The learning organization

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A learning organisation is not merely an organisational system, it is an active philosophy; it believes that it's only competitive advantage is it's ability to learn; it encourages people to learn to produce results which they desire; it nutures creative and innovative patterns of collective learning; it develops fresh organisational capabilities all the time. New ideas are essential if learning is to take place. Whatever their source, these ideas trigger and set off organisational improvement. However creating or acquiring new knowledge is not enough; what is more important is the successful application of knowledge in one's activities.

Before a Learning Organisations can be implemented , a solid foundation should be laid and this can be achieved by taking into account some certain factors: Firstly, awareness. Organisations must be aware that learning is necessary before they can develop into a Learning Organisation. This may seem to be a strange statement but this learning must take place at all levels; not just the Management level. Once the company has excepted the need for change, it is then responsible for creating the appropriate environment for this change to occur in.

Next the organisation would have to determine it's environment. Centralised, mechanistic structures do not create a good environment. Individuals do not have a comprehensive picture of the whole organisation and its goals. This causes political and parochial systems to be set up which stifle the learning process. Therefore a more flexible, organic structure must be formed. By organic, we mean a flatter structure which encourages innovations. The flatter structure also promotes passing of information between workers and so creating a more informed work force.

It is necessary for management to take on a new philosophy; to encourage openness, reflectivity and accept error and uncertainty. Members need to be able to question decisions without the fear of reprimand. This questioning can often highlight problems at an early stage and reduce time consuming errors. One way of over-coming this fear is to introduce anonymity so that questions can be asked or suggestions made but the source is not necessarily known.
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