THE Organizational Learning Reimagined and Redefined Series
with Nigel Paine

 

Join us for three webinars led by Nigel Paine. Each session is one hour. Each program is independent of the others, but is thematically and topically linked to the others. You may attend one session, two sessions, or all three. You decide.

This series is open to the public at no charge.

All three sessions will be recorded and available to LDA members afterwards. To sign up, simply click on the option below and register. You will receive a calendar invitation with the Zoom link for the session(s) you sign up to attend.

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS AND DATES:

SESSION ONE: BUILDING OUT THE ORGANISATIONAL BRAIN
JANUARY 25, 2024 from 11h00 to 12h00 ET (New York time)

We rarely consider the complex amount of know-how and knowledge embedded in organisations, large and small, the world over.  The CEO of HP  from 1992- 1999 Lew Platt  claimed: "if HP knew what HP knows,  we would be three times more productive" . This simple little sentence embodies a complex truism: organisations are smart, but we don't know how to build, measure, store or access that intelligence.

Let's imagine an organisation as a brain. Just as in the human brain has a large number of neurone's, organizations have a large number of  people. We know now that our human intelligence is based, not on the number of neurones we have, (between 80, billion and 100 billion if you're asking) but on the connections between those neurones. These are synapses , and each cell can  sustain up to 1000 connections. If you multiply 100 billion by one thousand you end up with a very large number, something like a quadrillion. These connections make a massive neural network that helps us make sense of the world.  In an organization, the more connections between people the easier it is to retrieve knowledge and get help.

If the analogy holds good, a focus on the synapeses rather than the neurons is the way to go. 

We will look at a number of organizations that have focused on building the maximum connections between people  both internally as well as developing links between the organization and the world outside.

We will examine:

  • What stops those connections occurring

  • How you tap into your organizational brain

  • How you stimulate those connections and make use to them

  • What are the first steps you should take

SESSION TWO: EMBRACING EXTERNAL INSIGHTS TO DRIVE CHANGE
MARCH 7, 2024 from 11h00 to 12h00 ET (New York time)

Most organizations are too insular. They put up barriers to stop information leaking out or breaking in. The bigger the organization the more insular it is.

The problem that this creates is a blindness to changes in the external environment coupled with a smugness about what we do is better than anyone else. Sadly this is rarely the case!

Big organizations need to behave like Start-Ups, who are desperate to understand the outside environment so they can respond, and  keen to absorb and deal with changes that might impact them.

You cannot appoint external messengers to bring the news -good or bad- from outside, it has to be endemic and cultural. And there has to be space to process this information and act on it if necessary. There are many things that have to happen for this to become 'the way we do things around here.' And in this webinar you will learn:

  • How to ramp up curiosity so people will want to explore new possibilities

  • How to create the space and time for this to happen

  • How to build the forums where this information can be processed

  • How to take intelligent decisions quickly and effectively based on this data

  • These processes are at the heart of organizational learning.

SESSION THREE: ADOPTING HEALTHY HABITS: HOW TO FAIL IN ORDER TO LEARN AND HOW TO ASK FOR HELP
APRIL 23, 2024 from 11h00 to 12h00 ET (New York time)

Many people at work feel that any admission of weakness is career limiting. This is toxic in the extreme.

If you dare not admit that you made a mistake, the errors are covered up and blame is deflected and mistakes are punished. Equally if it impossible to ask for help as that is a sign that you cannot do your job or you are not as competent as colleages.

The result is a culture of masking and covering up and where your true self is hidden in the workplace. In extreme cases this is stress inducing but always it leads to a loss of productivity.

In this webinar we will share case studies of companies that behave differently and understand:

  • Why fear is toxic always

  • That mistakes are massive learning opportunities

  • That asking for help is at the heart of a coaching culture

  • Where open discussion is the root of innovation and resilience