Hi, Kathy--
SmithK@act.org wrote:
> How does an organization perform/transform itself as a "learning"
> organization?
> How does organizational learning get communicated?
> What enables and constrains it?
> What does this group think of the idea that there is an inherent
> tension within the concept of organizational learning that must be
> negotiated in practice?
If an organization has a culture; if the people who comprise the
organization and create the culture engage in producing and sharing a
tacit understanding of who they are and what they do (as an organization);
if there is some sense of common or shared purpose in the organization; if
it allows information and energy to flow in and out (exhibits a
dissipative structure); and if the organization is adaptive to its'
environment and listens to its' internal needs--then it is already
learning and displays characteristics of a living, or at least, of a
complex adaptive system.
Learning is communicated through several means--I think one of the most
powerful means though is the internal sharing of tacit knowledge (informal
learning).
I haven't read the reference you cited (Weick), but I wonder if his
concept applies to self-organizing autonomous unities. If organizing is
antithetical to learning, then how do other living systems (like you and
I) learn? Perhaps there is "an inherent tension" that occurs internally,
requiring negotiation.
thanks for the questions--good ideas to ponder.
Doc Holloway
-- "It is a singular characteristic of love that we cannot hide it where it exists, or pretend it where it does not exist." -Marquise de SabliThresholds--developing critical skills for living organizations Richard C. "Doc" Holloway Please visit our new website, still at <http://www.thresholds.com/> <mailto:learnshops@thresholds.com>
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