Replying to LO26613 --
Dear Organlearners,
Doubglas B Reid <research@fleuryassociates.com> writes:
>I am looking for instruments for assessment of learning
>organizations. In particular, I have a client who is merging
>two forest products companies from different countries
>and wishes to measure the synergies between the two.
> Is there anything in the discussion threads along this
>line? I can't see a way to search them.
Greetings Douglas,
Your question is a very imprtant one -- is an organistaion a OO (Ordinary
Organisation) of a LO (Learning Organisation).
Because of Senge's ground breaking work, one may use the five disciplines
to determine wther an organisation is an OO or a LO. Eacch of these five
disciplines must be clearly observeable in any organisation to qualify as
a LO.
However, questionnairs based on eloborating on the five discipliens are
often failures and perhaps the reason for your request.The reason is that
such questionnaires are analytically orientated (break the system up in
simpler parts easier to manage). Actually, harmony between analysis and
synthesis are needed to distinguish an OO as a LO. The five disciplines
are not enough to identify a LO as a result of their analitical nature.
What we also need, is to be sure by way of synthesis. Senge advised most
intelligently that this synthetical identification can be made in terms of
metanoia. A LO always distinguish itself from and OO (Ordinary
Organisation) of the same kind in having ":metanoia".
An OO may fool us on the basis of the five disciplines that it is an LO.
To make sure that we have not been fooled, we also have to search for
"metanoia". This word means "meta"=beyond and "noiesis"=thoights. It means
that a LO will always have thoughts not common to OOs.
With care and best wishes,
--At de Lange <amdelange@gold.up.ac.za> Snailmail: A M de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre Faculty of Science - University of Pretoria Pretoria 0001 - Rep of South Africa
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