Designing the smart organisation

The 'strategist of the century', Peter Senge is a huge fan of learning organisations, and not without good cause. Senge defines smart companies as “organisations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together”.

Smart organisations have huge benefits both for the individual and the collective, which include an innovative mindset; being flexible and better able to respond to external pressure; a strong focus on the growth of quality; a strong people orientation with an accent on self-actualisation; and the ability to better handle change.

In his book “Designing the Smart Organisation”, Roland Deiser outlines an innovative paradigm of corporate learning that claims to help any organisation achieve remarkable results. Deiser abandons traditional thinking about corporate learning in favour of recreating learning as the core engine for building sustainable "strategic competence" into the DNA of a firm. In this approach, corporate learning becomes an indispensable enabler of continuous strategic innovation and change.

Filled with case studies from organisations like Siemens, Novartis, BASF, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, and the US Army, the book reveals how large-scale global corporations use the power of dynamic corporate learning approaches to drive innovation, enhance cultural values, transform business models, build technological expertise, foster strategic change processes, and increase bottom-line results.

The founder and executive chairman of the European Corporate Learning Forum and a senior fellow at the Centre for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Communication, Deiser is an internationally recognised expert on strategy, organisational design, and innovation.

Corporate learning becomes an indispensable enabler of continuous strategic innovation and change.

Mandy de Waal, ITWeb contributor

The paradigm shift in learning
To succeed or even survive your organisation must be able to learn quickly and change fundamentally. The overall context of business operations is undergoing “disruptive change”. Some of this change is political - for example, the world is still dealing with the aftermath of 11 September 2001 - and some is economic, but most of it is technological. As more of the global economy becomes information-driven, “knowledge-based” organisations are on the rise. This requires new business models. Companies must now emphasise “core competencies”, as each organisation's “periphery” becomes more important. You must educate that outer edge of your corporate community and encourage it to feed its new perceptions back to the organisation's core.

Most assumptions about what learning is, how it occurs and what constituency it should focus on are outmoded. People once saw learning as an intellectual, rational, classroom-based process. That needs to shift. The truest learning is “context-dependent”, knowledge gained through dealing with new experiences and perspectives, and weaving a “social fabric”. Boundaries are essential - not as limits, but as markers that show you where to focus your learning.

Dimensions of learning
Learning material in these different dimensions helps you embed the acquired knowledge in context and practice:

* “Topical learning” - Learn about a specific subject.
* “Analytical learning” - Gain understanding via new connections and perspectives.
* “Emotional learning” - Reflect on your emotions, experiences and standards.
* “Social learning” - Focus on human connections.
* “Political learning” - Study the structures that shape organisations or communities.
* “Ethical learning” - Consider ethical standards and the consequences of actions.
* “Actional learning” - Acquire knowledge through action. This capstone of the other forms of learning is a “meta-dimension” that cuts across all the other categories.

Apply these modes of learning to assess “people excellence” by ascertaining that your workforce has the necessary skills and knowledge. Then, evaluate “organisational excellence” by investigating “your business, reward and communication structures” to make sure they support learning. The most complicated domain is “strategic excellence”, which works to build leadership and develop insight. Address these areas with “the five level model of learning interventions”:

Real learning happens only when it becomes action, and it is through acting that we demonstrate knowledge.

Roland Deiser

1. “Standardised learning” - Use traditional schooling to teach general knowledge and basic skills, such as languages.
2. “Customised learning” - Modify learning programmes to meet your specific situation.
3. “Organisational change” - Use this learning-driven level to focus, in context, on the “tools, interventions and policies” needed to spur corporate transitions.
4. “Strategic business initiatives” - Apply learning (such as methods for developing strategies) throughout an entire unit of the firm.
5. “Engine for industry transformation” - Provide learning throughout an entire industry network, including other organisations. This takes acute political skill.

Often companies leave the challenge of executing advanced learning up to the HR department, which - alone - usually can't accomplish the goal of changing how people perceive learning. Learning is not just some programme before, after or outside of work. To demonstrate how intrinsic learning is, create a cycle where “learning drives business and business drives learning”. To make your business into an “innovation engine”, you need to become a “learning-driven” company.

Get the full abstract from Learn2Think. Simply go to this link, fill in the form and Learn2Think will e-mail you the full abstract of “Designing the Smart Organisation” by Roland Deiser, for free.