1. Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management Article # 4 – 6
MIS 580 – Knowledge Management
By Nichalin Suakkaphong

2. Agenda Teaching Smart People How to Learn
Putting Your Company’s Whole Brain to Work
How to Make Experience Your Company’s Best Teacher
12/4/2018

3. Teaching Smart People How to Learn
Author: Chris Argyris
Originally published in May-June 1991
Key Points:
The learning dilemma
How Professionals Avoid Learning
Defensive Reasoning and the Doom Loop
Learning How to Reason Productively
Professor of Education and Org. Behavior in Harvard University
Consultant for governments of England, France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden
Focus on problem of executive development and productivity
Received award from Academy of Mgmt for lifetime contribution to Mgmt discipline.
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4. The Learning Dilemma
Companies that try to become a learning organization tend to make 2 mistakes
They define learning too narrow as problem solving
They focus on external environment not look inward
Skilled professionals are good at “single loop” learning
Professionals become so defensive and do not learn
They assume that learning is a matter of motivation
Companies focus on building an environment that creates motivated and committed employees
Doom Loop Doom Zoom
Thermostat single loop double loop
Double loop learning is not a function of how people feel. It is a reflection of how they think.
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5. How Professionals Avoid Learning
Studied group: Management Consultants
Almost all of them got MBA from top 4 B-Schools
They highly committed to their work
They are well paid
Issue:
Continuous improvement program did not persist
Observations:
Consultants embodied the learning dilemma
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6. How Professionals Avoid Learning
The consultants were very defensive in the post-project continuous improvement meeting.
“The client didn’t think we could help them.”
“At times, our managers were not up to speed before they walked into the client meetings”
“Our leaders are unavailable and distant.”
Consultant
They projected the blame for any problems away from themselves
They protected themselves
“Why they were defensive ???”
The problem with the professionals’ claims is not that they are wrong but that they aren’t useful.
- Not their attitude
- Not about commitment
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7. Defensive Reasoning “Theory-in-use” – to describe human’s actions
To remain in unilateral control
To maximize “winning” and minimize “losing”
To suppress negative feelings
To be as “rational” as possible
Defensive reasoning is used to avoid embarrassment or threat, feeling vulnerable or incompetent
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8. Defensive Reasoning More facts about consultants
Their lives are primarily full of successes
They are driven internally by an unrealistically high ideal of performance
They always compare themselves with other best around them
They do not appreciate being required to compete openly with each other
High fear of failure and a propensity to feel shame and guilt
But are these really make them become very defensive ?
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9. The Doom Loop Happens when they don’t do the job perfectly Symptom:
Bad-mouthing clients
High sense of despondency
Performance Evaluation also pushes a professional into the doom loop
Defensive reasons: “Subjective and biased”, “Up-or-out is inconsistent with learning”
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10. Learning How to Reason Productively
Companies can use the consultants’ self-esteem to teach people how to reason in a new way
Identify inconsistency in their espoused and actual theories of action
Analytical & data-driven
Start with senior managers
When making claims, use examples
When respond, respond in a kind.
CEO write a case and found it’s him who has a problem
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11. Summary The learning dilemma How Professionals Avoid Learning
Defensive Reasoning and the Doom Loop
Learning How to Reason Productively
Too short for recommendations
Talk about ACN BT Proposal Presentation day
Can this idea be used outside consulting firms?
How about other countries/cultures?
12/4/2018

12. Agenda Teaching Smart People How to Learn
Putting Your Company’s Whole Brain to Work
How to Make Experience Your Company’s Best Teacher
12/4/2018

