Conscious or Unconscious LO LO6074

Dr. Scott J. Simmerman (74170.1061@compuserve.com)
09 Mar 96 13:56:07 EST

Replying to LO6053 --

In Conscious or Unconscious LO LO6053, David Birren writes in part:

>Perhaps an LO is simply a group of people who share as one of their
>operating principles the idea that they don't have all the answers,
>that they're better off keeping an open mind than assuming that they
>know all they need to know.

On this question of what is a LO, this has been (and should continue
to be) an interesting dialog. It's the core of the charter of this
forum.

My thoughts on this issue are that organizations need continued
objective discussions, constant sharing of ideas that are acceptable
and even controversial, consideration of possibilities for change and
improvement (organizational and personal), and a variety of other
mental processes such as innovative thinking, etc.

But taking it a step forward, shouldn't this group have *some* aspects
of this Learning Organization model and shouldn't we be a functioning
model of such a paradigm?

So I pose two questions:

1 - What other things would this forum need to consider to be a model
of an effective learning organization?

2 - Isn't it really actionable behaviors, measurable change(s) in
behavior or attitude, and other similar "outputs" that work to define
effectiveness? Or, can we be a learning organization without any
observable changes in our behavior?

Since we talk so much about it, should this group (certainly more than
most others) be accountable to implement our talk? Haven't there been
previous discussions about the gaps between "*their* talk and their
behavior" when we discuss top management and failures of leadership
and change.

I'd like to most certainly be part of a Learning Organization that is
known for its alignment and congruency. I'm not complaining or
criticizing as much as I am challenging this group's thinking to
possibly take us One Step Further in our own personal growth.

For the FUN of It!

-- 

"Dr. Scott J. Simmerman" <74170.1061@compuserve.com>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>