Douglas, and LO Colleagues,
First allow me to introduce myself.
Paul Schafer, the Development Officer of the Wodonga Institute of TAFE,
Wodonga Victoria Australia (TAFE stands for Training and Further
Education) www.wodonga.tafe.edu.au . A TAFE Institute is similar to a
Community College in the US and lies somewhere between secondary
school/colleges and University. Wodonga is on the border of NSW and
Victoria located on the Murray River
http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/nsw/albury
I am a Master of Education Research Candidate at Melbourne University
http://www.unimelb.edu.au investigating Computer Literacy, its
implications to distance education/learning and subsequent changes to the
structure of educational/teaching/training institutions caused by Distance
Education and the Flexible delivery methodologies. The Learning
Organisation has been of interest to me for some time now, which is why I
joined the group last year when I discovered it. Until now I have been
scanning the postings and have appreciated its content.
Now on to the comment/reply, The concept of what a learning organisation
may look like fascinated me.
A model I have seen and feel is very close to my perception/impression of
the LO is an amoeba like/type of object. It consists of flexible quasi
teams that form, perform and then disappear/move on having performed a
task or project. The team, as a group, learns the knowledge, skills and
experiences required for these tasks and then pass on this knowledge to
others within the organisation. There are effectively no boundaries
within the organisation, if you have the knowledge/skill your services may
be called upon to help any team and to pass on your knowledge to others in
the organisation. The concept/notion of department looses significance in
the organisation, the overall umbrella of the organisation becomes more
important.
The model does rely on very high motivation and well being of all people
within the organisation. The investment on people skills in a LO is I
believe a fundamental part of its effectiveness. The concept of this
motivation was shown by the illustration attached (PowerPoint).
You may move along the continuum between the two extremes. The LO has
according to this model a high level of "where you would like to be"
people and few "where you do not want to be" people.
It is the actions or your treatment within the organisation that moves you
along the continuum (either way) that is important in the LO. How you are
treated both by the organisation and its people. If your are "happy" your
performance increased and you want to support the team/group/organisation
any way you can. LO's use good feedback and comment to enhance performance
at every possibility. This effectively moves you towards the :-) end of
the continuum.
I found the concept and model very useful in describing my impressions of
the LO to others. The lead into the model was from the former structured
organisational model with departments. The skills within each dept were
shown in the diagram within the departmental area. Then links/bridges
between the departments were indicated to gain access to the skills
required. This model required several levels of communication through the
managerial hierarchy structure to become effective. The amoeba model
allows the team to grow and envelop the skill area required regardless of
where it is located within the organisation. A major part of this is the
need of the manager to apparently relinquish direct control of their
group, they become more of a team leader/mentor.
I have seen the model work with a production crew in a TV production
studio to overcome problems incurred during a limited time shoot to meet
the production timetable and deadline. It does work and relies on respect
of the other persons skills, knowledge and experience. Such an
organisation is good to work for or be part of.
The learning organisation I perceive is like a person continually learning
new skills abilities knowledge. Then applying these new experiences in
life, but what happens when learning ceases...Is life gone and what is
life? This opens up yet another concept that may not be part of this
group. However what happens to an organisation that does not learn or
when it ceases to learn?
Your comments/thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Douglas, you may like to have a look at
www.reciprocalfeedback.com they have a good evaluation process for
conferences, training sessions etc that lines up with the Learning
Organisation and collaborative teams. It is very effective and
generates a high level of constructive suggestions, Dr Peter Rennie is
the developer of the process.
Cheers
Paul Schafer
Professional Development Officer
e-mail pschafer@wodonga.tafe.edu.au
URL www.wodonga.tafe.edu.au
--Paul Schafer <pschafer@wodonga.tafe.edu.au>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>