I think, Richard and Doug, that the key to this might be that
organizational behavior is the result of subtle (and not-so-subtle)
activities occurring among the learning actors within the organization.
Individuals can learn independently of one another, while also learning
complementarily. Their collective action may indeed be an
organizationally-learned action that reflects the disparate learning among
the individuals. If this does happen, does this satisfy the question?
I also think that it may be difficult to observe this, insofar as we
create the possibility by merely asking the question.
regards,
Doc
Richard Karash wrote:
> In other words, rephrasing just a bit, "the extreme question is how can
> organizations learn even if the individual people in the organizations do
> not learn."
>
> I've been puzzling over this question for a while. A recent interaction
> with Doug brought it out again.
>
> So, I'm going back to the LO list with this... Thinking about this might
> help us identify the mechanisms and disciplines that produce organizational
> (as distinct from individual) learning. A sort of thought experiment...
>
> Now, beyond the thought experiment, I doubt we could find relevant examples
> in which org learning occured but individual learning did not. That is,
> where the org increased it's capacity for effective action but no
> individual increased theirs. I say this because 1) I think the skills and
> pers orientation for org learning is so congruent to that for individual
> learning that we would see individual learning as well. And, 2) if the org
> has a capability, this would usually appear in an interaction with a person
> in the company (e.g. an interaction of a customer with a company
> representative). If the company can deliver, then usually it's through some
> individual who can deliver. There is an expansion of the individual's
> capacity for effective action which is individual learning.
-- "Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows." -Nisargadatta MaharajThresholds <http://www.thresholds.com> Meeting Masters <http://www.thresholds.com/masters.html> Richard C. "Doc" Holloway Astoria, Or & Olympia, WA USA ICQ# 10849650 voice 360.786.0925
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