Organizations need to increase their rate of learning to survive in these times of unprecedented change. Learning is change. As Karl Weick and Francis Westley have expressed it, ‘Learning is to disorganize and increase variety.’ According to Weick and Westley, ideally, learning occurs for both individuals and organizations in circumstances where order and disorder are juxtaposed, when exploration and exploitation are combined in an optimal way. Nokia Corporation has successfully managed to balance order and disorder and has learned to learn from change. It constantly explores new ways of learning while simultaneously exploiting traditional learning methods. Its corporate values provide the foundation for tackling change. An important element in Nokia's culture emphasizes the necessity of continuous learning. In the 1990s, Nokia Corporation underwent several major changes. It was transformed to a focused telecommunications company from a multibranch firm of electronics, information systems, paper, rubber, mobile phones and telecommunications. It grew from a national to a global company with current net sales of $30 billion and over 50,000 employees. It turned losses into rising profits. Today it is again facing a challenging transformation: The telecommunications industry is moving from voice to the still untapped and even unforeseen opportunities of pictures. Nokia Corporation is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed, and IP networks, including related services. The corporation comprises two business groups: Nokia Networks and Nokia Mobile Phones. In addition, Nokia includes th! separate Nokia Ventures Organization and the corporate research unit, Nokia Research Centre. In creating the future of communications Nokia strives to play a leadings brand-recognized role by combining mobility and the Internet and by stimulating the creation of new services. In its distinctive management approach, Nokia relies on a strong corporate culture and the company values: customer satisfaction, respect for the individual achievement, and continuous learning. Their management approach-the ‘Nokia way’- comprises the Nokia values, its organizational competencies, and its mode of operation and processes used to maintain operational efficiency. This approach is the foundation on which Nokia builds its current and future strength. A flat, networked organization combined with speed and flexibility in decision making are characteristic of the Nokia way. Nokia's managers emphasize the importance of understanding the market and turning foresight into correct action at the right time. A combination of winning foresight and effective execution is a key dimension in Nokia's management approach. Value-based leadership is an integral element of the Nokia way. Nokia wants its leaders to have personal qualities such as speed, openness, integrity, humbleness, accountability and responsibility. The Nokia way embraces teamwork and empowerment. Nokia believes that efficient processes produce business results. By operational mode Nokia's managers mean process thinking and core business processes. To make learning as efficient as possible, the same process management principles and terminology are used throughout the company. Nokia's upper management believes that each individual in the corporation possesses specific skills that enable him or her to succeed. By defining these skills and the competencies required in various jobs, Nokia assists its people in determining the type of competencies they need to develop for their current and future tasks. The focus used to be on developing technological competencies, but technological superiority is not enough. In a global corporation such as Nokia, mastering managerial and leadership issues in multicultural settings is equally important. Proactive competence development has priority. The organization emphasizes developing new ways to be constantly proactive in response to rapid change. I asked Ms. Sonja Weckstrom-Nousiainen how the Nokia value of continuous learning is put into action today. Sonja has been with the corporation 11 years and is now a vice president. responsible for global human recourses development at Nokia Mobile Phones.