The learning organization ten years on: a case study

Abstract

Asserts that in dealing with change the mindsets of an enterprise’s managers are key to its viability. States that by developing a learning organization an enterprise attempts to avoid the mindset problem by fostering a climate of learning; however, claims that over the last decade such development has not in general been successful and contends that this has been largely because of impractical implementation approaches. Based on the author’s practice, maintains that the learning organization is indeed a useful metaphor for successfully dealing with change. Describes the author’s implementation approach which is based on two simple notions: first, that the best way to deal with mindsets is to keep them from hardening; second, that by changing activities and tools one can change habits of thinking and learning. Illustrates the approach by detailing a long‐term case study involving a large and very successful financial services enterprise which has successfully adopted learning organization principles.