Stewarding the learning process

mdarling@warren.med.harvard.edu
Tue, 24 Jan 95 17:45:19 EST

I was impressed by Wiggo Hustad's comment about the challenge of helping
two sides respect how the other came to conclusions that make sense to
them. He wrote:

"Isn't it fun (or sad) to see that we are so unable to take care of what
is previously learned."

I find a nugget here that helps me define a learning-ful organization. It
has about it the quality of respectful caring for the learning that has
occurred before -- as if each person is a steward of, not only the
information or even the knowledge of the organization, but of the LEARNING
of the organization. If we think again about the idea that we need to
manage processes, not functions, then individuals in the learning
organization need to manage the process of learning (learning how to
learn) as well as the artifact of it.

Marilyn Darling
mdarling@warren.med.harvard.edu