Greeting to all.
Inspired by Michael Bang's post, the following object solution is
coded for your comments / critiques, to be deposited in Internet
Knowledge Database "Outsights - http://www.outsights.com" also.
[GOAL] :
If organisation culture is the "culprit", what should one do?
Transforming workplace culture or Culture shaping people behaviour?
[FACT]:
Organisation Culture
Learning Company
Sphere of Influence
[SYMPTOM]:
A business college on adult training for employed people in the retail
industry.
Focusing on the connection between the concept of Learning
Organisation, quality management and how to keep up motivation and
skills of teachers in college
It is found that the culture at work place is by far the strongest
force to influence human behaviour.
If you do not change anything in the culture you do not change much in
human behaviour just because you do some teaching.
It is of the opinion that the processes and job descriptions has to
changed, to be championed by either a manager or even better some well
known and respected employees.
You will have to focus on the things that the culture consists of in
order to able to change the output of the learning at a work place.
Citing example of client accepts their staff dropout from college, not
completing the adult training, still promotes the staff to be
managers.
An example of "people learn that they can do whatever they want
without anything happens." - dropout student mentality.
At college we stress on teams, but some team wonder why, i.e.. not
having common goal
So now we are changing the way the assignments are combined, so that
the teams feels that the have a common goal.
We do also ask students to come up with theirs which for the part of
the strategy that governs the assignment for their team.
Reference Pedler et al's book "the learning company" - focus on parts
of the culture which has to changed in order to become a learning
company
You can not make employees learn anything if you do not have a
learning company, implying culture.
[CAUSE]
Possible conflicting mental model and action : belief in the influence
of culture, yet carrying out adult training to a few students.
[FIX]
With the belief that culture is the most important influencing factor,
as a teaching college dealing only with a few students from client
organisation, a conflicting mental model and action in teaching need
resolving.
The client organisation whose collective paradigm forms the dominant
culture, already shapes the thinking of the few students. These few
students, even after graduated from college with new theories and
classroom practices, could still be swallowed by the client
organisation prevailing culture or un-learning company. (If it is a
learning company, there is no need to sent students elsewhere).
It is better not to focus too much on the theory of culture, as it is
a collective behaviour with emergent phenomena. Being collective, the
tendency is pointing finger away from self, depriving opportunity for
self-growth and learning.
Focus should be on the few students and the teachers, their learning
capability by their interacting relationship during the training
period. The objective is that the students become more insightful to
the theories from practice, thereby giving them the confidence to
increase their own Sphere of Influence in their own workplace, hence
creating a new emergent culture to counteract with the prevailing work
culture.
Andrew Wong
Organisation Observer and Thinker
Personal Coach & Organisation Coach
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5621 An associate of Outsights
http://www.outsights.com
--andreww@gateway2.petronas.com.my (Andrew Wong Hee Sing)
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>