Reprint: R0803H
An organization with a strong learning culture faces the unpredictable deftly. However, a concrete method for understanding precisely how an institution learns and
for identifying specific steps to help it learn better has remained elusive. A new survey instrument from professors Garvin and Edmondson of Harvard Business School and
assistant professor Gino of Carnegie Mellon University allows you to ground your efforts in becoming a learning organization.
The tool’s conceptual foundation is what the authors call the three building blocks of a learning organization. The first, a supportive learning environment,
comprises psychological safety, appreciation of differences, openness to new ideas, and time for reflection. The second, concrete learning processes and practices, includes
experimentation, information collection and analysis, and education and training. These two complementary elements are fortified by the final building block: leadership that
reinforces learning.
The survey instrument enables a granular examination of all these particulars, scores each of them, and provides a framework for detailed, comparative analysis.
You can make comparisons within and among your institution’s functional areas, between your organization and others, and against benchmarks that the authors have derived
from their surveys of hundreds of executives in many industries.
After discussing how to use their tool, the authors share the insights they acquired as they developed it. Above all, they emphasize the importance of dialogue and
diagnosis as you nurture your company and its processes with the aim of becoming a learning organization. The authors’ goal—and the purpose of their tool—is to help you
paint an honest picture of your firm’s learning culture and of the leaders who set its tone.
Leaders may think that getting their organizations to learn is only a matter of articulating a clear vision, giving employees the right incentives, and providing lots of training. This assumption is not merely flawed—it’s risky in the face of intensifying competition, advances in technology, and shifts in customer preferences.
