC Mecklenburg Library) Lessons came in blog posts or podcasts Staff would have to create their own blogs in response and post it to the official 23 Things website. Participants went through the experience together Technology Director turned several topics into longer trainings