buildingalearningorganization

Learning Organisation

Learning OrganisationGravin Defines the learning organisation as follows:Learning organisation is skilled at five main activities such as1. Systematic Problem Solving2. Experimentation with new approaches3. Learning from past experiences4. Learning from best practices from others5. Transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently

3 Ms of framework for Learning organisation:1. Meaning2. Management3. Measurement

No learning organisation is built overnight. Success comes from carefully cultivated attitudes, commitments, management processes that accrue slowly and steadily.Role of learning for improvementIts not possible for any organisation to improve without learning first. Its a first step in order to produce large result set for the desired output.Continuous improvement requires a commitment to learning is the basic truth of improvement.Basic functionality of organisation involves1. Solving a problem2. Introducing a product3. Reengineering a processThese all processes require a new way of learning, seeing the world with a new light and acting accordingly.

In absences of above, generally companies are found to repeat the old practices. Thus the change that is proposed remains cosmetic and improvement thus become fortuitous or short lived.

Analysis of 3 MsScholars are always found talking about various things regarding learning. Their discussion of learning organisations have often been reverential and utopian, filled with near mystical terminologies.e.g.Peter Senge with his book The fifth Discipline describes, where people continually expand their capacity to create the result the truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free and where people are continually learning how to learn together.Senge thus suggested use of 5 component technologies:1. Systems Thinking2. Personal Mastery3. Mental models4. Shared Vision5. Team LearningAccording to him, these 5 components play very important part in learning organisations, pursuing the goal with these 5 polished components takes the organisation to the new heights of achievements.Systemic problem solving toolsBrainstormingExperimentationPerformance Management

Characteristics-Culture to encourageProcesses for interaction in different functionsTools & techniques to facilitate

Steps to LearnLearn facts, knowledge,process,procedureLearn New job skills that apply to other situations as wellLearning to adaptTypes of LearningAdaptive

Caring

Innovative

Team BuildingAnalysis of 3 MsContinued...Nonaka characterised knowledge creating companies as place where Inventing new knowledge is not a specialised activityit is a way of behaving, indeed, a way of being, in which everyone is a knowledge worker.

All these examples are very idyllic and desirable. No doubt. But at the same time, they do not provide a framework for action. The recommendations are far too abstract and too many questions remained unanswered.e.g. managers cant answer the question like, when exactly company has become learning organisation? Or what concrete behavioural changes required in organisation? Or what policies must be there in place? Etc.

Most discussions of learning organisations finesse these issues. Their focus is high philosophy and grand themes. Sweeping metaphors rather than the gritty details of practice, three critical issues are left unresolved, yet each is essential for effective implementation.Analysis of 3 MsContinued...First is the question of Meaning. We need a plausible, well-grounded definition of learning oraganisation; it must be actionable and easy to apply.Second is the question of Management. We need clearer guidelines for practice, filled with operational advice rather than high aspirations.Third is the question of Measurement. We need better tools for assessing an organisations rate and level of learning to ensure that gains have in fact been made.Once these 3 Ms are addressed, managers will have a firmer foundation for launching learning organisations. Without this ground work, progress is unlikely, and for the simplest of reasons. For learning to become a meaningful corporate goal, it must be first understood.What is a Learning Organisation?Surprisingly, a clear definition of learning organisation has proved to be elusive over the years.Organisational theorists have studied learning for a long time; the accompanying quotations suggest that there is still considerable disagreement.Most scholar view organisational learning as a process that unfolds over time and link it knowledge acquisition and improved performance.

Some, for example, believe that behavioural change is required for learning; others on other hand insists that new ways of thinking are enough, nothing extra is requires to do.Some cite information processing as the mechanism through which learning takes place; others proposed shared insights, organisational routines, and even sometimes memory.And some think that organisational learning is common, while others believed that flawed, self-serving interpretations are the norms.

Due to all above conflicts in producing a single unique view on learning organisation, scholars have first considered a basic definition.What is a Learning Organisation? ContinuedDefinition:A learning organisation is an organisation skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge and at modifying its behaviour to reflect new knowledge and insights.

