For this activity, fill out the Organizational Learning Self-Audit. In your initial post, attached the filled out Self-Audit, and answer the following questions (100-200 words):

1. What are the two worst barriers to learning, your organization is suffering from? What is perpetuating this barrier?

2. How would resolve the issue, if you had the authority?

After you answer post your answers, respond to two of your classmates with suggestions how YOU WOULD RESOLVE ONE OF THEIR BARRIERS TO ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING.

Organizational Learning Self (PDF).pdf

__________

Instructions

By Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. ET:

Post answers to the 2 questions with your Self-audit attached.

By Sunday, 11:59 p.m. ET:

After you answer post your answers, respond to two of your classmates with suggestions how YOU WOULD RESOLVE ONE OF THEIR BARRIERS TO ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING.

The only constant in life is change. --Heraclitus (paraphrased)

Your organization has moved to implement a new strategy on reforming how meetings are used. You're in a meeting with your executive team. You are given two quarters to implement and scaffold your organization to the new standards. What do you?

1. Watch the video.

2. In 250-300 words, provide a short explanation on how you would leverage your team as the Chief Learning Office to help implement the new change within the organization. This is a thought-experiment/vignette so be creative, but practical in practice.

By Thursday at 11:59 PM EST:

Post your initial post with your idea to implement the change.

By Sunday at 11:59 PM EST:

Respond to one classmate's response on how you would support their process as a smaller team lead within the organization.

Instructions

By Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. ET:

Post a short reaction video to this multimedia activity. What examples can you think of in organizations that similarly demonstrate the difference between simple, complicated, and complex problems?

By Sunday, 11:59 p.m. ET:

Add a written comment in response to at least two peers. Focus your comments on what was similar or different about your interpretations.

Employee on-boarding or volunteer on-boarding, if the organization is a Non-Government Organization or Non-Profit, is usually the very first experience that employees/volunteers get when it comes organizational learning. Watch the following video by Jennifer Currance, MBA, SHRM-SCP, PCC.

After watching the video, reflect on your current organization's on-boarding process and address the following questions:

1. What did your organization's onboarding process consist of?

2. Did the onboarding process address what was mentioned in the video?

3. If so, how did the onboarding process accomplish this?

4. If not, what would have to be changed in order to accomplish this?

5. Did the onboarding process reflect the learning culture within the organization or was it just a one off experience?

Post your initial post by Wednesday (Soft deadline).

Respond to 2 peers by Sunday at 11:59PM on how you would address the gaps in their on-boarding process.

"When practitioners are unaware of their frames for roles or problems, they do not experience the need to choose among them. They do not attend to the ways in which they construct the reality in which they function; for them, it is simply the given reality. When a practitioner becomes aware of his frames, he also becomes aware of the possibility of alternative ways of framing the reality of his practice" - (Schön, 1983, p. 310)

Dewey (1994) defines reflective action as a behavior that involves active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or practice in light of the grounds that support it and the further consequences to which it leads. The process of reflection involves a “standing back” from and systematic reviewing of what has been happening.

Similar to what Schön quoted above, Senge (2006) suggests that “the discipline of working with mental models starts with turning the mirror inward; learning to unearth our internal pictures of the world, to bring them to the surface and hold them rigorously to scrutiny” (p. 9).

Instructions

By Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. ET:

Using video, reflecting on Chapter 1 in Senge’s book, the Senge video, and the quotes above, identify a mental model or frame that you hold about your work or role in life that may have an effect on your behavior.

For example, if you work in an educational setting like a school, you may believe that your students are your customers. With that framing, how might that affect how you treat students on a daily basis? How might that limit what might be possible with students in that context? How is this mental model similar or different from those of others?

Post your 3-4 minute video reflection to the Discussion Board.

By Sunday, 11:59 p.m. ET:

Read and respond to the posts of at least two of your classmates. Comment on how the post provides an example of mental models and compare to your own example. Please limit each response to no more than 100 words.

View time: 24 minutes

Instructions

Watch the video interview with staff from Catalyst Miami. Focus on one small moment in the video that struck you in some way—some specific part of the discussion, one example given, one strategy shared, one challenge described.

By Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. ET:

Post a concise entry to the Discussion Board using these questions as a guide:

• What is the small moment you are reacting to?

• Identify one emotion or feeling connected to your reaction. For example, were you surprised? Frustrated? Confused? Bored?

• What did this small moment remind you of from the course or your own experience in organizations?

• What questions does this small moment raise for you? What conclusions might you draw?

By Sunday, 11:59 p.m. ET:

Read and comment on two of your peers’ posts.

Lee G. Bolman, Bolman, and Deal Terrence E. Deal. Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. 7th edition. Jossey-Bass, 2021. Print.

Based on your close reading of the Argyris article and the other readings, describe the difference between single- and double-loop learning, and explain why it is important to the practice of organizational learning. Then, think of a specific organizational problem or challenge that your organization is currently experiencing and explain how you could apply a double-loop learning process to this challenge in order to create better solutions.

Recommended length: 500–750 words

Due by Sunday, 11:59 p.m ET.

Volume 32, Issue 1

https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507601321002

Link: https://www.liberatingstructures.com/

Menu: https://www.liberatingstructures.com/ls/

Link: https://www.liberatingstructures.com/

Menu: https://www.liberatingstructures.com/ls/

Instructions 

1. First complete the “Organizational Frames Leadership Orientation” questionnaire handout and follow the instructions to total your scores and plot on the chart.

2. Review your scores and read the short descriptions of each of the four frames. Do you think the results match you well?

3. Use a combination of these scores and your reading of Chapters 1 and 2 in Bolman and Deal, to write a 2- to 3-paragraph (about 500 words) journal entry that reflects on which “frame(s)” is most dominant for you and what you have learned about your own perspective on organizations through these activities.

4. Attach a scan or a good picture of your questionnaire scores and plot. 

Due by Sunday, January 12th, 2025 at 11:59 p.m ET.

Based on these materials, write a 500- to 750-word essay using the following questions and prompts as a guide:

• What is systems thinking?

• How does systems thinking help people deal with complexity in organizations?

• Why is a systemic perspective an important complement to analytic thinking in organizations?

• What is an example from your own work or life where a systems perspective was helpful (or could have been more helpful than the approach you used) to a problem you were attempting to solve?

Be sure to cite sources for any material referenced.

Forrester, J. W. (1994). System dynamics, systems thinking, and soft OR. System Dynamics Review, 10(2‐3), 245-256.

Lauffer, Dr. A. (2010). Understanding Your Social Agency (Third Edition). Sage Publications, Inc.

Wheatley, M. (2002). Turning to one another: Simple conversations to restore hope to the future. The Journal for Quality and Participation; Cincinnati, 25(2), 8–19.

Wile, K. (2014, August 5). Peter Senge introduction to systems thinking