13. Putting Your Company’s Whole Brain to Work
Author: Dorothy Leonard & Susaan Straus
Originally published in July-August 1997
Key Points:
The Creative Process
How We Think
How We Act
Caveat Emptor
Creative abrasion
analytical – intuitive
Conceptual – experimental
Social – independent
Logical – values driven
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14. The Creative Process Possible Outcome Causes Innovate or Fall Behind
Struggle to innovate due to “Comfortable clone syndrome”
Managers avoid clash of ideas
Everyone thinks alike
Struggle to innovate due to disagreement
Managers don’t understand how to manage employees with different styles
Employees don’t understand or respect one another
Successfully innovate
“Creative abrasion”
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15. How We Think Cognitive Preferences Cognitive Differences
Approaches to perceiving and assimilating data, making decisions, solving problems, and relating to other people.
Not skills or abilities. Not rigid.
Cognitive Differences
Varying cognitive preferences
Cognitive Distinction: Left-brained / Right-brained
Not accurate physiologically
Left > Analytical, logical, and sequential approach
Right > Intuitive, value-based, and nonlinear approach
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16. How We Think
Preferences reveal in work styles and decision-making activities
People tend to choose professions that reward their own combination of preferences
The best way to assess the thinking styles is to use diagnostic Instruments
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®)
Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI)
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17. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Very Clear
Clear
Moderate
Slight
Extraversion
Intraversion
Sensing
iNtuition
Thinking
Feeling
Judging
Perceiving
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18. The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument
Upper Left
Problem Solver
Mathematical
Technical
Analyzer
Logical D
Upper Right
Conceptualizer
Synthesizer
Imaginative
Holistic
Artistic B
Lower Left
Planner
Controlled
Conservative
Organizational
Administrative C
Lower Right
Talker
Musical
Spiritual
Emotional
Interpersonal
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19. How We Think All diagnostic instruments agree that:
Preferences are neither inherently good nor inherently bad
Distinguishing preferences emerge early in our lives
We can learn to act outside our preferred styles
Understanding others’ preferences helps people communicate and collaborate
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20. How We Act
Instruments will help you understand yourself and help others understand themselves
Challenge is to use the insights
To create new processes
To encourage new behaviors that will help innovations effort succeed
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21. How We Act Understand yourself Forget the golden rule
Identify your own style
Your cognitive preferences may stifle employees’ creativities
The biggest barrier to recognize the contributions of people who are unlike you is your ego.
Forget the golden rule
Don’t treat people the way you want to be treated
Tailor communications to receiver: analytical mind, action-oriented, people-oriented, or future oriented
Jim Shaw, executive vice president of MTV Network (left-brained guy in a right-brained org)
Jerry Hirshberg, president of Nissan Design Intl. (Opposite)
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22. How We Act Create whole-brained teams Look for the ugly ducking
Not just the right brain or the left brain e.g.
People-oriented person in mgmt team
Computer scientists & anthropologists
Computer scientists & artists
Left-brained designer & right-brained designer
Invites leader from various disciplines to visit for short “sabbaticals”
Look for the ugly ducking
If you cannot hire new people, look within your company
IBM Big blue
John at diversified instrument company -> 6 years to launch product
Hire 3 MBA, 2 engineers (all right brain)
Bob, entrepreneur -> Wally, director of HR
Start meeting with 5 min of dog kid station wagon
Reduce tension with workers
ZEROX PARC, Pavel Curtis (Comp Scientist) work with anthropologist to create virtual world
PARC PAIR (PARC Artist in residence) link CS with Artists (to influence)
David Riddle, director of Interval Research (multimedia tech company) -> short sabbaticals
Nissan > if hire one right, will hire another one left.
=====================================
The CEO of US subsidiary of Europe Chem. Company) See in the management level, and promote more right-brained.
(The company used to prefer left-brained)
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23. The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument
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24. How We Act Manage the creative process Depersonalize conflict
Clarify why you are working together: Common goal
Make your operating guidelines explicit
Set up an agenda ahead of time that explicitly provides enough time for both divergent and convergent discussion
Depersonalize conflict
Diagnosing and understand cognitive preferences
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25. Caveat Emptor
Personality analysis of type is no more than a helpful tool.
It doesn’t measure ability or intelligence
It doesn’t predict performance
Preference tend to be relatively stable but still can change depending on life experiences
Only trained individuals should administer the diagnostic instruments (Avoid misinterpreted and misused)
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26. Do you agree with all the suggestions?
Summary
The Creative Process
How We Think
How We Act
Caveat Emptor
Do you agree with all the suggestions?
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27. Agenda Teaching Smart People How to Learn
Putting Your Company’s Whole Brain to Work
How to Make Experience Your Company’s Best Teacher
12/4/2018

28. How to Make Experience Your Company’s Best Teacher
Author: Art Kleiner & George Roth
Originally published in Sep-Oct 1997
Key Points:
A Different Approach to Institutional Learning
Create a Learning History Piece by Piece
Why Learning Histories Work
The Future of Learning Histories
12/4/2018

29. A Different Approach to Institutional Learning
Not as easy as individual life experience
“Learning history”
A written narrative of a company’s recent set of critical episodes ( pages)
Developed at MIT’s Center of Organizational Learning
Used as the basis for group discussions
Based on an ancient practice: community storytelling
The Organizational Learning Center at MIT closed in July 1997.
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30. Create a Learning History Piece by Piece
Title
Full-column prologue ………………………………………… …...………………………………………..
Commentary, insights, and questions by the learning historians
Title or position of participant: Participant’s story with the use of quotations……………………………………………………………
Full-column interlude ………………………………………… …...………………………………………..
Generalizable lessons can also be provided by the learning historians here.
Title or position of participant: Participant’s story with the use of quotations……………………………………………………………
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31. Why Learning Histories Work
They build trust
They raise issues that people would like to talk about but have not had the courage to discuss openly
They have proved successful at transferring knowledge from one part of the company to another
They help build a body of generalizable knowledge about management
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32. The Future of Learning Histories
Learning history is emerging from its experimental stage.
We will know more about this tool’s effectiveness in several years’ time.
Do you think learning history will work for you/ your employer ?
What is the current situation of the learning histories?
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33. Questions & Answers References: Thank you !!!
HBR on Knowledge Management
Thank you !!!
12/4/2018