This begins with simple truth:New ideas are essential if learning is to take place. Some times they are created through flashes of insight or creativity; at other times they arrive from outside the organisation or are communicated by knowledge insiders.Whatever be the sources, these ideas are the trigger for organisational improvement. But they can not themselves create a learning organisation.

It has been found that all institutes, companies have been effective in creating new knowledge or acquiring the same, but all of them have one common thing, i.e. they are notable less successful in applying the knowledge to their own activities.What is a Learning Organisation? ContinuedTotal quantity management, for example, is now taught at many business schools, yet the number using it to guide their own decision making is very small.Organisational consultant advise clients on social dynamics and small group behaviour but are notorious for their own infighting and factionalism. And GM with a few exceptions (like saturn and Nummy), has had little success in revamping its manufacturing practices, even though its managers are experts on lean manufacturing, JIT production and requirement for improved quality of work life.Organisations that do pass the definitional test- Honda, Corning and general Electric come quickly to mind-have by contrast become adept at translating ne w knowledge into new ways of behaving.These companies actively manage the learning process to ensure that it occurs by design rather than by chance. Distinctive policies and practices are responsible for their success, they form the building blocks of learning organisation.Building BlocksLearning Organisations are skilled at five main activities:1. Systematic Problem Solving2. Experimentation with new approaches3. Learning from past experiences4. Learning from best practices from others5. Transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently

Each of these is accompanied by a distinctive mind-set, tool kit, pattern behaviour.Many companies practice these activities as learning organisations.But only few of them are consistently successful because they rely largely on happenstances and isolated examples.Systems and processes that support these activities are created and integrated them into a whole system to support daily operations.Systematic Problem SolvingThis is the first activity. It hugely relies on philosophy and methods of quality movement. This idea is broken down into various parts which in turn make this idea a huge success.1. Relying on scientific method rather than guess work for diagnosing problems. It helps in understanding the root cause and thus improves efficiency of problem solving. (what Deming calls the plan, do, check, act cycle is applicable over here).

2. Insisting on data rather than assumptions. Having a concrete data helps to analyse the situation in better way. It also helps in decision making considerably as decisions made based on factual data are always far efficient and accurate than those which are made based on assumptions (Fact based management).

3. Use of simple statistical tools like histogram, pareto charts, regression, correlation, cause and effect diagrams etc.Systematic Problem Solving continuedMost training programs focuses on problem solving techniques using standard day to day life examples which helps to understand the concept in much simpler way. These tools are very effective and also relatively straight forward and thus are easily communicated.Accuracy and precision are essential for learning. Employees must therefore become more disciplined in their thinking and more attentive to details.

5 Wh type questions are always useful in this kind of approach. They areWho, What, Why, Where, When and HowThus answers to all these questions effectively produce good results for this technique.Systematic Problem Solving - Xerox MachineLets analyse famous Xerox machine case which made use of problem solving process.Step by step approachStep to be takenIdentify & select problemQuestion to be answeredWhat do we want to change?Expansion/divergenceLots of problems for considerationContraction/ConvergenceOne problem statement. One Desired state agreed uponWhats next?Identify the gap.Systematic Problem Solving - Xerox Machine continued2nd step in Xerox machine progress is as follows:Step by step approachStep to be takenAnalyse ProblemQuestion to be answeredWhats preventing us from reaching the Desired State?Expansion/divergenceLots of potential causes identified.Contraction/ConvergenceKey causes to be identified and verifiedWhats next?Key causes documented and ranked.Systematic Problem Solving - Xerox Machine continued3rd step in Xerox machine progress deals with solution generation. This is most important step as solutions generated in this step will only be considered while making selection for the final solution:Step by step approachStep to be takenGenerate Potential SolutionQuestion to be answeredHow could we make the changes?Expansion/divergenceLots of ideas on how to solve the problem.Contraction/ConvergencePotential solutions clarified.Whats next?Solution ListSystematic Problem Solving - Xerox Machine continued4th step: selecting the most appropriate solution amongst the various solutions:Step by step approachStep to be takenSelect and plan the solutionQuestion to be answeredWhat is the best way to do it?Expansion/divergenceLots of criteria for evaluating potential solution.Lots of ideas on how to implement and evaluate the selected solution.Contraction/ConvergenceCriteria to use for evaluating the solutions is agreed up on.Implement and evaluate plans agreed upon.Whats next?Monitor the change.Evaluate solution effectivenessSystematic Problem Solving - Xerox Machine continued5th step: Implementing the solution selected:Step by step approachStep to be takenImplement the solutionQuestion to be answeredAre we following the plan?Expansion/divergenceContraction/ConvergenceImplementation of agreed-on contingency plan.Whats next?Solution in placeSystematic Problem Solving - Xerox Machine continued6th step: Evaluate the Solution:Step by step approachStep to be takenEvaluate the solution.Question to be answeredHow well did it work?Expansion/divergenceContraction/ConvergenceEffectiveness of solution agreed upon.Continuing problems if any.Whats next?Verification if problem is solved or not.Agreement to address continuing problems.ExperimentationThis activity involves the systematic searching for and testing of new knowledge. Use of scientific method is essential. It takes 2 main forms:1. On going programs2. One-of-a-kind demonstration projects

