A New Kind of Blog: Background and Intro to Learning Organizations
By: Ben Ehrlich
Tags: Culture, Sports, Learning, Learning And Development, Coaching

A Little Context: At the beginning of the year I decided to embark on a new journey by starting an EdD program in Performance Improvement Leadership. There were a couple of main reasons for the decision. One is I just genuinely love to learn. As much as I like to think I’m self-driven as a learner, I think it’s important to acknowledge most of us could always use some help. For me, it’s about the direction being part of a degree program offers. Having assignments that demand the application of knowledge is valuable. A second reason I started the program is I think it’ll help me to help others. At our school and in my work as a mental performance coach overall I’ve been a part of some innovative projects. There has been a pattern, however, of time invested to get the projects started, things going really well, and then eventually getting stuck because I can’t continue the time investment with other responsibilities. Then, the projects just kind of fizzle out instead of making a continued impact. The methods I’m learning in Performance Improvement Leadership will help us to not get stuck. An extra reason I decided to pursue the degree, if I’m honest, is a little bit of an ego. Completing the degree and being a “Dr,”- not the real kind, no, but the one who spends a lot of money to learn- would mean a lot. Anyway, the reason I think it’s important to let you know about my journey is I’m going to try to get back to writing. This time the blog will look a bit different though. Rather than just focusing on mental performance, you’ll get me- a blend of mental performance, performance improvement leadership, teacher, coach, and aspiring human being. I think I’m at my best with the blend, and I hope you find it useful. Without further ado, let’s get to it.

Intro to Learning Organizations

Most of us want the groups we’re part of to do as well as possible. If you’re a coach, you want your team to win. If you’re a teacher, you want to have a great school. If you work in the business world, you want the business to make lots of money. You get the picture. For great organizations, it isn’t just about doing well for a short period of time. It’s building to do well over the long-haul. The world is in such a fast-moving time that new becomes old at an increasingly rapid pace. This makes sustained success all the more challenging. That’s where creating a learning organization comes in. In learning organizations, there isn’t an end goal. Don’t worry. They don’t ignore results. What they do is continually look to adapt, expand capacity, and find new ways of thinking as a way to create those results. It’s basically “Be You” as a group. Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline is all about the five elements of a learning organization. Below are short descriptions of the elements and examples of how they may relate to you:

1. Systems Thinking- Systems thinking is basically the understanding that everything and everyone is connected. Within teams, it’s realizing how every part impacts the whole. There is a concept of shared responsibility where instead of blaming other people when things go wrong people think about their role and what they can do to help.

Example: A baseball player is struggling with their hitting. It’d be easy to just blame the player. “He can’t do it.” Systems thinking ignores blame and, again, shares responsibility. Maybe it’s a mechanical flaw to be worked on with the hitting coach? Maybe something is going on mentally that can be talked about with a mental skills coach? Perhaps a movement issue that can be addressed within the weight room? You get the picture. A learning organization would look at all of the ways possible to support the player in hopes of helping the player improve. Note: I’m not saying they would help the player make all of those adjustments at once. They’d just be part of the conversation before a next step is made.

2. Personal Mastery- “Organizations learn only through individuals who learn,” is one of my favorite quotes from Senge. Personal mastery is all about growth and learning. Similar to the learning organization, there is no destination.

Example: There are several characteristics of people who approach personal mastery. One is they learn to work with change instead of against it. COVID has brought with it, along with the obvious other much more important issues, great change in the way school works. There’s a noticeable difference in mindset amongst teachers and how they’re approaching it. Some, while of course not happy with it, have been able to adjust and find cool new ways to teach with technology. Others have clung to the idea that “This isn’t teaching.” Which would you rather learn from?

3. Mental Models- Mental models are how our image of how the world works. It’s our familiar thinking and acting. Our mental models are largely what determine our actions. Our mental models are based on our experience so they’re forever incomplete. We all have what are called implicit mental models that are below our awareness. Learning organizations work to help people unearth those models by digging a bit with open dialogue and questions.

Example: An assistant basketball coach goes to the head coach with an idea to change up practice a bit by working more on end-of-game situations. Rather than just shutting the idea down, the head coach asks to hear more. “What is it that led you to that idea?” Then, the assistant has an opportunity to share. If it’s something flimsy, no dice. If there’s more substance, maybe there is a change. Maybe there isn’t. What that simple question does is demands substance for the idea. That’s something we want.

4. Building a Shared Vision- Shared vision is pretty straightforward but difficult. It’s building something that is “ours” for the future. There’s a sense of shared responsibility for something bigger than any individual. Learning organizations value personal visions and even use them to create a shared vision of the group. Want buy-in? Make people feel valued.

Example: A soccer team has a group meeting to determine what vision they’ll have for a season. Rather than it coming top-down from the manager (head coach), each individual player is asked to reflect about and then share what she’s hoping for the year. After hearing everyone, common themes emerge. Together, the group decides on a vision. Likely everyone feels part of the vision. It could be with specific words or just the idea of being heard. Either way, it’s a powerful force to drive the action forward.

5. Team Learning- Team learning is about making the most of a team. There is a popular saying in coaching (I’ll go with baseball/softball here, but use your sport’s version), “I’m not going to play the best nine players. I’m going to play the nine players that are the best together.” Team learning is taking whatever “players” you have and getting them to be the best they can be together. One element of team learning is helping people to recognize their defensive routines. This is when we protect our views and the reasoning behind them.

Example: “I don’t know. That’s just the way I’ve always done it.” If we’re being honest, we’ve probably all said it at one point or another. Maybe it was how we were coached. Or how the first head coach we’d coached with done things. Whatever the reason, it’s difficult to question what we do. To do so can be viewed as a threat to our experience. We have to look past that if we really want to learn with the group. Getting it right takes precedence over being right.

Those are really far too simplistic explanations of the five elements of learning organizations. If you’re ambitious, I’d encourage you to check out the book. If you’re not, I’m sure there are plenty of videos and articles that talk about them further as well. Let’s be honest. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve got at least some ambition in you. Challenge yourself to reflect on your team. Which elements do you think you do well? Which could you do better? What is it that leads you to that conclusion? See what I did, there? You’ll be better for the reflection. More importantly, your team may take the first step to be a true learning organization.