When is LO inappropriate? LO13818

jon (jon_jenkins_imaginal_training@pi.net)
Tue, 3 Jun 97 06:19:36 PDT

Replying to LO13812 --

Bruce Campbell wrote:

> I'm working as a research assistant at Macquarie University, Sydney,
> Australia and am currently doing some work for a very large Aust
> organisation.

> This org has a large number (some thousands) of customer liaison people
> who work over the phone. Some time ago they were "multi-skilled" so that
> they are now required to know a greater number of products and in more
> depth. At the same time the guts were ripped out of middle management in
> that area. The end result is that the org now has a staff turnover
> exceeding 100% per year in this area and workers with poor product
> knowledge and customer liaison skills. This is costing the organisation
> dearly!

Several other posts arround this issue raise several interesting
questions. I think that if developing a learning organization or learning
teams requires that people are interested in learning and in being in
teams there is not much development required. In fact I would wonder why
they don't already exist independent of any intervention.

I believe that learning teams require two conditions; a meaningful purpose
for the team to exist and a question that challenges their knowledge,
skills or attitudes.

A story about a meaningful purpose

Davey, a teenager, working in a seat belt factory began coming home later
and later. He began missing dinner. His mother began to worry about what
was happening so she, one evening made up some sandwiches and took them to
the factory. There was Davey putting together seat belts, rather boring
work. Davey's mother ask why he was working. The work was boring. He
said he was saving 20,000 lives a year. He needed to meet a quota and he
exceeded it by a lot.

Davey had a meaningful purpose as well as a concret set of goals. Someone
had elicited, (I don't think he was simply told) passion about his work by
connecting it to a larger purpose.

A question that challenges knowledge, skills or attitudes.

People, I mean adults here, seem to be driven to learn when faced with a
question, a demand that is beyond their capacity to respond effectively.
It cannot be so far beyond their capacity that it is impossible but it
needs to stretch.

If an organization is really interested in creating learning teams it
seems to me that these two areas need work.

I know that there are many other issues that prevent learning but these
two are necessary requirements.

Jon C. Jenkins
Imaginal Training
Groningen, The Netherlands
www.noord.bart.nl/~imaginal

Name: Jon C. Jenkins
E-mail: imaginal@pop.pi.net (Jon C. Jenkins)
Date: 08/03/95
Time: 17:42:04

-- 

jon <jon_jenkins_imaginal_training@pi.net>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>