What is organizational learning

The world is more complex than century's ago , and is changing faster and faster . This is due to the new technologies and the increasingly global scope of our interactions . To survive in this world we have to continuously learn from each other and adapt, not only in our work lives , but also in our families, communities and schools!
Organizations -as a open system of people, which are together to fullfill a purpose -has to design themselves so that they can fullfill their function effectively, encourage people to reach their full potential and at the same time , help the world to be a better place .

Peter Senge has written in his book" the Fifth Discipline:The Art &Practice of the Learning Organization " five coredisciplines to be practiced  , so that each organisation or business community can survive and grow in our world of tomorrow:

- Systems Thinking
- Team learning
- Shared vision
- Mental models
- Personal mastery 


I will not expand on these , but there are other that support the above five , but also  necessary to be succesfull in applying those five !!

1.Corporate Culture:

The intangible "something" that shape our behaviors and influences the environment inwhich we work today . this refers to policies, beliefs, values , convinctions that define a organization  identity.

2.Social Responsability:

As all systems belongs to other bigger systems, the question has to be asked how the organisation fits into the larger social picture. What is the impact on environment, other community's , family's

3. Communication by dialogue:

In order to work as a team , communication has to be a two-way street stimulating questions so that we can come to dialogue.

4. Leadership:

As described in the book"Good to great" , leaders has to move to level 5: Seeing the business as a system, beyond the borders of the company. They should moving away from control managementstructures toward more fluid , selforganizing structures

5. Sustainability:

Design organizations that respect and balance human needs with the natural cycles and limitations of our planet.

6. Work/life balance:

The two systems cannot be seen anymore as two seperate one s, with their boundary's .A interrelationship between both purposes has to be defined .



Because everything is really connected( systems theorie), a organization will apply a real learning process in all of the above points, rather than tackling them in isolation.
Putting everything in alignment will really improve the learning capability!!