Ongoing programs are series of experiments designed to produce incremental gain of knowledge. They are mainstay of most continuous improvement programs and are especially common to the shop floor. For example, corning, with diverse raw material and new formulation to increase the yield and provide better grades of glass.

Successful ongoing programs share various common characters:1. They work hard to ensure steady flow of several ideas2. Requires incentive system that favors risk taking.3. Ongoing programs need managers and employees who are skilled and well trained to perform the execution of the task.Experimentation ContinuedDemonstration ProjectsThese are usually larger and more complex than ongoing programs. These include holistic, systematic, system wide changes introduced on single site and often undertaken with the goal of developing new organisational capabilities.

These projects share number of distinctive characteristics:1. These are usually first project to adopt changes and implement the same for which organisation hoping to see new effects and implement the changes in new system. Involve Learning by doing considerably.2. Establish policy guidelines and decision rules for later projects of the organisation.3. Often encounter severe tests of commitment from employees who wish to see whether the changed rules have been implemented.4. They are normally developed by several strong multi-functioning teams reporting directly to the senior management.5. They tend to have only limited impact on the rest of the organisational behaviour if they are not accomplished by explicit strategies for transferring learning.3. Learning from Past ExperienceThis is the 3rd of the five main activities at which Learning Organizations are skilled.

Companies must review their successes and failures , assess them systematically, and record the lessons in a form that employees find open and accessible.

One expert has called this process the Santayana Review, citing the famous philosopher George Santayana, who coined the phrase Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Regrettably, too many managers today are indifferent, even hostile, to the past, and by failing to reflect on it, they let valuable knowledge escape.

23IBM 360 Computer SeriesA study of more than 150 new products concluded that the knowledge gained from failures is often instrumental in achieving subsequent success.

This can be simplified by summarizing that Failure is the Ultimate Teacher.

For example: IBMs 360 computer series which was one of the most popular and profitable ones was based on the technology of the failed Stretch computer that preceded it. In this case, as in many others, learning occurred by chance rather than by careful planning.

24BOEINGHowever, a few companies have established processes that need their managers to periodically think about the past and learn from their mistakes.

For example: Boeing 737 and 747 Both planes were introduced with much fanfare and with serious problems. Project Homework, a high-level employee group, was commissioned by senior managers to ensure that the problems were not repeated.

Project Homework compared the development processes of the 737 and 747 with those of the 707 and 727 which were the companys two most profitable planes.

After working for 3 years, they produced hundreds of recommendations and an inch-thick booklet; several members of the team were then transferred to the 757 and 767 start-ups, and guided by experience they produced the most successful, error-free launches in Boeings history.

25XEROXSimilar retrospective approach adopted by other companies like Xerox, which, like Boeing, studied its product development process, examining 3 troubled products in an effort to understand Why the companys new business initiatives failed so often?

Senior management invited ADL(Arthur D. Little consulting company which focused on its past successes) consultants from around the world to a 2-day jamboree, featuring booths and presentations documenting a wide range of the companys most successful practices, publications and techniques.

26British PetroleumBP established a post-project appraisal unit to review major investment projects, write-up case studies and derive lessons for planners that were incorporated into revisions of the companys planning guidelines.

