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Organizational Learning and Organizational Memory                     371



                   Table 11.1
                 Key characteristics and associated best practices of successful learning organizations

                 Characteristic  Defi nition     Associated best practices    Positive by-products
                 Self         The ability to     1.   Positive reinforcement     Greater commitment to
               mastery —    honestly and      from role models/     the organization and to
                 individual   openly see reality as   managers      work; less rationalization
                            it exists; to clarify     2.   Sharing experiences   of negative events;
                            one ’ s personal     3.   More interaction time   ability to face limitations
                            vision                                  and areas for
                                              between supervisory
                                              levels                improvement; ability to
                                                                    deal with change
                                                4.   Emphasis on feedback
                                                5.   Balance work/nonwork
                                              life
                 Mental       The ability to     1.   Time for learning     Less use of defensive
               models —     compare reality or     2.   Refl ective openness   routines in work; less
                 individual   personal vision     3.   Habit of inquiry   refl exivity that leads to
                            with perceptions;                       dysfunctional patterns of
                            reconciling both     4.   Forgiveness of oneself   behavior; less avoidance
                            into a coherent     5.   Flexibility/adaptability   of diffi cult situations
                            understanding
                 Shared       The ability of a     1.   Participative openness     Commitment over
               vision — group   group of individuals     2.   Trust   compliance, faster
                            to hold a shared     3.   Empathy toward others   change, greater within
                            picture of a                            group trust; less time
                            mutually desirable     4.    Habit of dissemination    spent on aligning
                            future              5.   Emphasis on    interests; more effective
                                              cooperation           communication fl ows
                                                6.   A common language
                 Team         The ability of a     1.   Participative openness     Group self-awareness;
               learning —   group of individuals     2.   Consensus building   heightened collective
                 group      to suspend personal     3.   Top-down and   learning; learning  “ up
                            assumptions about   bottom-up           and down ”  the
                            each other and    communication fl ows   hierarchy; greater
                            engage in                               cohesiveness; enhanced
                              “ dialogue ”  rather     4.   Support over blame   creativity
                            than  “ discussion ”      5.   Creative thinking
                 Systems      The ability to see     1.   Practicing self mastery     Long-term improvement
               thinking —   interrelationships     2.   Possessing consistent   or change; decreased
                 group      rather than linear   mental models      organizational confl ict;
                            cause and effect;     3.   Possessing a shared   continuous learning
                            the ability to think   vision           among group members;
                            in context and                          revolutionary over
                            appreciate the      4.   Emphasis on team   evolutionary change
                            consequences of   learning
                            actions on other
                            parts of the system
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