Learning Disabilities - "I am my position"
As we progress through life we are required to learn new skills
to advance to the next level. Even when we enter the working
world we are required to learn new skills. We stop growing and
advancing as soon as we believe we have learnt everything we
need to know. At that point we begin vegetating.
The same can be said for organizations. Every organization grows
with enthusiasm up to a point and then it slows and even stops.
An organization needs to learn to grow. When an organization
believes it knows everything it needs to know it will stop
growing. The problem, in the case of an organization, is that it
needs to learn just to stay in one spot let alone advance.
Think about how computers have changed the face of business. By
refusing to learn about computers a company today could not hope
to compete. Without computers there are very few companies that
can survive and thrive.
In 1983 a Royal Dutch/Shell survey found that a third of the
firms in the Fortune 500 in 1970 had vanished. They were not
just smaller but they ceased to exist. The survey estimated that
the average lifespan of a large industrial company is less than
forty years. Not long considering all the effort that goes into
building a company.
Peter Senge in his book "The Fifth Discipline" identifies 7
learning disabilities found in organizations. Over the next 6
eZines I will cover each of these disabilities. If you can see
any of these disabilities in your company then we really suggest
you put some effort into solving the problem. I addressed one
disability "The Myth of the Management Team" in a previous
article.
The best way we have found to create a learning organization is
through an amazing process simply called Best Year Yet.
Everything that is needed in a transformation is addressed
within the program.
Learning Disability 1 - "I am my position"
We are so loyal to our jobs that they have begun to define who
we are and how we think. Many people can't see themselves doing
anything else and when asked what they do for a living will
respond "I am an accountant" or the equivalent. They usually do
not see the purpose of the organization they work for or how
they contribute to the whole. Most see themselves within an
organization over which they have little influence.
A job is seen as that, a job - defined by limits and tasks.
Something which we try and cope with and do our time in,
according to the job description. Jobs and functions do not
overlap. We do not see how our job has any impact on another
function within the organization.
The problem with "I am my position" is that we see the
organization as a bunch of silos, none interacting with the
others. An accountant only does accountant work and a marketing
manager only does marketing work. The accountants are not
concerned with how their decisions impact any other positions or
functions within the company. They make accounting decisions
based on accounting impact and not organizational impact.
The other problem associated with this learning disability is
that people have little sense of responsibility for the results
attained when the different silos interact. They only see their
responsibility for their silo and no more. As a result when
problems occur it can always be blamed on 'someone else'.
Problems get lost and nothing is learnt from unexpected results.
A learning organization on the other hand ensures systems
thinking - the process of seeing the organization as a whole
interacting organization. Where each decision is evaluated on
how it impacts the whole. Holistic management in Best Year Yet
terms.
Do your people interact? Do they understand how their decisions
impact the entire organization?