CHANGE AND CULTURE STUDY CASE

Change and Culture Study Case

Change and Culture Study

Learning organizations are not simply the most fashionable or current management trend, they can provide work environments that are open to creative thought, and embrace the concept that solutions to ongoing work-related problems are available inside each and every one of us. All we must do is tap into the knowledge base, which gives us the "ability to think critically and creatively, the ability to communicate ideas and concepts, and the ability to cooperate with other human beings in the process of inquiry and action (Navran Associates Newsletter 1993).

A learning organization is one that seeks to create its own future; that assumes learning is an ongoing and creative process for its members; and one that develops, adapts, and transforms itself in response to the needs and aspirations of people, both inside and outside itself ( Navran Associates Newsletter 1993).

What learning organizations do is set us free because employees no longer have to be passive players in the equation; they will learn to express ideas and challenge themselves (Garvin, David. 1994: 19-28)

to contribute to an improved work environment by participating in a paradigm shift from the traditional authoritarian workplace philosophy to one where the hierarchy is broken down, and human potential is heralded. Learning organizations foster an environment wherein people can "create the results they truly desire," and where they can learn to learn together for the betterment of the whole (Rheem 1995,10).

Peter Senge is a leading writer in the area of learning organizations, whose seminal works The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, and The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization explain that there are five disciplines, which must be mastered when introducing such an organization:

Systems Thinking - the ability to see the big picture, and to distinguish patterns instead of conceptualizing change as isolated events. Systems thinking needs the other four disciplines to enable a learning organization to come about. There must be a paradigm shift - from being unconnected to interconnected to the whole, and from blaming our problems on something external, to a realization that how we operate, our actions, can create problems (Senge 1990,10).

Personal Mastery - begins "by becoming committed to . . . lifelong learning," and is the spiritual cornerstone of a learning organization. Personal Mastery involves being more realistic, focusing on becoming the best person possible, and to strive for a sense of commitment and excitement in our careers to facilitate realization of potential (Senge 1990,11).

Mental Models - they must be managed because they do prevent new and powerful insights and organizational practices from becoming implemented. The process begins with self- reflection, unearthing deeply held belief structures and generalizations, and understand how they dramatically influence the way we operate in our own lives. Until there is realization and a focus on openness, real change can never be implemented (Senge 1990,12).

Building Shared Visions - visions cannot be dictated because it ...