Developing Learning Organizations

James V. Southern
Sergeant Major
United States Army

Organizational-Level Leadership
Framework for Improving an Organization
Developing Organizations and Leaders
Leading
Change

Leader
Development

Group/Team
Development

Knowledge
Management
Culture and
Climate

Critical and
Creative Thinking
DIRECT

Individual Technical
INTELLECTUAL
PRESENCE
CAPACITY

Organizational
Learning
Ethical
Alignment

Developing
Relationships

Organizational
Resilience
Extending
Influence

Shared
Vision

ORGANIZATIONAL
Organizational

STRATEGIC

Political Community

Leader Orientation
CHARACTER

LEADS

DEVELOPS
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ACHIEVES

Individual learning does not

guarantee organizational learning.
But without it no organizational
learning occurs.

Peter Senge in The Fifth Discipline

ADRP 6-22 Quote

The Army harnesses the experience of its people and
organizations to improve the way it operates. Based on
experiences, learning organizations adopt new techniques
and procedures that complete jobs more efficiently or
effectively. Likewise, they discard techniques and
procedures that have outlived their purpose. Learning
organizations create a climate that values learning in its
members. Leaders actively identify and support
opportunities for education, training, and experience.
ADRP 6-22, 7-17
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The Learning Organization

A learning organization is:

Creating, acquiring, interpreting, transferring, and retaining knowledge.

Purposefully modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights.

An organization that actively seeks to monitor change in the environment and adapt
and learn from the change.

An organization that is able to transform itself by acquiring new knowledge, skills,

or behaviorslearning is continuous, knowledge is shared, and the culture supports
learning.
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Characteristics
Characteristics of a learning organization:
Open to feedback
Fosters teamwork
Considers individual needs
Encourages initiative
Tolerates mistakes
Adheres to Army values
Others?
Cares for soldiers
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Culture of a Learning Organization

Very different from controlling bureaucracies
Characterized by a transformation of the relationship between
the organization and the individual
A culture of respect, dignity, and compassion
Learning not only connects us to knowledge, but to each
other

Impediments to Learning in Military

Organizations
Tendency towards anti-intellectualism
Rigid hierarchies threatened by criticism
Absence of a seat of learning by many militaries
Cautious to implement change
Prone to confuse progress with activity
LTG Sir John Kiszely, British Army
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espoused a goal of becoming a learning

organization but in practice has no system in
place to identify and reward leaders that attempt
to achieve this espoused goal.
Gerras

Organization Comparison
Traditional
Limitations due to
information
categorization
Schema and assumption
oriented
Leader-centric
Hierarchical interaction

Learning Organization
Less attempt to
categorize information
Broader understanding
of assumptions and
schemas
More focus on reflection
and inquiry
Value inquiry
Group-centric

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What makes a learning organization

different?
Learning organizations are guided by a quality-based
purpose, clear vision, and goals that are flexible and
dynamic
In learning organizations, planned and unplanned
human interactions facilitate organizational
effectivenesscollaboration and continuous problem
solving are normative in learning organizations
Members are self-managed and control systems are
designed to provide them feedback
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Learning Types
Single loop corrective pattern of learning that maintains
constancy by meeting predetermined goals
Often limits new learning
Emphasis on what to think
Double loop generative learning pattern that results in the
adoption of new goals and strategies
Emphasis on how to thinkreason to design and implement
their actions
Promotes evaluation of old norms and the creation of new ones
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In learning organizations, leaders must

Build a shared vision
Challenge prevailing models
Foster systemic patterns of thinking
Develop the individual and group capacity to gain insightful
views of current reality.
Be stewards for
Those they lead
The larger purpose or mission
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Building Blocks of a Learning

Organization
1)

2)

3)

Leadership that reinforces learning (CLIMATE)

Actively question and listen to subordinates
Supports learning opportunities for its leaders and people
A willingness to entertain alternate points of view
Makes learning a priority
A supportive learning environment (CULTURE)
Psychological safety (willingness to underwrite honest mistakes that do not result
from negligence)
Appreciation of differences
Courage (open to new ideas, not afraid to challenge
how their organizations operate)
Incorporates time for reflection
Concrete learning processes and practices (KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT)
Knowledge shared in a systematic and clearly defined way
The generation, collection, interpretation, and dissemination of information

Case Study:
The Decision to Launch Challenger

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The Decision to Launch Challenger

What were some of the contributing factors that led to the
disaster?
Ambitious production schedule
Flying with a known deficiency
Flawed decision making process
Inadequate procedures for reporting problems and faulty information flow
throughout NASA
mistake imbedded in the banality of organizational life and facilitated by
an environment of scarcity and competition, an unprecedented, uncertain
technology, incrementalism, patterns of information, routinization, organizational
and interorganizational structures, and a complex culture.
It was not amorally calculating managers violating rules that were
responsible for the tragedy; it was their conformity [to NASA rules and
regulations].
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The Decision to Launch Challenger

You just became the first Sergeant Major for the director of
NASA. What do you see as the most critical organizational-level
leadership challenge and why?
In any organization, how do you balance long-term
development with achieving short-term results?

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