...snip...
>[Host's Note: I confirmed with Larissa that this is about job rotation as
>a means by which people learn the jobs of others. What's the role of this
>in Org Learning? ...Rick]
I believe this is an effective technique, albeit slow, to achieve the
following.
1. Shared understanding.
"I know what you mean, I experienced it too."
2. Transfer of tacit knowledge.
"I read the well written instruction many times, but I could only
do it well after a lot of practice." (Refer to Nonaka &
Takeuchi's book: Knowledge Creating Companies.)
3. Corporate memory.
Have you ever had your colleague, who is a specialist, leave the
firm? Or an account executive who's been managing a customer
account for years?
4. Process enrichment.
Job rotation also implies that more people will hold the same job,
over time, compared to non job-rotation system. Each person
usually brings in his/her flavor of doing things, and thus he/she
will enrich the way the process is performed.
5. Critical mass.
Theoretically, with job rotation, a 10-person firm can consist of
10 programmers, 10 accountants, and 10 environmental engineers,
etc. (Getting the same depth for all 10 would be difficult,
though.) This may lead to flexibility on the type of work the
firm can do, for example. (Consulting firms come to mind.)
Point 1 through 4 are especially valid for org learning, I think. I hope
others will add to the above list.
- --
Slamet Hendry (sh@earthling.net)
Jakarta, Indonesia
--"Slamet Hendry" <sh@earthling.net>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>