For this, a 5-person unit reported to the board of directors and reviewed 6 projects annually. The bulk of the time was spent in the field interviewing managers and such type of review is conducted regularly at project level.

These approaches highlight the recognition of the companies towards productive failure as contrasted with unproductive success.

Productive Failure Leads to insight, understanding, and thus, an addition to the commonly held wisdom of the organization.

Unproductive Success Occurs when something goes well but nobody knows why.27Case-studies and post-project reviews can be performed with little cost other than managers time.

Companies can take the help of faculty and students at the local colleges or universities as they bring fresh perspective and view internships and case studies as opportunities to gain experience and learning.

Computerized Data Banks Established by a few companies to speed up learning process.

Paul revere Life Insurance Management requires all problem-solving teams to complete short registration forms describing their proposed projects if they hope to qualify for the companys award program.

The company then enters these forms into its computer system and can immediately retrieve a listing of other groups of people who have worked or are working on the topic, along with a contact person. They can then call up the person with the required relevant experience.284. Learning from OthersApart from the learning through reflection and self-analysis, sometimes, the most powerful insights come from looking outside ones immediate environment to gain a new perspective.

It is also referred to as SIS Stealing Ideas Shamefully. Even companies in completely different businesses can be fertile sources of ideas and catalysts for creative thinking.

29BenchmarkingBenchmarking helps in understanding practices rather than observing results.

It is a disciplined process which:Begins with a thorough search to identify best-practice organizationsContinues with careful study of ones own practices and performanceProgresses through systematic site visits and interviewsConcludes with an analysis of results, development of recommendations, and implementation

It may be time-consuming, but it may not be terribly expensive.

30CustomersIt is yet another fertile source of ideas; conversations with customers invariably stimulate learning.

Customers can provide:Up-to-date product informationCompetitive comparisonsInsights into changing preferencesImmediate feedbacks about service and patterns of use.

Companies need these insights at all levels, from executive suite to shop floor.

At Motorola, members of Operating and Policy committee, including the CEO, meet personally, on a regular basis with the customers.31Customers (contd..)Customers cant always articulate their needs or remember the most recent problems they have had with a product or service. For that, the managers must observe them in action.

Example: Xerox employs a number of anthropologists at its Palo Alto Research Center to observe users of new document products in their offices.

Digital Equipment has developed contextual inquiry an interactive process that is used by software engineers to observe users of new technologies as they go about their work.

Milliken created first-delivery teams that accompany the first shipment of all products; team members follow the product through the customers production process to see how it is used and then develop ideas for further improvement.

Learning can occur only in a receptive environment. Learning Organizations cultivate the art of open attentive listening.325. Transferring KnowledgeIdeas carry maximum impact when they are shared broadly rather than being held in a few hands.

Knowledge transfer can take place through mechanisms like:Written, Oral and Visual reportsSite visits and toursPersonnel rotation programsEducation and training programsStandardization programs

33ReportsPurposes served:Summarize findingsProvide checklists of dos and dontsDescribe important processes and events

Reports cover a multitude of topics from:Benchmarking studiesAccounting conventionsNewly discovered marketing techniques

Now, written reports are often supplemented by Videotapes which offer greater immediacy and fidelity.

34ToursTours are a popular means of knowledge transfer, especially for large, multidivisional organizations with multiple sites.

To introduce to its managers to the distinctive manufacturing practices of New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI), its joint venture with Toyota, General Motors developed a series of specialized tours; some were geared to upper and middle managers, while the others were aimed at lower ranks.

Each tour described the policies, practices and systems that were most relevant to that level of management.

Reports and Tours are cumbersome ways of knowledge transfer. The gritty details that lie behind complex management concepts are difficult to communicate secondhand.

35Personnel Rotation ProgramIn many organizations, expertise is held locally: in a skilled computer technician, or a savvy global brand manager or maybe in a division head. Those in daily contact with these experts benefit enormously from their skills.

Their field of influence is narrow and transferring them to different parts of the organization helps in sharing their knowledge. Transfers maybe across different levels.

Example: A supervisor experienced in just-in-time production might move to another factory to apply the methods there. A successful division manager might move to a lagging division to invigorate it with already proven ideas.36PPG in ChehalisThis instance from PPG demonstrates Line to Staff transfer.

