Leading Organizational Learning

(Jeff_L) #1

Foreword


Ideas on the move do not wait for the reluctant, resistant, would-
be leader. They move on the winds of change; sometimes they are
just straws in the wind that we try to grasp. The leaders of change,
the leaders of tomorrow, have invested in the future of their peo-
ple, the future of the organization, through powerful learning
opportunities—continuous, continuing learning opportunities for
every member, every leader of the enterprise—from the leader on
the loading dock to the CEO. The organization is a learning
organization—deliberately and exuberantly celebrated as such.
Learning as a value has permeated the culture and has moved into
the lives of the people and throughout the organization until there
is no question if,only how, when,and where.The way has long
been accepted and celebrated as part of the vision of the future of
the organization.
Leading change is an integral part of organizational learning.
Learning that is focused on the future, on the changing organiza-
tion in a rapidly changing environment—a future few can describe
in a world that has changed forever.
When the roll is called in 2010, the organizations responding
will be those that saw organizational learning as the key investment
in building the viable, relevant, effective organization of the
future—highly effective, highly competitive, highly successful.
Without the investment in organizational learning, the other
investments will not matter. The organization of the future will be
defined by its ability to provide learning at every level. This is an
indispensable part of the planning, the strategy, and the blueprint
for the organization of tomorrow.

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