Transitioning to the Learning Organization
Joan Giesecke and Beth McNeil
Abstract
Peter Senge popularized the concept of the learning organization,
and several libraries have tried, with varying degrees of success, to adopt
the learning organization model. This article explores why organizations
consider attempting to become learning organizations, includes an overview
of the theory of learning organizations, presents steps to becoming a learning
organization, and describes examples of learning organization efforts
at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries and other libraries.
Learning Organizations
To survive in the continuously changing information environment,
libraries must find ways to become agile, flexible organizations. Rigid rules,
entrenched bureaucracies, and stable hierarchies will not help these organizations
survive new technologies, tight budgets, competition, and changing
expectations of patrons and users. Stifling bureaucracies can result in employees
who are unmotivated, lack the skills needed to adjust to changes, are
content to follow orders, lack problem solving skills, and develop an us vs.
them mentality. To advance, libraries need to move away from being knowing
organizations that emphasize one best way to do things by following rules
and regulations. They need to move past being understanding organizations
where organizational culture and values dominate decision-making so that
change is unlikely to occur. They need to advance past thinking organizations
that emphasize fixing and solving problems without questioning why the
system broke. Instead, they must become organizations that create a climate