In his message, Gary says
> I'm very interested in hearing from the
> valuable experiences and insights of the people on this list about how
> they see the future, both for learning orgs and society.
I like to adress issues that force me to look at the big picture. There
are three angles I see worth exploring. First is addressing awareness and
spreading the message in the marketplace. Second relates to who of the
organisations is getting involved in the actual activity and to what
extent. This also includes looking at how open are they in talking about
their efforts. Third is the aspect as seen from individual perspective,
creation of networks and professional standards.
Let me relate to you the position in UK, at least as regards the awareness
through the situation in the market for seminars and conferences.
Overall, a growing number is addressing topics related to organisational
learning and knowledge management. They are aimed at management in
general, as well as HR and IT specifically. Just a few examples.
Next week (6th-8th March) in Sheffield is a conference organised by The
Learning Company on the theme broadly related to practical application and
implementation of organisational learning in practice. The organisers have
had over capacity registration (130 people, space for 100).
Week after, 11th and 12th March, Peter Senge is holding his once a year
seminar in London. Some 120 people have registered so far, which is a
significant drop on last year (over 200 attendees). However, organisers
pointed out that about half appear to have title of Director - signifying
increased seniority of attendees.
At the same time, last summer seminar with Prof. John Collins (author of
"Built to Last") attracted only 20 attendees - lost money to organisers,
but was most highly graded for value by those taking part.
> I've seen more people interested in learning, personal development,
> spirituality and the like than ever before.
Similar trend is clear here as well. It is not only evident in the
interest people show through attending courses and their increasing
willingness to be coached, but also in the emerging political debate on
stakeholder society.
This is probably enough for one message. Perhaps someone else would like
to address the other two perspectives.
--Lilly Evans "Tomorow's Leadership for Today's Companies" email: 100451.3477@compuserve.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>