PPG constructed a new float-glass plant in Chehalis, Washington and employed radically new technology as well as innovations in HR management.

All workers were organized into small, self-managing teams with responsibility for work-assignments, scheduling problem solving and improvement, and peer review.

After several years running the factory, the plant manager was promoted to Director of HR for the entire glass group. Drawing on his experiences at Chehalis, he developed a training program geared toward first-level supervisors that taught the behaviors needed to manage employees in a participative, self-managing environment.

This example suggests that education and training programs are powerful tools for transferring knowledge but for maximum effectiveness they must be linked explicitly to implementation.37Xerox and GTEXerox exemplifies the implementation of learning. When Xerox introduced problem-solving techniques to its employees in the 1980s, everyone from top to bottom was taught in small departmental or divisional groups led by their immediate superior.

After an introduction to concepts and techniques, each group applied what they learned to a real-life work problem.

GTEs Quality: The Competitive Edge program: At the beginning of the 3-day course, each team received a request from company officer to prepare a complete quality plan for their unit, based on the course concepts, within 60 days.

Discussion periods of 2 to 3 hours were set aside during the program so that teams could begin working their plans. When the reports submitted by the employees were implemented, GTE produced dramatic quality improvement.38AT&Ts CQACQA Chairmans Quality Award, is an internal quality competition with a twist. The twist is that the awards are given not only for absolute performance but also for improvements in scoring from the previous year.

On 1000-points, Gold, Silver and Bronze Improvement Awards are given to units that have improved their scores 200,150 and 100 points respectively, thus providing the incentive for change.

An accompanying Pockets of Excellence program simplifies knowledge transfer. Every year, it identifies every unit within the company that has contributed at least 60% of the possible points in each award category and then publicizes the names of these units using written reports and e-mail.39Measuring LearningA well-known maxim If you cant measure it, you cant manage it.

Traditionally, the solution has been Learning Curves and Manufacturing Progress Functions.

Both concepts date back to the discovery, during the 1920s and 1930s, that the cost of air-frame manufacturing fell predictably with increases in cumulative volume. These increases were viewed as proxies for greater manufacturing knowledge, and most early studies examined their impact on the costs of direct labor.

Later studies expanded the focus, looking at total manufacturing costs and the impact of experience in other industries including shipbuilding, oil refining and consumer electronics.

Typically, learning rates were in the 80% to 85% range (meaning that with a doubling of cumulative production, costs fell to 80% - 85% of their previous level), although there was wide variation.BCG Experience CurvesDrawing on the logic of Learning Curves, firms like Boston Consulting Group argued that industries as a whole faced Experience Curves, costs and prices that fell by predictable amounts as industries grew and their total production increased.

With this observation, consultants suggested, came an iron law of competition.

To enjoy the benefits of experience, companies would have to rapidly increase their production ahead of competitors to lower prices and gain market share.Learning and Experience CurvesBoth these curves are still widely used, especially in the aerospace, defense, and electronics industries.

BOEING has established learning curves for every workstation in its assembly plant; they assist in monitoring productivity, determining work flows and staffing levels, and setting prices and profit margins on new airplanes.

Experience curves are common in semiconductors and consumer electronics, where they are used to forecast industry cost and prices.A few Concerns..For companies hoping to become Learning Organizations, these measures are incomplete.

They focus on only a single measure of output (cost or price) and ignore learning that affects other competitive variables like quality, delivery or new product introductions.

They suggest only one possible learning driver (total production volumes) and ignore both the possibility of learning in mature industries, where output is flat, and the possibility that learning might be driven by other sources, such as new technology or the challenge posed by competing products.

Perhaps, most important they tell us little about the sources of learning or the levers of change.Half-Life CurveHalf-Life Curve, in response to the discussed concerns, was developed by Analog Devices, a leading semiconductor manufacturer, as a way of comparing internal improvement rates.

A half-life curve measures the time it takes to achieve a 50% improvement in a specified performance measure.

When represented graphically, the performance measure (defect-rates, on-time delivery, time to market) is plotted on the vertical axis and the time scale (days, months, years) is plotted on the horizontal axis.

