Business First September 2017 Business First September 2017 | Page 26
BEST PRACTICE
Leading a Learning Organisation
by Anne Phillipson Programme Director, William J Clinton Leadership Institute, Queen’s University Belfast
s I write this article, exam results are
being published, backtoschool
shopping is in full swing, and soon our
new autumn calendar of courses will
commence. The start of a new school year has
an energy about it, with the promise of
learning new things, meeting new people, and
new possibilities.
Does your organisation have that same
energy about learning, not just in the autumn,
but throughout the year? Would you describe
your organisation as a Learning
Organisation?
With the rate of constant change, the speed
of business, and intense competition driving
the need for innovation and continuous
improvement, all businesses must be
constantly learning, developing and growing.
Learning organisations provide work
environments that are open to creative
thought and believe that the solutions to
ongoing problems exist within the collective
brainpower of the team.
They organise themselves to be able to tap
into that depth of knowledge and problem
solving, knowing that good ideas and creative
solutions don’t have to come from the top of
the organisation.
Learning organisations are flatter, more
open, value learning, enquiry, action and
challenge.
Learning organisations think differently.
Peter Senge, in his seminal work, The Fifth
Discipline, describes five disciplines of
Learning Organisations.
A
1. Systems Thinking –the ability to see the
organisation as a whole, from a wider
perspective. This is important because
creative solutions often come not from
within a silo, but at the intersection of
different functions.
2. Personal Mastery – a focus on each
individual being their best self, striving to
reach their own personal potential,
committed to selfawareness and growth.
3. Mental Models –recognising the way we
think is driven by deeply held belief
structures, generalisations and blindspots.
So, to overcome our own flawed thinking
we need to be open to new ways of thinking
and sharing.
4. Shared Vision –vision cannot be dictated
from the top. If we want commitment,
people need to be involved in the creation
of the vision and see the possibilities and
benefits of working hard to reach that
vision. Learning organisations spend time
24 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk
crafting shared visions and thinking about
the future together.
5. Team Learning – with so much
emphasis and work being done in teams, it
is important that teams spend time
together learning new skills, reflecting on
past experiences and taking learning from
those. Teams that take time out are
undoubtedly higher performing teams.
If you agree with all that, and you are
thinking, ‘yes, please’, we could use some of
that around here, the next step is to think
about what you can do to shift the culture of
your organisation to be more open to
embrace and value learning.
Here are three ideas to turn thought
into action:
Communication is key. Promote inquiry
and dialogue. What technology or processes
do you have which allow the freeflow and
exchange of information across the
organisation?
Does everyone have access to business and
strategic information? Are there forums that
allow people