Creation of a 'Learning Organization' for Businesses

Learning Organization

Employee Training and Development

Peter Senge and learning organizations:

How feasible is the creation of a 'learning organization' for businesses?

First published in 1990, Peter Senge's concept of a 'learning organization' has become increasingly important in the modern business world, although achieving this ideal can be challenging. Senge defines such organizations as entities in which "people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together" (Senge 1990: 3, cited by Smith 2001). The whole is greater than the sum of its parts and 'learns' to be adaptive to market forces, even while all individuals strive to achieve their potential. Although this sounds quite idealistic, a number of organizations are putting such ideals into practice.

A good example of a learning organization is Google which, rather than using carrots and sticks to motivate employees, instead strives to create a fluid and responsive environment where employees can be creative and work together. It even provides free food and fitness classes to create happy, productive employees who are focused on their work, rather than upon outside distractions. It allows employees paid time during the work day to pursue their own projects, based upon the belief that this can generate unexpected synergies for the company because of the new ideas and concepts workers can formulate. Google regularly invests in its employees, offering them classes not simply in skills specific to their job descriptions but also ones which more generally and holistically support creativity. For example: "CSI stands for Creative Skills for Innovation. It teaches Googlers how to solve a design problem under a very quick deadline, using non-programming tools like pipe-cleaners and modeling clay" ("11 Amazing things," 2015). Senge defines learning organizations based upon their embrace of what he calls the Five Disciplines, or the core building blocks of organizational learning. These include a shared vision; a willingness to challenge existing mental models; self-awareness about personal mastery; team learning; and systems thinking.

Shared vision and team learning are critical parts of almost all successful organizations today: Google once again leads the field in emphasizing this requirement, demanding that all potential employees show that they are 'Googley' in spirit, versus merely possess the technical qualifications to do their jobs. Googliness has been defined as the willingness to 'go the extra mile' for one's job because of sheer joy and an iconoclastic and creative spirit that can still be integrated into the team-based learning ethos of its corporate culture. On one hand, personal mastery and a willingness to challenge existing mental models is necessary to succeed in the highly competitive IT industry: Google is fundamentally an information and knowledge-based company, which is one of the reasons it places such a strong emphasis on finding the right employees and keeping them happy (it does not do so out of purely altruistic impulses, even if it famously vows 'not to be evil'). On the other hand, this Googley spirit also demands that workers have a similar personal ethos as one another and can work together to share a similar vision.

The need for a common sense of purpose is also manifested in the Internet shoe sales company Zappos' training approach. All workers are given the option of taking a bonus midway through their training, to weed out people who know they do not belong. Regardless of the position they hold at the company: "If you are hired by Zappos, you can expect to spend your first three-four weeks manning phones in their call center learning how to respond to customer needs… Upon completion of their time in the call center, Zappos employees are offered $3,000.00 to leave the company…If you haven't become a Zappos insider, committed to the goals and the culture, the company really prefers that you leave" (Heathfield 2014).