NOVEMBER 19, 1998

A PRACTICAL LOOK AT THE LEARNING ORGANIZATION:  1998
A Panel Discussion by Gil Herman, John Greco, and Barbara Golden
Panel Moderator:  Neesa Sweet

This meeting focused on four basic techniques employed in developing learning organizations: Systems Thinking, the Left-Hand Column, the Ladder of Inference, and Dialogue. The four tools are drawn from the work of Peter Senge et al. (The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization, New York: Currency-Doubleday, 1994). An overview of each topic was presented in a brief lecture. Then discussion groups formed to examine each tool in more detail.

The panel for the program included Gil Herman, Managing Horizons, John M. Greco of Federal Express Corporation and Performance by Design Consulting, and Barbara Golden of Computing Solutions. The panel members specialize in learning organizations as part of their professional practice.

Gil Herman presented an overview of systems thinking (events, patterns, systemic structures, mental models and vision). He also reviewed basic concepts from the Language of Systems Thinking including linking A to B, reinforcing and balancing loops between A an B, delays, and archetypes. Gil introduced a template he uses to guide clients in defining their current reality and their desired future and identifying the actions necessary to fill in the gap between the two. Neesa Sweet, ODN/C board member, led a discussion on the Language of Systems Thinking. John Greco presented the Left-Hand Column and the Ladder of Inference, two techniques that promote forthright discussion and clarification of tacit assumptions of deeply held mental models. John shared success stories from his use of these tools at Federal Express Corporation. During the course of discussion the audience began using the Left-Hand Column as a simile for
focused and straightforward conversation.

Dialogue involves five fundamental principles: listening at multiple levels, suspending certainty, impulse and assumption, holding space for differences, slowing down the inquiry, and speaking from awareness. Barbara Golden of Computing Solutions reviewed these principles. She emphasized that dialogue is leaderless and democratic and focused on speaking to the group as a whole. Barbara incorporates dialogue into her professional practice in three ways: upfront with potential customers to help them determine their criteria for selecting learning services, during a three hour continuous dialogue with students to identify problems and articulate solutions, and during the activities of daily work.

To learn more the following books are recommended: Peter Senge et al, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization, New York: Currency-Doubleday, 1994; and, Chris Argyris, Knowledge for Action: A Guide for Overcoming Barriers to Organizational Change, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993. You may also contact the members of the panel: Gil Herman, Managing Horizons (708-386-7766), John M. Greco of Federal Express Corporation and Performance by Design Consulting (847-519-3552), and Barbara Golden of Computing Solutions (312-236-6808).

Robert J. Niemi, Ph. D.