Creating a Learning Organization

A learning organization manage evaluation of projects to capture and interpret information that can benefit future projects. Organizational learning includes both individual and collective learning, which are both important determinants of organizational effectiveness (John Hayes, The Theory and practice of change management, p. 487). The ability to learn is a key enabler to organizational success and competitive advantage. But managing the learning is difficult, which is why many organizations fails to do it or completely neglects it.

This article describes the importance learning in an organization, and how information is created, captured and interpreted, and used in future projects. It also displays the requirements for creating an learning organization, including trust and openness, challenge and involvement, support and space for ideas, conflict and debate, risk taking and freedom. Lastly it investigates the barriers to learning as well as the challenges there are in creating a learning organization, and how to overcome these.

Importance of Learning

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Types of Knowledge

Explicit and Tacit Knowledge

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Integrating Learning in an Organization

Valuable knowledge is thrown away

Implemented in all parts of the process

Peter Senge says "First, you must realize that the very idea of a "learning organization" is a vision"

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Principles for Creating a Learning Organization

1 Develop personal mastery

2 Build complex, challenging mental models

3 Promote team learning

4 Build shared vision

5 Encourage systems thinking

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Requirements

A Creative climate

- Trust and openness

- Challenge and involvement

- Support and space for ideas

- Conflict and debate

- Risk taking

- Freedom

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Barriers to Learning

1 Team based

2 Physiological

3 Managerial

4 Knowledge utilization

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Challenges in Creating a Learning Organization

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