They intentionally use the business agenda to ground their
learning and foster the sharing of knowledge. Here are four real
examples of how this is done.
- Strategic business dialogue.The CEO identifies a critical busi-
ness issue (such as the future business model for the company or
doing business in a new country) and the key questions for which
he or she needs answers. A few key people (such as a CEO with
extensive experience in the area, outside thinkers, consultants, or
partners) meet face to face in a structured conversation to consider
analyses done by participants, as well as perspectives and ideas, on
this particular issue. This is a dialogue for learning and opening
possibilities, not for immediate decisions. - Business review process.Several times during the year, CEOs
meet with their top executives (in a functional or geographical area
or across the company) to consider business results and future goals.
They and their teams use these opportunities to assess their perfor-
mance and learn from both their successes and their failures. The
reviews keep the focus on learning at the practical level and foster
open dialogue. CEOs use these sessions with different business units
as a way to cross-pollinate ideas and best practices across the orga-
nization. In addition, these best practices are documented and inte-
grated in the training and education programs of the organization. - Executive or board meetings.CEOs use these opportunities to
get continuous feedback on their performance and that of their
organization. They also want to hear how the organization is
perceived from the outside. - Regular business and project meetings.CEOs integrate a par-
ticular focus for learning as a part of all of these meetings (for exam-
ple, bringing a business outsider to share best practices or having a
structured dialogue on teamwork). They also use after-action
reviews in every possible business setting. An after-action reviewis
a dedicated period of time at the end of every meeting in which
teams may reflect on and discuss what they have accomplished,
what they have learned in the process, what they could have done
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