Today I presented the ideas of organisational re-learning to a group of librarians at the University of Colorado, Denver. It is perhaps the most unattractive powerpoint presentation I have ever developed however shortness of time did not allow the usual beautification.
The organisational re-learning system I propose incorporates the four ‘R’ steps of:
- Reprioritising which includes a renegotiation of organisational foundations and operations
- Repurposing according to identified needs established from new and changed priorities
- Reframing occurs to align staff thinking and behaviours
- Retooling happens to develop staff skills to the level required for new strategic directions
Framed within:
5. Reflection
5. Reflection
And specifically a reflective evidence based practice process which I adapted from reflective and evidence based practice literature. This model proposes a fluid cyclical process of evidence based practice with critical reflection occurring at the beginning and end of the cycle. Each stage of organisational re-learning occurs concurrently utilising the reflective evidence based practice process as a strategic pathway to accomplish each step.
Reflective evidence based practice process (Callahan & Howard, 2008)
The principles I presented of organisational re-learning are founded in a paper I co-authored in 2008 entitled Planning for Success: Reprioritising, repurposing, and retooling with results presented at the 5th International Lifelong Learning Conference in Queensland.
Since this paper was completed I have further developed the ideas to incorporate the ‘Reframing’ stage which is in many ways the most critical as it focuses on encouraging behavioural changes across an organisation, both on an individual and holistic level, in order for the organisation to move forward in delivering new strategic directions and goals.
The ‘Reframing’ stage is the people stage where the importance lies in engaging each individual and building relationships to encourage growth in professional confidence, professional possibility and empowerment. If there is the need for organisational re-learning – there is also the need to build trust and confidence which occurs primarily through relationship building and demonstrating genuine care. For me, I come back to my personal leadership philosophy ‘If I don’t have my staff, I have nothing’. This focuses on the idea that people are the organisation and that as a leader/ manager it is my role to support and nurture them appropriately toward success. If I am successful in this, there are two probable outcomes: any organisational re-learning initiative will be a success and the organisation as a whole will be a success.
Zaana Howard = PhD student, design thinking, service design, social learning, knowledge management, social innovation, sometime artist, (ex?) librarian = generalist
