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Summary on learning organisations

Topic: Learning organisations
by Ashish, 2018 Cohort

Note: This entry was created in 2018, when the task was to “summarise a key reading”, and so may not represent a good example to model current primer entries on.

Introduction#

Every organisations wishes to be successful, but many have no logical framework or structure behind how the wish to do it. All human organisations are complex and some are able to learn greater than others. One way of understanding the complexity of organisations is through research into how they function.

Peter Senge coined the term learning organisation and stated that learning organisations that are successful and competitive are those that have a systematic approach to learning.[1] To understand learning organisations, we must acknowledge that organisations are not full of fragmented and unrelated components, but a series of interconnected concepts.

Senges Five Principles of a Learning Organisation#

A learning organisation is interconnected by the five principles above. Personal Mastery encompasses an individuals desire to learn and improve, whilst forming a Mental Model involves reflecting on and scrutinising the flaws in an organisation. This, combined with a Shared Vision for the future, a Team willing to learn and collaborate and a Systems Thinking approach allows for a learning organisation to come to fruition. Senge asserts, that all his five disciplines touch on aspects people care about and when all five elements of the process co-exist, there is a successful learning organisation which is absent of bureaucracy, authority or corruption.

A real-world example:#

Super-forecasting is a dynamic field which aims to predict the actions of political actors. Probability estimates are delivered around high impact political events such as the probability of Trumps approval rating increasing over two months after his election.

Studies conducted by the Association for Psychological Science, examined the drivers of super-forecasters. Their success can be attributed to the following four mutually re-enforcing explanations of their behaviour:[2]

• Superior cognitive abilities and unbiased mind-set.
• Task-specific skills and a willingness to learn.
• Motivation and commitment to a shared vision.
• An enriching team learning environment of varying expertise.

The above qualities of super-forecasting parallel to the inherent traits of a learning organisation. The super-forecasters ability to to make predictions accurately helps governments anticipate complex political problems. It is the systematic framework of thinking and learning capabilities of super-forecasters, that make them a successful learning organisation.

Barriers to a Learning Organisation#

For commentators like Fielding, Senges theory on learning organisations is flawed in pointing to an ambition which is overreaching.[3] Senge provides many assumptions, overlooking many aspects of rational behaviour and company power structures. Taking the aforementioned example of super-forecasters, it is incommensurable to assume that all members of a company will agree to the same idea and with the same standard. Fielding disagrees that learning is a process of removing false perceptions, but is rather a process where individuals come to terms with different rationalities towards an idea.

To conclude, the goal of a learning organisation is not perfectionism, but rather a long-term process of learning and bettering. The feasibility of Senges research on organisations of today is limited. His work is more about creativity and the potential of individuals to work together and less about financial gains of productivity or profit. His principles promise an unfettered optimism which may instil a false sense of hope in many organisations which strive to be perfect. Nonetheless, in the highly unpredictable world we live in today, learning organisations may provide a systematic solution to combat complex problems we will face in the future.

[1] Senge, P.M. 1992; 1990, The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organization, Century Business, London. [2] Mellers.B et al (2015). Identifying and Cultivating Forecasters as a Method of Improving Probabilities.Pennsyvania. SAGE,272-275. [3] Fielding,M 2001, Learning Organisations or a Learning Community? A critique of Senge,Reason in Practise, vol.1, no.2, pp. 21-23.

Explore this topic further#

• Wikipedia entry on Learning Organisations{.link-ext target=”_blank” }
• Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline, Chapter 4{.link-ext target=”_blank” } on learning organisations

Return to Learning organisations in the Primer

Disclaimer#

This content has been contributed by a student as part of a learning activity.
If there are inaccuracies, or opportunities for significant improvement on this topic, feedback is welcome on how to improve the resource.
You can improve articles on this topic as a student in "Unravelling Complexity", or by including the amendments in an email to: Chris.Browne@anu.edu.au

Note: This entry was created in 2018, when the task was to “summarise a key reading”, and so may not represent a good example to model current primer entries on.

Introduction#

Every organisations wishes to be successful, but many have no logical framework or structure behind how the wish to do it. All human organisations are complex and some are able to learn greater than others. One way of understanding the complexity of organisations is through research into how they function.

Peter Senge coined the term learning organisation and stated that learning organisations that are successful and competitive are those that have a systematic approach to learning.[1] To understand learning organisations, we must acknowledge that organisations are not full of fragmented and unrelated components, but a series of interconnected concepts.

Senges Five Principles of a Learning Organisation#

A learning organisation is interconnected by the five principles above. Personal Mastery encompasses an individuals desire to learn and improve, whilst forming a Mental Model involves reflecting on and scrutinising the flaws in an organisation. This, combined with a Shared Vision for the future, a Team willing to learn and collaborate and a Systems Thinking approach allows for a learning organisation to come to fruition. Senge asserts, that all his five disciplines touch on aspects people care about and when all five elements of the process co-exist, there is a successful learning organisation which is absent of bureaucracy, authority or corruption.

A real-world example:#

Super-forecasting is a dynamic field which aims to predict the actions of political actors. Probability estimates are delivered around high impact political events such as the probability of Trumps approval rating increasing over two months after his election.

Studies conducted by the Association for Psychological Science, examined the drivers of super-forecasters. Their success can be attributed to the following four mutually re-enforcing explanations of their behaviour:[2]

• Superior cognitive abilities and unbiased mind-set.
• Task-specific skills and a willingness to learn.
• Motivation and commitment to a shared vision.
• An enriching team learning environment of varying expertise.

The above qualities of super-forecasting parallel to the inherent traits of a learning organisation. The super-forecasters ability to to make predictions accurately helps governments anticipate complex political problems. It is the systematic framework of thinking and learning capabilities of super-forecasters, that make them a successful learning organisation.

Barriers to a Learning Organisation#

For commentators like Fielding, Senges theory on learning organisations is flawed in pointing to an ambition which is overreaching.[3] Senge provides many assumptions, overlooking many aspects of rational behaviour and company power structures. Taking the aforementioned example of super-forecasters, it is incommensurable to assume that all members of a company will agree to the same idea and with the same standard. Fielding disagrees that learning is a process of removing false perceptions, but is rather a process where individuals come to terms with different rationalities towards an idea.

To conclude, the goal of a learning organisation is not perfectionism, but rather a long-term process of learning and bettering. The feasibility of Senges research on organisations of today is limited. His work is more about creativity and the potential of individuals to work together and less about financial gains of productivity or profit. His principles promise an unfettered optimism which may instil a false sense of hope in many organisations which strive to be perfect. Nonetheless, in the highly unpredictable world we live in today, learning organisations may provide a systematic solution to combat complex problems we will face in the future.

[1] Senge, P.M. 1992; 1990, The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organization, Century Business, London. [2] Mellers.B et al (2015). Identifying and Cultivating Forecasters as a Method of Improving Probabilities.Pennsyvania. SAGE,272-275. [3] Fielding,M 2001, Learning Organisations or a Learning Community? A critique of Senge,Reason in Practise, vol.1, no.2, pp. 21-23.