Organisational Learning Today

« Response to Stephen Downes: Organisational Learning model

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Sep 24

Organisational Learning Today - concept map

Learning, Topic Maps, Context, Management & Implementation Add comments

I'd be interested in any feedback on the concept map below. It's my take on what organisations should be thinking about as they seek to develop learning across the organisation.

Organisational Learning Today - concept map

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Credits to:

George Siemens
Etienne Wenger

8 comments

§ James West said on : 25/09/07 @ 05:13
No matter how much you wish it would, structured face to face learning is not going away soon, and there should be something in the model. I also think there needs to be something in there on relationship building, if content is going to become more accessible and free, then relationships are going to hold the key to successful business development, could go in with the making connections category?
§ Mark® said on : 25/09/07 @ 10:35
Hi James,

I agree with you about face-to-face. I'd subsumed that into the Formal Approaches section. Perhaps I need to make it more explicit.

Also, yes, relationship building does come into making connections - it's all about finding your trusted sources.

Thanks.
§ Colleen said on : 29/09/07 @ 15:04
Nice collection of requirements, but what may still be missing is a core definition. For me, it's important to note that 'organizational learning' is comprised of the self-directed, as-needed learning of individuals and groups that contribute to a greater shared knowledge.
Otherwise, as Stephen Downes claims, it's really a misnomer for a related group of people learning.

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts - as seen in organizational learning and knowledge.
Colleen
§ Mark® said on : 29/09/07 @ 15:44
Thanks Colleen,

I see what you mean about a definition. You seem to be treating the term "organisational learning" as meaning how organisations develop through learning, whereas I was thinking about how people learn within organisations.

I'll rethink a bit...
§ Jochen Robes said on : 03/10/07 @ 15:57
If we like it or not - formal approaches still cover 90 per cent of all learning management activities. Your map shows a different route. For example, where is the learning management system hidden? If we agree on the fact that at least for some kind of compliance, diversity ... (you name it) training, an LMS will be needed.
§ Mark® said on : 04/10/07 @ 07:24
True Jochen,

Although my feeling is that managing learning is as easy as herding cats ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8 ). Perhaps we need better ways of assessing & evaluating learing & performance (which is where the coaching & feedback comes in).

And where does compliance training fit in? Again, I'm not sure whether we should be looking for compliance training or compliant performance? I have doubts about the effectiveness of compliance training on its own, without the feedback that you get from someone telling you that you are not doing your job in a compliant way.
§ Patrick said on : 14/12/07 @ 07:19
This is an interesting picture (and an interesting blog!).

I think the diagram is missing a crucial link - relationships.

As James and Mark comment above, face-to-face learning won't be going away - often for reasons that have little to do with learning.

As well as formal face-to-face learning - training classes and so on - an awful lot of learning in organisations is based on informal face-to-face interventions, and much of that is based on knowing where to go to find the information – and your relationship with that person.

The difficulty is that much of this informal learning is never captured by the organisation, let alone managed.
§ Laura M said on : 03/05/10 @ 23:54
Hey there, great work.

It would be really interesting to develop this further and see how each category applies to different kinds of individual workers. Obviously everyone has different strengths in learning styles, and I note that some of the methods above would not be suitable for every worker. Thoughts?