First, look for extraordinarily high performance. Then look for ability
to adapt rapidly to changed circumstance.
Second, if you are a private company, time frames for failed experiments
are unimportant. For public companies the time frame depends in part on
the industry. Whether or not the stock goes down is somewhat unimportant
as long as shareholders do not revolt and replace management. When
management is fired is when the experiment truly and completely failed.
>For my research (PhD), I am keen to understand what qualities a
>Learning Organisation exhibits to the outside world and whether these
>can be measured and compared with other non-learning companies. My
>only idea to date, is to take an industry and a well-publicised
>discontinuity and to analyse how quickly and how well companies have
>either anticipated or responded to the event.
>
>Second, it would seem to be accepted that individuals and indeed the
>organisation can make mistakes in the *short-term* in order to achieve
>real and sustainable competitive advantage in the *longer-term*. My
>question is, over what period of time should a Learning Organisation
>be judged? If it is too long then shareholders will perhaps switch to
>another company's stock/shares.
--Rol Fessenden LL Bean, Inc. 76234.3636@compuserve.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>