In a message dated 10/21/97 3:17:33 AM, Richard C. Holloway wrote:
>Jerry Handford wrote:
>> While collecting and capturing data about the causes and corrective /
>> preventative actions of undesirable events certainly makes the data
>> available to others in the present and future, I wonder if it word truly
>> become part of the corporations "active" memory. My experience in an
>> organziation, that electronically documents all loss incidents (along with
>> their causes and recommended actions) is that the data is seldom used.
>> People very seldom access the information.
>
>My experience, though limited, parallels yours, Jerry. As I've read some
>of the other contributions to this thread, I experienced a great deal of
>cynicism concerning the ability (read interest) of new organizational
>members in using lessons from the past. Part of that comes from my
>academic background in history (yes, I think we're condemned to repeat
>them).
As I read this, I couldn't help but think the ability or interest in using
lessons from the past has to do with the *form* of the information and the
process to be able to easily retrieve it. I don't think people in general
want to read reports or take the time to search for the information.
But, having said that, I just recently heard about a company that is able
to put lessons into a database that other employees access on a regular
basis. The company provides total responsibility for desktop computer
systems for client companies including the software and hardware. They
don't want their technical reps to have to solve a problem that another
rep has already encountered before. The lesson gets put into database
that has easy access after it has been verified. My bet is that it is
used a lot.
If they can use this type of learning, what would stop a similar system
from being set up for other organizations/people? I think it gives us
something to think about. If the learning is easy to get to, I think new
members want to get lessons learned. I can think of countless positions
I've been in when a database of lessons would have been extremely
valuable. People don't take action where they see no possibility for
value. Perhaps there needs to be an educational process to support such a
database so people see the value and are ambitious about the possibilities
it can provide in the future.
-- Margaret McIntyre MargMcI@aol.comLearning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>