Learning Organizations Are Very Much In Vogue

A quote from S. Davis and J. Botkin's book, 'The Monster Under the Bed.'

By J. Botkin | 
 

"Learning organizations are very much in vogue. Many senior executives, consultants, and human resources departments are striving to make their companies learning organizations. It sounds right, but it isn't. The last thing you want to grow is a learning organization. First you need to grow a learning business. . . .

"A learning business today is not one that is learning how to use data or information. Those were learning businesses generations ago, in the 1960s and 1980s, respectively. A learning business today is one that leverages the economic value of knowledge. It is always figuring out how to define, acquire, develop, apply, measure, grow, use, multiply, protect, transfer, sell, profit by, and celebrate the company's know-how. And it may be know-how about developing new products, about serving customers, about any number of things."

-- From The Monster Under the Bed: How Business Is Mastering the Opportunity of Knowledge for Profit, by Stan Davis and Jim Botkin (Simon & Schuster, 1994)

* * *

Read more:

  • How Lincoln Became A Great Leader
  • How to Be Liked at Work (or Anywhere)
  • Cargo Firms Offering Free Shipping

    • Sign-up for our Leadership and Managing Newsletter