Just a brief note of introduction so that you will have some
information on the "new guy" when I chime in with my thoughts. I am
currently living in Calgary, Canada. I work as the Training and
Development Manager for Forzani Group Limited. My background also
includes some time working as a ministerial special assistant in the
federal government. I am a very active athlete and love the skiing out
here in Western Canada. What has attracted me to this group, and the idea
of the learning organization, is the fact that I love to learn myself.
The dialogue that I have peeked into with this group is fascinating and i
am sure I will take a great deal from it. Here are a few of my thoughts
as well as some challenges that I am facing.
The most challenging thing that we all face in any corporation is
the stagnation of learning. As we all know experience can be very
valuable, but more often than not it proves to damaging. In my mind
experience teaches us not to learn any new concepts or ideas, but rather
to rely on what we know (whether wrong or right). In the modern
corporation ideas and concepts stay current for only a very short period
of time before they become outdated. It is then up to management to
ensure that the corporation moves on to new concepts and maintains
flexibility. Maintaining flexibility in a corporation is a major
difficulty as people are intersted in job security and a certain comfort
level.
As senior managers learn one system that seems to work, they
become very leary of anyone who is trying to apply change. This is when
the leadership principle comes into play, and the heirarchy of any
managment group is put to the test. Directors and senior executives must
become teachers and mentors, with open minds to new ideas, and must be
willing to deal quickly and decisively with those who CHOOSE to go another
direction. If the teacher is not willing to change curriculum to suit
students needs, but rather sticks with what the student will be happy
with, then the student will never progress and the teacher has taught
nothing but complacency. Exexutives and managers must become teachers in
order for their corporations to succeed. Teachers who are learning and
adapting their policy and procedure to suit the needs of the staff and
customers base who hold the business afloat.
This is what I believe and why I am on with this group.
Chris Speyer
speyerc@cadvision.com
"Beaten Paths are for Beaten Men"
--Chris Speyer <speyerc@cadvision.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>