Intro -- Tony DiBella LO6751

AJDIBELLA@aol.com
Wed, 17 Apr 1996 10:43:04 -0400

I have been a subscriber to this list for a few months, mostly reading,
occasionally offering a comment. I'm just introducing myself now since I
recently changed e-mail systems and wanted to postpone this intro until
that process was completed.

Currently, I have a management consulting practice focused on
organizational learning and change. Most of our work is oriented around
the "Organizational Learning Inventory" (OLI) which I developed witrh
Janet Gould and Ed Nevis at the MIT Organizational Learning Center. The
OLI provides a framework for understanding and enhancing workunit learning
capability. I am involved in running workshops to train and license
facilitators to use the OLI, in adapting the OLI to diverse settings, and
in using the OLI in client engagements. The conceptual framework upon
which the OLI is based was written up in the Winter, 1995 issue of the
"Sloan Management Review". That article and other related reprints are
available via hardcopy, snail-mailed requests to me at: Organization
Transitions, Inc., 34 Indian Ridge Rd., Natick, MA 01760, USA.

A brief note about my background as related to this list. My first
professional exposure to organizational learning issues occurred during
four years of consulting experience in Washington, DC where I evaluated
Federally-funded programs in education and social development.
Subsequently, I was Director of Evaluation and Management Research for an
international development organization and then earned my Ph.D. from the
MIT Sloan School. Prior to establishing my full-time consulting practice
last year, I had taught at MIT, the University of Massachusetts, and
Boston College.

With regard to the recent discussion over the facilitation of this list, I
will simply state that I am glad the list is moderated and presume that
Rick will continue to do so. [Host's Note: Yes, I will. ...Rick]

Lastly, an observation on the dialogue on this list. The variety of
opinions about the meaning, value, and how-to of the "learning
organization" and "organizational learning" derive primarily from our
different underlying assumptions. I'd like to see more dialogue on the
foundations of our thinking instead of debate over their manifestations.
For example, I presume that, as social systems in which knowledge is
created/acquired, disseminated, and used (Huber, 1991), all organizations
have embedded learning processes. Consequently, for me the notion of the
"learning organization" makes little sense except as a redundancy.

Regards,

Anthony J. DiBella
"AJDIBELLA@AOL.COM"
"103535.2073@Compuserve.com"

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AJDIBELLA@aol.com

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