INNOVATION AND

ORGANIZATIONAL

LEARNING

Artur Ferreira da Silva

artur.silva@ist.utl.pt

SIDS/IST

2012, December 03

INNOVATION AND

ORGANIZATIONAL

LEARNING

Content

A dialogic presentation with no PPT’s

Additional materials: • PPT presentation (to see after the session)

• Takeuchi et al, “The Contraditions that drive

Toyota sucess”

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

INNOVATION AND

ORGANIZATIONAL

LEARNING

Note:

PowerPoint Is Evil Power Corrupts. PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely.

By Edward Tufte

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

WORLD

NATION

ORGANIZATION /

COMMUNITY

GROUP

INDIVIDUAL

Levels of Concern

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

At all Levels – Domains of Concern

RESILIENCE

META-INNOVATION

INNOVATION

LEARNING/CHANGE

KNOWLEDGE

Other Domains of Concern

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

• Values

• Culture

• Complexity

• Chaos Theory

• Self-organization

• Emergence

• Paradigms

• Metanoia

• …

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

What does “Learning” means?

“Impart of Knowledge” or Knowledge Creation?

Learning by socialization in a community?

Life-long Learning?

All work is learning? (learning by doing, reflective

practice)

Incremental Learning Vs. Deep Learning

Piaget, Khun, Argyris, Schön

Learning and Unlearning (of obsolete

“knowledge”)

Learn how to Learn

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

Learning (L) and Knowledge (K)

L = dK/dt (not an exact mathematic formula)

Learning is “Knowledge Creation”

Explicit Knowledge (Know what) Vs. Tacit

Knowledge (Know how)

It’s neither possible nor interesting to manage

knowledge; one must create an organizational

context that facilitates knowledge creation

(adapted from Von Krogh et all, 2000 - see also

Wilson, 2002, “The Nonsense of KM”)

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING (Argyris & Schon)

Many organizations understand that they

need to learn

but

The great majority of organizations have

big difficulties in change their “mental

models” in order to deep learn (they have

‘learning disabilities’)

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING (Argyris & Schon)

Single Loop Learning Vs Double Loop Learning

governing

variables action consequences

Double-loop learning

Single-loop learning

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

Learning and Change

Type 1 and Type 2 Change (Watzlavick)

All deep Learning implies Change and all deep

Change implies Learning

Deep Change and deep Learning involves a

Paradigm Shift (Khun) or a Metanoia (Alberoni)

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

Learning and Innovation

Innovation involves the creation of new applicable

knowledge, hence it involves learning

Breakthrough Innovation needs double-loop

Learning

Both imply new ways to see learning and

innovation (meta-learning, meta-innovation)

Both need a new paradigm of resilient

organizations, in a resilient and sustainable

world, more close to real people and to nature

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

INNOVATION & META-INNOVATION

«(…) Really, what we need is “meta-innovation” –

innovation about ways to innovate. (…) We need

innovation not just in the technology but innovation

in (…) the institutions that manage the

collaboration and that manage a global

community working on problems. The question

is: Is there a way that we can create an institution or

a set of institutions where the right answers

emerge consistently from collaborative efforts?

(…)».

Erik Brynfolson, “Beyond Enterprise 2.0”

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

INNOVATION & META-INNOVATION

«(…) I’m not saying that the complete level

playing field that the Internet makes possible

is a great idea in all cases. But the business

opportunity it presents is to create the

architecture of participation – the ground

rules of the game – so that the good

material emerges. (…)».

Andrew McAfee, “Beyond Enterprise 2.0”

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

INNOVATION & META-INNOVATION

PLAN OF

INNOVATION

Innovate

Sharing

Tacit

Knowledge

Creating

a

Concept

Justifying

a

Concept

Building

a

Prototype

Cross-

-Levelling

Knowledge

Source: Adapted to Innovation by AFS, from Van Krogh et al. (2000). AFS - IST SIDS 2012

INNOVATION & META-INNOVATION

META-PLAN

(Cultivate a Context

that Enables

Innovation)

PLAN OF

INNOVATION

Enable Innovation

Instill a

Knowledge

Vision

Innovate

Manage

Conversa-

tions

Create the

Right

Context

Globalize

Local

Knowledge

Sharing

Tacit

Knowledge

Creating

a

Concept

Justifying

a

Concept

Building

a

Prototype

Cross-

-Levelling

Knowledge

Source: Adapted to Innovation by AFS, from Van Krogh et al. (2000).

Mobilize

Knowledge

Activists

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

INNOVATION & META-INNOVATION

META-PLAN

(Cultivate a Context

that Enables

Innovation)

PLAN OF

INNOVATION

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

Enable Innovation

Instill a

Knowledge

Vision

Innovation

Manage

Conversa-

tions

Create the

Right

Context

Globalize

Local

Knowledge

Sharing

Tacit

Knowledge

Creating

a

Concept

Justifying

a

Concept

Building

a

Prototype

Cross-

-Levelling

Knowledge

Source: Adapted to Innovation by AFS, from Van Krogh et al. (2000).

