Intro - Graham Johnson LO408

Graham Johnson (felix@werple.mira.net.au)
Tue, 14 Mar 1995 11:30:46 +1100 (EST)

My Name is Graham Johnson and I work for the Australian Postal
Corporation here in Australia.

I work directly to the CEO on any matters relating to middle and senior
management.

Like many other Government owned business in Australia, Australia Post
provides goods and services in an increasingly de-regulated market (not
withstanding the boom growth in the message market). Less than 50% of our
business is currently monopoly and the level of protection of this
monopoly is being progressively removed to allow competitors into all
areas of the parcel and mail business.

As a Corporation we operate in a financial sense in the same manner as any
other corporation. Difference being we have one shareholder.

In a industrial relations sense, we have dramatically improved the
industrial climate between managements, unions and staff. We naoe have a
very healthy "bottom-up" industrial participation working environment
where staff/managememt teams address work place problems/issues.

This has been responsible for a dramatice improvement in financial and
service performance. Regular record profits, steadily improving
productivity, base postage rate frozen for 5 years, etc.

At the other end, we like lots of other companies are searchning around
for a way to address increasing change, to assist managers in becoming
leaders, etc.

We have managers many of whom were raised in the autocratic management
style and have difficulty or are unable to change.

But our workforce ( empowered as they are) are effectively demanding
change.

We have stumbled around looking at various forms of "leadership training".

I have crticised colleagues for our failure to spell out what change we
expect from such "training". How will behaviour change, how will we
measure it?

I am attracted to the work of Senge it that it suggests a much wider
approach. It fits well within the working title of an ongoing learing
process I am trying to set up under the working title:

FuturePost.

I am keen to know whether there are any Australian based companies
operating a "learninmg organisation" model. Are there any training
providers? Does Innovation Associates operate in Australia or have
affiliates?

Graham Johnson
Australia Post
Melbourne
Australia
Email:felix@werpel.mira.net.au
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Host's Note: Innovation Associates has some interesting discussions going
on about activities in Australia, but we have nothing to announce just
yet.

There are several Aussies on this list and I suggest they contact Graham
directly. And, do any of you know our friend Bill Godfrey, formerly a
commissioner of the Australian Tax Office, who is very familiar with the
Learning Organization concepts in a large gov't organization. Bill is now
a consultant, he has a writeup in the Fieldbook, and his address is in the
back of the Fieldbook.

-- Rick Karash, rkarash@world.std.com, host for learning-org
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