Debbie,
Welcome!! I believe you'll find much offered here to help you personally
and professionally. You asked:
>I'm a little bit stuck with what I think is a chicken and egg question:
>Do you change the organizational structure first, using learning
>principles, or do you foster an environment where learning can occur out
>of which structural change will happen. Does anyone out there have any
>experience with this conundrum?
How would you know what to change about the current structure until you
know how your organization learns? I believe creating the learning
environment should come first. Then your people will be committed to any
changes that should be made, making change a good thing, not a threatening
thing. A recent post from Steven Farmer titled, "When the Ground Shifts,"
(LO8683) gives you a pretty good sense of structural change without the
understanding of the people being asked to change.
I recall too well when a very large organization I worked in changed its
structure dramatically, around the globe, without working toward
understanding for the people involved. The least "damage" was done to
younger and newer members. They didn't have a history to overcome. The
greatest damage is still being done by "the old heads" who don't realize
relationships changed when the structure changed. The senior members'
behaviors are still often inappropriate creating confusion and dissent.
I recognize it takes longer to develop an environment within which
learning can take place--but the necessary structural changes will
literally flow out of any shared vision you can achieve.
Great luck!!
--Ginger Shafer The Leadership Dimension "Bringing Leadership to Life" vshafer@azstarnet.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>