Mountain Quest Institute

Individual and Organizational Learning

Learning is a dynamic process that manifests itself in the continually changing nature of organizations, as exemplified by innovation, collaboration, culture shifts and high morale, especially during times of uncertainty and external challenge. The Mountain Quest Institute emphasizes the continuous nature of learning, recognizing that no thing is ever in the state of learnedness (possessing profound or systematic knowledge) in a changing, uncertain, complex world. Learning in the Knowledge World (PDF, 30 pages) was the focus of early research. See also KM, Learning and the Knowledge Worker (PDF, 11 pages).

Learning is essential for the growth of individuals.  Individual learning is the act or process of acquiring data, information, skill or knowledge.  It is sometimes interpreted as the modification of behavior through practice, training, reflection or experience.  Growth is the process individuals undergo as they develop into more mature, well-rounded, knowledgeable and complex human beings.  As people grow they develop from simpler to more complex individuals able to deal with ambiguity, complex problems and morally and ethically challenging situations.  Growth comes from learning through reflection, experience and corrective action from feedback.  Thus, individual learning is essential for the growth of individuals just as organizational learning is necessary for the growth of organizations. See Learning How to Learn (MSWord, 4 pages). See also, The Individual as Learner by Alex Bennet (MSWord, 5 pages), an introduction to Expanding the Knowledge Paradigm by David Bennet.

eLearning systems are playing a leading role in both informal continuous learning and formal education structures in the business and academic communities.  According to the national report Learning in the Twenty-first Century, as online learning becomes integrated into the day-to-day lives of individuals there is a break-down f compartmentalization of education.  Everyone becomes a learner and has the potential to become an expert "... with opportunities to seek and share what they know, critique what they learn, and become more engaged and involved with the global community" (Netday and Blackboard, 2006). Thus, learning becomes part of everyday work (and play) and moves from a "push" model to a "pull" model driven by individual choices. This signifies a return to the natural order of learning.  Through the process of evolution the human mind was designed to learn for itself.  Cave men learned via a watching and doing loop.  It was not until the last few hundred years that the education process took on the rigidness of industrial age efficiency, herding children together in school rooms in order to turn out large numbers of individuals labeled as "educated".  This process, of course, is counter to learning in terms of evolution of the species.  Neither man nor machine can force an individual to remember, understand, or feel good about learning, so necessary for living and surviving in an uncertain and complex world.  With technology comes a natural excitement in terms of connectivity to the world, as well as its capability to support self-driven, experiential learning which is part of our evolutionary heritage.  This excitement can help accelerate our journey as we continue to discover our full potential as learners.  Brining the personal needs of individual learners together with eLearning system capabilities will offer a significant jump in the learning rate and efficiency as we move into a future filled with change, uncertainty, complexity and anxiety.  The MQI principals introduce the concept of energetic learning with specific focus on the contribution of eLearning to energetic learning. See eLearning as energetic learning (PDF, 14 pages).

The Institute is exploring the relationship of spirituality and learning. Spiritual is taken to mean pertaining to the soul with soul representing the animating principle of human life in terms of thought and action, specifically focused on its moral aspects, the emotional part of human nature, and higher development of the mental faculties.  The researchers discovered a positive correlation between representative spiritual characteristics and human learning. Considering the overarching connections between the concepts of spirituality and learning embedded by virtue of the concepts themselves, this makes sense. Learning (growth) is a life goal of spirituality, and being spiritual "suggests a personal commitment to a process of inner development that engages us in our totality" (Teasdale, 1999, pp. 17-18).  Therefore, it follows that human characteristics that are spiritual in nature would contribute to learning.  Further, spiritual learning supports personal growth, helps us understand reality, helps others, and contributes to the greater good.  See The Knowledge and Knowing of Spiritual Learning (MSWord, 17 pages) and related figures (PPoint, 2 pages).  

The term organizational learning may refer to individual learning within the organization, the entire organization learning as a collective body, or anywhere in between these extremes. However, most organizational learning centers around the team and organizational levels.  Learning individually, in small or large groups, or as an entire organization may be needed for the firm to possess the requisite knowledge to take effective action.  From a knowledge management perspective, all levels of learning are important and all must be nurtured and made a natural part of the structure and culture, although to date, most of the emphasis has been put on team and organizational learning and knowledge.  For this reason, organizational learning refers to the capacity of the organization to acquire the knowledge necessary to survive and compete in its environment.  However there is an important distinction between individual and team or organizational level learning.  Individual learning is predominantly a cognitive or behavioral activity between an individual and their environment, whereas in team and organizational learning the collective processes depend upon relationships and interactions among individuals and learning occurs through the interaction of the participants. 

Organizational learning is significantly different from individual learning in that it requires a sharing of language, meaning, objectives and standards.  As the organization learns, it generates a social synergy that creates knowledge, adding value to an organization’s knowledge workers as well as to its overall performance.  While both individual and organizational learning are fundamental to organizational success, the primary concern of both organizational learning and knowledge management to date has been with the organization as a system.  For this reason, knowledge management and organizational learning have a symbiotic relationship to each other, providing leadership and managers give each area the needed resources, respect and backing. For example, the creation, storing and sharing of knowledge, a universal goal of knowledge management, greatly enhances the ability of an organization to learn.  It also makes use of the results of organizational learning efforts that produce new ideas and innovation.  Organizational learning is facilitated by many knowledge management activities such as knowledge audits, knowledge maps, communities of practice and metrics.   

