Roy Greenhalgh, in a very well-written message, includes this opinion:
>that which we call organizational learning, is really the sum of
>all the small scale learning that takes place....
Yes, and ...
Perhaps there is also an emergent component of organizational learning
that is different from, and more than, just the sum of the small scale
learning. After all, if organizational learning is nothing more than
small-scale learning, how could it last beyond the tenure of those
individuals who engaged in the small-scale learning? And yet, the goal
(if not the consistent achievement) of those who promote organizational
learning is to create knowledge that outlasts the individual knowers, that
somehow inheres in the organization itself and provides opportunities for
others/newcomers to engage in small-scale learning in the future that will
be more efficient than the original learning processes that created the
organizational knowledge.
I know that others who read this think this way. How would you describe
the nature of the emergent component(s) of organizational learning? In
what ways does organizational learning transcend small-scale or individual
learning?
--"John Gunkler" <jgunkler@sprintmail.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>