Monsters and mirth: more challenging transformative techniques

These two resources are change-primers and are starting points only for change. We usually follow them with i2i: ideas into impact where new ideas are built on and the new thinking they create is exploited. 

For more of these resources see ‘Categories’ on the left and click on ‘Resources: Building Learning’

1 Don’t need it – got my MBA

In the Summer 2007 issue of Strategy and Business (a Harvard Business Review rival) what is the term most frequently used? Is it leadership, ethics, business, knowledge, strategy, innovation, manufacture, partnerships, forecasts, economics, takeovers?

None of these. It is learning.

The editor’s comment (around 500 words) ‘Breakthrough learning’ which opens the issue uses the term ‘learning’ 14 times. Though he wants to celebrate it he notes the defensive mindset surrounding it: ‘Executives typically groan at the word learning.’ and  ‘…every major article in this issue could be seen as a story of organisational learning…’  Even so, the articles are based on the outcomes of learning including ‘the most proficient practitioner of organizational learning in the world’ and ‘the unexpected ways that innovation fosters learning’. 

Does this make us more confident about organizational learning?

Learndontlearn claims that improved performance cannot occur without an increase in the rate of organizational learning.

Learning prompt 1: Monster questions

How does your organization learn? How can it learn better?

Alternately: pick any equivalent questions. They need to be big, fat questions so when  people attempt to answer they see why they are monsters. Don’t forget, monsters can be friendly too! Read on for more examples.

2 Change: you must be joking!

Have a look at the cartoon.

Make a note of what you think the organizational culture consists of at JW.

Learning prompt 2:  Going drawing

Get a group of managers together. In groups of two, make a cartoon of what the organizational culture consists of now. After that, make a cartoon of what you want it to consist of in the future. To qualify as a cartoon, people must laugh.

Compare cartoons. Select and agree 2 aspects from the future cartoons. Now begin (the start of) a longer discussion/argument about how they can become reality.

Alternately: pick any other cartoon and create an equivalent task Contact us if any issues arise or to discuss further. Stay tuned.

Learndontlearn aims to build that misunderstood beast ‘organizational learning’ and to surprise and entertain by disrobing ordinary thinking.

The resources here are based on manager and consultancy promising practice used to create wider possibilities when organisations face problems. They are designed to tackle ordinary defensiveness ‘we can’t do it, it’ll never work, not invented here…’ and transform it, as the first point of learning. So they need a degree of ‘inappropriate surprise’. They can be used by managers and organizations as techniques, tools, ideas or learning prompts to improve performance.