Five Tips For Growing A Learning Organization

A while ago I posted a question “Your Top Five Tips For Growing A Learning Organization” to Learning Organization Practitioners’ Network – LinkedIn Group. Eight people were willing to share their tips. Now I have combined them to a one list of five tips.

1. Integrity – Quote from John Fleming:
   

   “Ensure that as a leader one lives the truth in their efforts to help the organization to be successful. There will be times when tough decisions have to be made and the team(s) need to trust that they are being made with the best interest of the whole and each of the pieces in mind. One has to be firm and fair with consideration for all the elements in the system of the business and the economic environment in which it operates.”

2. Senior Management Support – upper management need to understand and support the change in order you to get enough resources and power. From my own experience I can tell that you can start without it, but it is a lot easier if you have this.
3. Persistence – Quote from Calvin Coolidge:
   

   “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”

4. Shared Vision – a sense of mission, what do we do and why we do it.
5. Communication -open and honest communication. People must be able to talk about both negative and positive things openly.

With these in place, you can begin the learning and changing the way your organization acts.