how did your organizational learning game come up?

Andrew Clay ShaferSanta Clara 2014

@littleidea

this guy

@littleidea

the plan• how we got here• share experiences• grand finale

meanwhile…

software kept eating the world

three stone cutters walk into a Pareto Inefficient Nash Equilibrium

you are either building a software business...

or you will be losing to someone who is...

obvious

you are either building a learning organization...

or you will be losing to someone who is...

@littleideas practical guide to organizational learning

@littleideas practical guide to organizational learning

@littleideas practical guide to organizational learning

The learning organization is one that has the capacity to integrate people and structures in order to move toward continuous learning and change.

a learning organization not only has the advantage of the increasing capacity of cultivated talents, but has advantages

attracting and retaining talent

learning cannot be something that happens outside of the process

learning is the point of the process

continuous learning

what even is learning?

• knowledge acquired by systematic study in any field of scholarly application. • the act or process of acquiring knowledge or skill. • the modification of behavior through practice, training, or experience.

learn·ing [lur-ning] noun

how does an organization change behavior?

does your organization value behavior change?

The real company values, as opposed to the nice sounding values, are shown by who gets rewarded, promoted, or let go. !

--Patty McCord

the game has changed

It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.

- W. Edwards Deming

7 dimensions of Organizational Learning

7 dimensions of Organizational Learning

• continuous learning• inquiry and dialog• team learning• empowerment• embedded system• system connection• strategic leadership

continuous learningrepresents an organization’s effort to create continuous

learning opportunities for ALL of its members

inquiry and dialogan organization’s effort in creating a culture of questioning, feedback, and experimentation

team learningspirit of collaboration and the collaborative skills

that undergird the effective use of teams

empowermentencourage feedback and action to address the gap between

the current status and the vision regardless of rank

embedded systemestablish systems to capture and share learning

system connectionactions to connect the organization to its

internal and external environment

strategic leadershipthe extent to which leaders act strategically

using learning to create change

In my organization?form of questions

In my organization, people openly discuss mistakes in order to learn from them

In my organization, people identify skills they need for future work tasks

In my organization, people are encouraged to ask “why” regardless of rank

In my organization, groups focus both on the group’s task and on how well the group is working

My organization builds alignment of visions across different levels and work groups

how powerful would it be if those weren’t questions?

In my organization!form of statements

and not just is words and spirit but deliberately incentivized

if they are not incentivized, they won’t be real

the five disciplines of a learning organization

• Personal Mastery

• Mental Models

• Building a Shared Vision

• Team Learning

• Systems Thinking

personal mastery discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our

personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively.

mental modelsdeeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even

pictures of images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action

building a shared visiona practice of unearthing shared pictures of the future that foster

genuine commitment and enrollment rather than compliance

team learningstarts with dialogue, the capacity of members of a team to

suspend assumptions and enter into genuine thinking together

systems thinkingSeeing the big picture, the Fifth Discipline

that integrates the other four

let’s get meta

1-2-3

see what I did there?

get a paper and a pen

color

furniture

flower

show of hands

more paper

Slumber Dream Bed Quiet Nap

Pillow Night Blanket Pajamas Snooze

without talking, write down as many words as

you can remember

thumb wrestling

mental models?

more paper

close your eyes

fold your paper in half and tear off the bottom right corner

fold your paper in half again and tear off the upper right

hand corner

fold the paper in half again and tear off the lower left corner

open your eyes, unfold your paper and hold it up for the

group to see

groups of 3

team juggle

expected/desired time

pressure to improve

time spent discussing new ideas

openness to change

team learning

best time of the group

skill of approach

team alignment

team’s ability to translate knowledge

into concrete process

EFFORTS ACTUAL PERFORMANCE

LIMITING ACTION

CONSTRAINT

innovations in infrastructure

guiding ideas skills and capabilities

awareness and sensibilities

theory, methods and tools

domain of action

attitudes and beliefs

domain of enduring change

(organizational architecture)

(deep learning cycle)

you can either easily manage complex systems at scale...

or you can’t

you can either easily manage complex systems at scale...

or you can’t(has nothing to do with computers)

we can do better

Conway’s Laworganizations which design systems...

are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations

how many put as much effort into designing their culture as they do their applications and systems?

what are you building?

what game are you playing?

what do you value?

what are you rewarding and promoting?

Puzzles in Organizational Learning

• things that are forgotten in the heat of battle

• values that get pushed aside in the rough and tumble of everyday living

• the goals we ought to be thinking about and never do

• the facts we don’t like to face

• the questions we lack the courage to ask

economies of scale

economies of skill

the game has changed

the payoffs for a given strategy have changed

systems thinking

a community with unique advantages reasoning about systems

‘that’s not my job’

‘that decision is above my paygrade’

these are legacy culture smells

be loyal to the truth

don’t be afraid

success is about being the right people

success is about becoming the right people

never stop becoming

don’t limit yourself

don’t limit us

BECOME AWESOME

thanks Velocity

@littleidea

come at me

@littleidea

bonus material

Anti-Fragile™

A tale of two projects

contrast... the gossamer condor

with

The Vasa was launched after failing a stability test.

the gossamer condor broke records for human powered flight