Learning Organizations: Developing Cultures for Tomorrow's Workplace (Corporate Leadership)

Thirty-nine of the most respected scholars and practitioners come together to share a comprehensive explanation of the ideas, principles, attitudes, skills, systems, and infrastructure needed to create the ideal workplace of the future. Authors including MIT's Fred Kofman and Peter Senge, Harvard's Rosabeth Kanter, and London Business School's Charles Handy are recognized worldwide for their work in teaching organizations about change, systems thinking, organizational development, diversity, and total quality management.

The author's essays are categorized into five main parts. Part One: Guiding Ideas primes our intellect by posing questions and sharing ideas about what learning organizations represent. Part Two: Theories/Methods/Processes presents how stories, dialogue, coaching, systems thinking, and other learning tools facilitate the creation of learning organizations. Part Three: Infrastructure identifies some of the ways we must change what we do to achieve maximum learning potential. Part Four: Arenas of Practice identifies various workplaces and takes a look at how to build learning organizations within them. Case studies are used to describe how learning organizations are working in various organizational settings.

This book is written for practitioners, scholars, and active participants of adult learning environments. The principles and practices can apply to any organization that wishes to increase its learning potential, including businesses, schools, health care, and governmental organizations.

The rate at which organizations and individuals learn must keep up with the ever-changing environment that surrounds them. This is a global environment that requires us to communicate and learn from our co-workers, customers, clients, competitors, investors, friends, and family. Our world is becoming increasingly interconnected and it would be prudent to take advantage of that fact. We are not islands and as such, we cannot learn alone. The more skilled we become at applying the breadth of knowledge and skills that are presented in this book on becoming a learning organization, the more prepared we will be for competing in the Knowledge Era.


strong collection of essays   December 13, 2001
M. H. Bayliss
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I've had to read a slew of leadership books for my doctorate -- as for a collection of thoughtful essays, this is one of the best. It's well organized, well laid out and has almost every major thinker represented. It's got theoretical parts, practical parts and questions for down the road. The essays span all types of learning organizations: schools, hospitals, companies, etc... It's a bit long, but if you take it piece by piece, this is a very enjoyable and informative collection. Highly recommended and well-conceived.


Perspectives on Learning Organizations   July 19, 2002
Harald Nygaard (Norway)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

As far as I can see it is a book all about different perspectives, a book that adds on to the list of books that focus on the theoretical and/or philosophical sides of learning organizations. As such it is a good book, with contributions from 40 acknowledged authors/researchers.
The book is built up around four parts:
- Guiding ideas
- Theories/Methods/Processes
- Infrastructure
- Arenas of Practice
The book is packed with lots of good ideas that may form a base for further exploration in the field. Most of it is well edited, even though there is some extra "fluff" in some of the articles.
It is a good introduction to "learning organizations", but I will hesitate to call it a "how-to"-book . . . .