Replying to LO28062 --
Recently Fred wrote:
> Finally, what's really interesting to me about all this ruminating is that
> I couldn't think of a single instance of the successful conversion of an
> OO into an LO. Can anyone point me to such example? Are there case
> studies of such successes? If this has in fact been done and something
> has been learned from doing it, why isn't that learning at the forefront
> of my own thinking.
While I can't speak from personal experience with them, the Brazilian
company Semco might fill the bill (president Ricardo Semler -- also author
of Maverick, which describes much of the horrors and success of the
transformation over several years' time).
The co. had something like a 40-year history as an OO, very traditional,
top down. Semler stood it on its head in the early '80s and shook.
Ultimately an organization that focuses on learning and self-organizing
(they must go hand-in-hand, I think -- no rote learning here!) has emerged
-- and continues to emerge. Semler refers to it as a "natural" workplace.
BTW, many of the spot-transformations seen at US companies like Harley
Davidson, IBM, Polaroid, etc, were initiated after sending representatives
to Semco to observe them in action.
Note, though, that I base this strictly on my reading of Maverick,
visiting various websites, and some communication with Semler. The book
is still written from Semler's perspective, and I've not seen anything
that reveals the experience of the workers there. So much of what gets
written about in the "look at us, we're great!" books simply represent the
intentions of the leaders, and their experience, rather than the
experience of the members of the workplace. I'd like to think differently
of Semco, though. As Omar Aktouf describes in his writings, such
development or evolution at work must be a lived rather than an
apporpriated experience.
Best,
Terri
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