The authors emphasise in their introduction that the book is aimed at facilitators and change agents, and is explicitly about the process of facilitation; they refer readers to their other books in which they have developed their learning organization model. (See Sculpting the Learning Organization, Jossey‐Bass, 1993.) That model involved:
systems‐led continuous learning;
a system to create and manage knowledge outcome;
which leads to improvement in organization performance.
The system must have structures, processes and a culture in place to embed and support organizational learning in order to make it permanent and routine. They emphasise that in order to achieve this there have to be processes to promote enquiry and dialogue, to encourage collaboration and team learning and leaders who model and champion learning (I quote three of the seven action imperatives they identify).
The book proceeds initially through a specific case study from Sulzer Orthopedics. This is then combined with a series of steps, similarly identifying particular cases. They show how their learning organization questionnaire is used. As promoters of learning it is interesting to see that their experience with the LOQ has been that current learning efforts have focused primarily on the individual and what he or she may need to learn. More attention needs to be paid to organizational systems and structure that undergird individual learning efforts. The LOQ can be used to create discussion on the reasons for different responses, comparing individuals, units or organizations. This does not mean that they move entirely into larger scale efforts – for example, they quite rightly say that knowledge is personal, actionable and constructive in conversation. It is socially constructed but individual.
They make some valuable comments about groups. Organizational learning will not be created simply by putting people in groups, they need to be given the skills of learning together. I have often been cynical about the effectiveness of the process through which organizations from time to time seize with enthusiasm on a particular book and buy hundreds of copies to be distributed to managers. On the occasions when I discuss this in my own research, I found the chief executives who sponsored this process were astonished by my question on whether the book had subsequently been discussed anywhere. They give a nice case study of the actions involved in an effective reading.
I wholly agree with their emphasis on the need to structure and make conscious the process of learning. Thus in my own work the emphasis for example is on the use of learning styles, and learning reviews. Judy O’Neill, a colleague of the authors, talks about the application of action learning as a means of stimulating system‐type learning. In my view she emphasises a necessity within action learning‐coaches create the space for learning when the natural momentum of problem solving would otherwise drive people to ignore reflection and time for making their learning both explicit and public. Again, it is warming to see that as a consultant she reveals some of her own learning from an error – she did not sufficiently explain the noise and anxiety which can result from focusing on reflection, particularly in the informal stage. It is surprising in view of the lead these authors have given to informal learning that too little of the book actually identifies this. Similarly, the actual processes through which individuals and teams learn receive too little attention. These relative failures may be due to the fact that they do not wish to repeat too much of their earlier material.
I am a great admirer of the work of Marsick and Watkins; I can think of no one who has done more to help us understand the opportunities for learning through normal work. Their sharing of their knowledge and experience is underpinned by their willingness to try and explain the processes through which they have themselves gone. The fact that each chapter concludes with “implications for facilitators” highlights the way in which they encourage readers not only to learn knowledge but to move onto the next step – putting the new knowledge into practice.