Steeper slopes then represent faster learning.Half-Life Curve (contd..)Here monthly data on consumer service are graphed for 7 divisions.

Division C is clear winner: even though it started a high proportion of late deliveries, its rapid learning rate led eventually to the best absolute performance.

Divisions D, E, G have been far less successful.

Half-Life Curve (contd..)The logic is straightforward Companies, divisions or departments that take less time to improve must be learning faster than their peers, which will translate into superior performance in the long run.

The target of 50% is a measure of convenience; it was derived empirically from studies of successful improvement processes at a wide range of companies.

Unlike learning and experience curves, they work on any output measure, not confined to cost or price and are easy to operationalize, they provide a simple measuring stick and allow ready comparison among groups.Half-Life Curve - WeaknessesThey focus only on results.

Some types of knowledge take years to digest, with a few visible changes in performance for longer periods. Creating a total quality culture, for instance, or developing new approaches to product development are difficult systemic changes.

Because of their long gestation periods, half-life curves or any other measures focused solely on results are unlikely to capture any short-run learning that has occurred.

A more comprehensive framework is needed to track progress.Organizational Learning StagesOrganizational learning can be traced through 3 overlapping stages:

Cognitive Members of the organization are exposed to new ideas, expand their knowledge, and begin to think differently.

Behavioral Employees begin to internalize new insights and alter their behavior.

Performance Improvement With changes in behavior leading to measurable improvements in results: superior quality, better delivery, increased market share, or tangible gains.

Because cognitive and behavioral changes typically precede improvements in performance, a complete learning audit must include all 3.Organizational Learning Stages (contd..)Surveys, questionnaires and interviews are useful for this purpose.

At cognitive level, they would focus on attitudes and depth of understanding.

At PPG, a team of HR experts periodically audits every manufacturing plant, including extensive interviews with shop-floor employees to ensure that concepts are well-understood.

To assess Behavioral changes, surveys and questionnaires must be supplemented with direct observation.Eg: Dominos Pizza uses mystery shoppers to assess managers commitment to customer service at its individual stores.

Other companies invite outside consultants to visit, attend meetings, observe employees in action, and report what they have learned.

A comprehensive learning audit also measures performance. First Steps to becoming Learning OrganizationLearning organizations are not built overnight.

Most successful examples are the products of carefully cultivated attitudes, commitments, and managerial processes that have accrued slowly and steadily over time.

To become learning organization: Foster an environment that is conducive to learning. There must be time for reflection and analysis, to think of strategies and invent new products.

Training in brainstorming, problem solving, evaluating experiments and other core learning skills are therefore essential.Steps (contd..)Another powerful lever is to open up boundaries and simulate the exchange of ideas.

General Electric CEO Jack Welch considers this such a powerful stimulant of change that he has made boundarylessness a cornerstone of the companys strategy for the 1990s.

Managers can create Learning Forums which foster learning by requiring employees to wrestle with new knowledge and consider its implications.

Coupled with a better understanding of the three Ms, the meaning, management and measurement of learning, this shift provides a solid foundation for building learning organizations.Definitions of Organizational LearningOrganizational learning means the process of improving actions though better knowledge and understanding.\

An entity learns if, through its processing of information, the range of its potential behaviors is changed.

Organizations are seen as encoding inferences from history into routines that guide behavior.

Organizational learning is a process of detecting and correcting error.

Organizational learning occurs through shared insights, knowledge and mental models and builds on past knowledge and experience that is, on memory.Stages of KnowledgeRecognizing prototypes (what is a good product?)

Recognizing attributes within prototypes (ability to define some conditions under which process gives good output).

Discriminating among attributes (which attributes are important? Experts may differ about relevance of patterns; new operators are often trained through apprenticeships).

Measuring attributes (some key attributes are measured; measures may be qualitative and relative).

Locally controlling attributes (repeatable performance; process designed by expert, but technicians can perform it).

Stages of Knowledge (contd..)Locally controlling attributes (repeatable performance; process designed by expert, but technicians can perform it).

Recognizing and discriminating between contingencies (production process can be mechanized and monitored manually).

Controlling contingencies (process can be automated).

Understanding procedures and controlling contingencies (process is compeletely understood).THANK YOU