Intro -- J. Martin Hays (Joe) LO4076

Hays, Joe (HAYS@volpe1.dot.gov)
Tue, 05 Dec 95 17:04:00 EST

I'm finally on! (I presume) [Host: Yes. Welcome!]

I've been "into" learning organizations for several years, and was
interested in them before the term was coined. By background, I'm an
educator. I went through the Administration, Training, and Policy Studies
program at Boston University, whose focus was systems dynamics.

I teach organizational behavior, organizational development,
organizational communications, leadership, and conflict and change in the
MBA program at Boston University, in the Graduate HRM program at Emmanuel
College, and at Emerson College. My primary interests have been around
issues of change, culture, self-directed learning, and empowerment. I've
been especially active in the last two years exploring applications of
chaos theory, particularly self-organization, and reported results of a
study on self-organizing classrooms at the annual international conference
of the Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology and the Life Sciences this
past summer. My consulting work has been in the areas of performance
management, employee involvement, and business process improvement.

The fun part of any of my work has always been trying to capture
organizational dynamics in ways that powerfully represent the way things
are. While I am very much a novice, I enjoy and frequently employ Causal
Loop Diagramming in my attempts to understand system behavior and portray
it to others.

I am now a federal employee working at the Volpe Center, the Research and
Special Programs Administration of the US Department of Transportation, in
the Change Management Division (heaven comes to those who endure). I
continue to teach on an adjunct basis.

My current obsession is the automation of a book on workplace dynamics,
which models a variety of typical interpersonal behaviors and work
situations. Users can manipulate the models to assess likely outcomes of
various interventions. The concept is founded on interactive video
disk/CD ROM technology. I have a genuine need for technical expertise and
for advice on bringing this to market.

As with many of you, presumably, my questions regarding organizational
learning have to do with operationalizing it and making it practical. I
am fortunate in having had many groups of students undergo a transition
toward self-directedness and learning as a group (an organization). While
the notions of organizational learning dance in my head continuously, I
have not addressed the subject directly in my work with clients, though
the influence in my style and approach is undeniable.

Finally, a colleague of mine and I developed a syllabus for a course on
organizational learning, and I have taught it as a seminar. I would be
happy to exchange notes on either the training/academic side or the
practical application side of organizational learning.

Thank you for allowing me space to introduce myself and to join in the
conversation.

Joe Hays

--
Telephone:  (617) 494-2095/FAX 494-2748
e mail:  hays@volpe1.dot.gov