9 Signs of a Non-Learning Organization

From the Idea Management Systems blog comes this post  The 9 Signs of a Losing Organisation

1. Fuzzy Vision
2. Lack of Leadership Skills
3. Discouraging Culture
4. High Bureaucracy
5. Lack of Initiative
6. Poor Vertical Communication
7. Poor Cross-functional Collaboration
8. Poor Teamwork
9. Poor Idea and Knowledge Management

Do any of these jump out at you? These are the signs of an organization that is having trouble learning. 

 I have been thinking a lot about #'s 6-9. Technology allows teams to connect to islands of expertise located in any geographic location. Technology allows teams to archive their learning and share with others. Knowing what others know and sharing what you have learned is what I refer to as Wisdom Stewardship. Technology makes it easy for individuals, teams, and organizations to be good stewards of available wisdom--to “Know What Others Know” (K.W.O.K.).

No staff knows how much they know until they know what each other knows. And I can guarantee that you know more than you think you know. (Read it again!)

Problems are another source of learning and knowledge in an organization.

New Problems = New Questions = New opportunities to share and collaborate = New learning = New Ideas = New solutions = New Knowledge

How is your organization doing? 

Catalytic Questions:

What places are you failing to look for ideas or answers to problems?

In what ways could you get curious about what your staff knows?

How might your assumptions about knowledge and ideas be getting in the way of learning from your staff?

What if you were able to know everything your staff knows?

What might you have done in the past that could be applied to Idea and Knowledge Management with your team? With your organization? 

What resources or solutions are available to you that you may have overlooked?

 

 

Comments

[G. Boettcher]

What metric would you use to determine a rating on these nine non-learning parameters? For example, what is a fuzzy vision and how do I know my org's vision is not fuzzy?

This topic could be expanded quite a bit.

Thanks,

Gary