Andrew wrote:
"IMHO, the above question reflects again our serious locked-in
paradigm of Management and Dealin with PARTS!
Which PART of our time for production?
Which PART for Learning?
Which PART for reflection etc.?"
I do not interpret this as a 'workload vs learning' issue. This is a
classic 'both-and', right? I need to make some product or deliver some
service, but I need to pay attention so that I can do it better tomorrow
since the world seems to change overnight! I suggest that virtually all
workplaces require some learning, ranging from 'a little now and then' all
the way to 'lots all the time'.
People who occupy positions as much-ballyhooed 'knowledge workers' very
likely do spend much of their time trying to integrate their experiences,
create new assocations in their minds, generate new knowledge. I do
occasionally see a problem where someone in a higher position in a
hierarchy does not seem to appreciate the day-to-day environment of the
staff below them. Perhaps for them, in _their_ past, it was routine work
but that same work may now have a much higher creative component for
someone else -- either because it's simply new stuff to the current staff
or because the world has changed and the old routines don't work. (See
"The White Collar Shuffle" by Larson, R. and Zimney, D.; Amacom, 1990.)
So if you find yourself in an environment that does _not_ appreciate that
learning is indeed part of the job, and that the system that promotes
learning has a future-orientation, and that it requires current time
allocation and un-directed conversation, and that it may need some
adjustments to incentives or recognition, etc . . . then you find
yourself in trouble.
So who has the 'systems model' that examines learning in an organization?
What are the key variables? The mental models?
Michael A
--Michael Ayers mbayers@mmm.com Voice (612) 733-5690 FAX (612) 737-7718 IT Educ & Perf Svcs\3M Center 224-2NE-02\PO Box 33224\St Paul MN 55133-3224 "Sometimes the right question is, 'Are we asking the right question?'" Ideas contained in this note represent the author's opinions and do not intentionally represent the positions of anyone else in this galaxy.
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>