Daring to be Persistent .
It is likely to surprise most readers that we believe the role of experience In organizational learning to be a fourth overarching theme that should be studied in the coming years. Experience is at the heart of learning and has been the focus of most theories in the field, so one would not expect It to be high on the agenda at this point. However, the role of experience is still not well understood. There is a need for persistence in pursuing some of the most basic questions in the field. For example, under rapidly changing conditions, how can organizations improve their potshot evaluation processes in order to channel experience directly into their repository of knowledge on what works well and what does not? It is a major challenge to classify, store, and disseminate knowledge in large complex organizations such as the modern multinational with its many far flung units, in which people from diverse cultures need access to the lessons of experience. Given the unpredictability of future events and circumstances, it s very difficult to identify a priori which experience is actually relevant. Indeed, relevance may be- come apparent only as part of the learning process itself. Two of the traps that may be encountered in potshot evaluations of experiences are rationalization and sanitization, both of which can be used by certain parties in an organization to place decisions in a more favorable light than they deserve. How can research help to identify and avoid these prob- lems? By developing links with scholars who have built up experience in evaluation re- search, those who study organizational learn- ing could strengthen the field. The connection between knowledge creation and experience needs further study. Are some of the organiza- tional barriers that impede knowledge creation also those that stand in the way of access to experience? Do they in addition inhibit the adequately on that experience? Lastly, there is a need to expand knowledge about which type and quality of experience can provide a signifi- cant input into the learning process. For ex- ample, we editors are perplexed to observe that companies with previous experience in strategic alliances often fail to apply the lessons from that experience when they engage in new alliances. They continue to set unrealistic expectations and make gross mistakes in the alliance relationship.