Just as learning is essential for the growth of individuals, it is equally important for organizations.  Since individuals create organizations, it is individuals who establish the standards, processes, and relationships that enable organizational learning.  But organizational learning is more than the sum of the parts of individual learning.  For example, when individuals leave, some corporate knowledge remains, that is the knowledge that comes from the experience and competence of cooperation and collaboration of the organizations employees, supported by data, information, and networks throughout the firm.  Stories can help facilitate sharing and learning across the organization. See the white paper From Stories to Strategy (MSWord, 7 pages).  See also Story: The Thread of Humanity (PDF, 23 pages).   

While individual learning is achieved by study, observation, cognition, experience, practice and developing effective mental models in the mind, organizational learning, because its a social versus a cognitive activity, occurs when groups learn to interact, share their knowledge and act collectively in a manner that maximizes their combined capacity and ability to take effective action.  When such a capability becomes embedded within the organization’s culture, the organization may have what is called a core competency.  These are usually unique to each organization and can rarely be replicated by other firms.  The knowledge behind a core competency is built up over time through experiences and successes and rests more in the relationships and spirit among the knowledge workers than in the individual worker's knowledge.

The best organizational learning is distributed throughout the firm such that from a backdrop of continuous learning to meet routine challenges, pockets and processes can arise to anticipate and meet fundamental threats and opportunities that challenge the organization.  This means that learning must be local and distributed, and it must be both continuous and episodic. See The Learning Organization: A Brief Introduction to Learning by Alex Bennet. Appeared in Volume 36, Number 1, 2006 of VINE: The journal of information and knowledge management systems (Emerald Publishing). (MSWord, 7 pages).  See also Involving and Evolving Students resulting from the Knowledge Mobilization research.

Other Resources

    Expanding the Knowledge Paradigm by David Bennet. Looking at our changing environment, the question is asked: Are these changes superficial or transformative?  This question leads to exploring the frame of reference from which we view reality, and then the sequence from our frame of reference to learning to thinking to action. Will appear in an upcoming issue of VINE (Emerald Publishing). (MSWord, 10 pages)

    Hierarchy as a Learning Platform by Alex Bennet. This paper discusses important distinctions between hierarchy and bureaucracy in support of a learning framework.  it also introduces the relationships of thinking, talking and acting to our functioning space. Will appear in a Fall issue of VINE (Emerald Publishing). (PDF, 6 pages)

    Learning as Associative Patterning by Alex and David Bennet. This paper links the associative learning process of the human brain to the relationship and emergence of really significant ideas on the global horizon. (PDF, 6 pages)  See also the supporting Associative Patterning Graphic (PDF, 1 slide).

    The Learning Continuum Text (MSWord, 4 pages) and The Learning Continuum Graphic (single PowerPoint slide)

    Learning in the Intelligent Complex Adaptive System (PowerPoint presentation, 9 slides) High-level ICAS content.

    Learning: A Simple Truth (single PowerPoint slide)

    Some Leading Resources (MSWord, 3 pages) Book resource list.     

Key Definitions

Learning is an increase in the capacity for effective action. Individual, team, and organizational learning can all be measured by their outcomes that result from effective action. This definition emphasizes the importance of taking actions and achieving results vice intellectual knowledge without communication or application.

Individual learning is the act or process of acquiring data, information, skill or knowledge.

Team learning is the process of developing the capacity of a team to create the desired results.

Organizational learning is the capacity of the organization to acquire the knowledge necessary to survive and compete in its environment. This includes the development of knowledge and understanding, shared among organizational employees, that leads to effective action.

Spiritual learning is the process of elevating the mind as related to intellect and matters of the soul to increase the capacity for effective thought and action.

Single loop learning occurs when problems are solved by changing actions or strategies for achieving a desired result without changing the underlying theory or assumptions about those actions.

Double-loop learning occurs when problems are solved by changing the fundamental values and assumptions of the theory as well as the strategy and actions.

eLearning is any virtual act or process used to acquire data, information, skills or knowledge. In the context of our research, eLearning is enabled learning, learning in a virtual world where technology merges with human creativity to accelerate and leverage the rapid development and application of deep knowledge.

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References

Argyris, C. (1997). On Organizational Learning, 2^nd ed., Malden, Mass.: Blackwell  Business

Bennet, A. and D. Bennet (2004). "The Learning Organization" in Organizational Survival in the New World: The Intelligent Complex Adaptive System. Boston: Elsevier. (Pages 249-260)

Bennet, A. and D. Bennet (2004). "Learning, Knowledge Management, and Knowledge Workers" in Organizational Survival in the New World: The Intelligent Complex Adaptive System. Boston: Elsevier. (Pages 261-274)

Bennet, D. (2004). "Learning and the Knowledge Worker" in Koenig, M. and K. Srikantaiah, Knowledge Management Lessons Learned. Medford: Information Today.

Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 3^rd ed., Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Senge, P. (1990). The Fifth Discipline. New York: Doubleday.

Teasdale, W. and Dalai Lama (1999). The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World's Religions. New World Library, Novato, CA.

This Web Site copyright 2008 by Alex and David Bennet. For educational and knowledge sharing purposes and in the context of knowledge mobilization, permission is given to copy and distribute materials on this web site with attribution.

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Last modified: 07/08/09