Learning Organization - Creating a Learning Organization and Leading it

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Knowledge economy, teamwork, Top management, learning, study, practise, I learned something, Jack Welch, Boston Celtics

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Exhibit 2
Team Learning at Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics (Celtics) is a basket ball team. This team is remarkable for the World championship era it created between 1957 and 1969. The team was number one in 11 of 13 seasons. How could it be? The coach of the team was intensely focused on the bringing out the collective potential of his team. Team learning was a key part of Celtics'every day practice. The coach along with the team used to explore various ways to improve their game, and tactics. Members had high level of solidarity among themselves. Retiring players used to give tips to new players on how their competitor teams are going to play.

The coach made sure that every player was on the team as long as he contributed to winning. Everybody's role in the team was clear. Bill Russell (arguably the best Basket ball player ever), a player of the team, recollects what his coach, Red Auerbach told him: "he told me that he was counting on me to get the ball off the backboard and pass it quickly to (other players). This, plus defense, was to be my fundamental role on the team, and as long as I performed these functions well, he would never pressure me to score more points. That conversation was worth a whole season of tactical coaching." In this case the coach is assuring Bill Russel that he need not improve his score at the cost of team's success.

Bill Russel further adds, "On the court, the most important measure of how good a game I'd played was how much better I'd made my teammates play."

Adapted from "Fifth discipline field book," By: Peter M Senge, Art Kleiner, Charlotte Robberts, Richard B. Ross, Bryan J. Smith, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing group (1994), p351.

Shared vision

Shared vision is not an idea. Simply said, it is an answer to the question "what do we want to create?" Shared vision is the pictures, and images that all the people in the organization carry.

Why is shared vision important? It creates a sense of commonality, and gives coherence to diverse activities. People who have a shared vision, hold similar picture in the mind. Common aspiration binds all the people who share common vision. Just as a personal vision derives its power from individual's deep caring for the vision, Shared vision derives its power from common caring for the vision.

Why is shared vision important for learning organizations? Shared vision provides focus and energy necessary to become and continue as a learning organization. The aim of a learning organization is to expand its capacity to create. This lofty aim is achievable only when people involve in something that truly matters them. Further on the path to become a learning organization, an organization is certain to face resistance from people who support status quo. The transition process needs the backing of shared vision.

See how shared vision promotes new thinking. Shared vision is a highly ambitious goal. The loftiness of this goal compels the people to thin k and act differently. Under the influence of a shared vision, people are more likely to expose their ways of thinking (in opposite to being defensive), forego deeply help redundant views. Finally, shared vision ensures long-term commitment as well. Exhibit 3 shows how shared vision propelled a major company into internet age.

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