Sb: Organization follows Technology ? LO13334
Butch asks a difficult question.
"Do organizations learn differently from people? Keep in mind an
organization is made up of unique people and technology. A slight
rephrase of the question. Do we really learn any different than we did
yesterday?"
My simple answer is 'yes' we do. It is difficult to identify universal
experiences that we all share and which demonstrate that. But think for a
mnute of playing basketball one person against one person. Then think
about playing -- and practicing -- with team mates. Do you learn more
from the latter? Most experts will tell you yes.
Try music. Do you learn more from working with others or alone?
Generally, the answer is that with others results in more learning and
more effective learning.
In mathematics, Uri Treisman who was at Berkely, showed quite dramatically
that learning increased in both quality and quantity when people had
well-defined roles as part of a learning team.
If you are asking if the details of learning are different, I cannot say.
If the question is about outcomes, then the answer is clear. Teams win
virtually every time.
It might be interesting to identify the counterexamples where team
learning is not as effective as individual learning. I leave that as a
homework exercise for someone to work out alone.
-- Rol Fessenden 76234.3636@compuserve.comLearning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>