Change the Way to Think about Enabling

Innovation: Patterns for Organizational

Resilience – Some Exemples

1) Combine incremental/planned change & learning with

transformational/emergent change, learning & innovation;

2) Use Open Space Technology - that facilitates both

Mobilize

Knowledge

Activists

META-META-PLAN

(Paradigm Shift or

Metanoia – multiple

Enabling Patterns)

INNOVATION & META-INNOVATION

META-META-PLAN

(Paradigm Shift or Metanoia:

Change the way we think

about Innovation, Learning and Change )

META-PLAN

(Cultivate a Context

that Enables

Innovation)

PLAN OF

INNOVATION

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

How to promote Organizational

Metanoia

A Value based Organization

Respect for people and diversity

Action Research and Reflexive Practice at all

levels

OST – Open Space Technology (Owen, 1997)

WW OST NING http://openspaceworld.ning.com/

OST Institute of Portugal – http://www.instituto-

ost.pt/

Creativity Culture (Robinson, 2011)

Presencing (Scharmer, 2000, 2006 )

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

PRESENCING Dialog on Leadership

Bill O’Brian: «The success of the intervention depends on the interior conditions of the intervener» (Scharmer, 2000).

«Presencing: the process of coming-into-being of emerging futures» (Scharmer, 2000).

«The experience of presencing is twofold: co-creating and giving birth to a new reality and, at the same time, being transformed and born into a new world by the very same process» (Scharmer, 2000).

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

PRESENCING

The U-Theory

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

PRESENCING – TWO MODELS

OF LEARNING

From Past Experiences From the Emerging Future

Observe Seeing

Reflect Act Sensing Enacting

Plan Presencing

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

Long-living (resilient) Companies

(Shell Study): Learning Companies

Arie de Geus, 1988, 1997

Long-living Companies (200-700 years) versus the

majority (30-40 years for “Fortune 500” companies)

The first ones are able to adapt and survive the competition in their “eco-system” with the same identity (a form of “natural selection”) – hence they are able to learn and change (they are “learning companies”) and they are “resilient”

From the Shell study, long-living companies are:

“Sensitive to their environment” (open, learning)

“Cohesive, with a strong sense of identity” (have a “persona”)

“Tolerant” (also used “decentralized”)

“Conservative in Finance” AFS - IST SIDS 2012

Organizations, Communities and

Societies “Life Cycles” (Greiner, 1988,

adapted by Gómez-Pallete, 1995)

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

The Sigmoide Curve ( Handy,

1994)

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

The Sigmoide Curve:

Consequences

Companies normally understand the need to change

their business model at point B

But then it is too late – they no longer have neither

the resources nor the energy

There is no way to define where the correct point to

begin a new life cycle (point A) is located

The only solution is to be resilient that is to undergo

deep changes without or prior to a crisis (Hamel and

Välikangas, 2003)

This implies an “Architecture for Resilience”

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

An Architecture for Resilience

Combine incremental change with

transformational emergent change

Be prepared for the possibility of transformational

change, before it is too late (Handy’s point B) – be

prepared to be surprised!

Have a culture of double-loop learning and

breakthrough innovation, not only on products, but

also on structures and policies

Try multiple patterns of innovation until one (or

some) emerge(s) as the correct one(s)

Have adequate meeting procedures – Open

Space Technology is the most powerful as it

enhances self-organization and emergence AFS - IST SIDS 2012

BIBLIOGRAPHY (1) Alberoni, F., 1990, Génese, Bertrand Editora, Lda.

Alexander, C., 1979, The Timeless Way of Building, Oxford University Press

Alexander, C., et all, 1977, A Pattern Language – Towns, Buildings, Construction, Oxford

University Press

Argyris, C. and Schön, D., 1974, Theory in Practice – Increasing Professional Effectiveness, San

Francisco, Jossey-Bassey Publishers.

Argyris, C. and Schön, D., 1996, Organizational Learning II – Theory, Method and Practice,

Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

Arthur, W.B., 1991, “What Counts is Where You’re Coming From In Your Inner Self”, conversation

with J. Jaworsky, G. Jusela and C.O. Scharmer. Available: www.dialogonleadership.org

(8/5/2007).

Brynjolfsson, E. and Mc.Afee, A., 2007, “Beyond Enterprise 2.0”, Special Report: The Future of

the Web, Sloan Management Review, Spring, pp.50-55.

Dialog on Leadership, 2001. Available: http://www.presencing.com/presencing/dol/ (2/12/2012).

de Geus, A., 1988, “Planning as Learning”, Harvard Business Review, March-April, pp.70-74.

de Geus, A., 1997, The Living Company – Growth, Learning and Longevity in Business, Harvard

Business School Press.

Gómez-Pallete, F., 1995, La Evolución de las Organizaciones, Noesis, Madrid

Greiner, L. E., 1988, Evolution and Revolution as organizations grow. HBR, May

Kaufman, F. e Senge, P., 1993, Communities of Commitment: the Heart of the Learning

Organization, Organizational Dynamics, Autumn

Kuhn, T., 1962, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 3rd ed. (1996), The University of Chicago

Press, USA.

Lao Tse, 1989, Tao te King, 4ª ed., Editorial Estampa.

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

BIBLIOGRAPHY (2) Hamel, G., and Välikangas, L., 2003, The Quest for Resilience, HBR, September: 52-63

Handy, C., 1994, The Age of Paradox, HBS, Boston, UAS

Instituto OST, 2009, http://www.instituto-ost.pt/ (12/12/2010)

Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, N., 1995, The Knowledge-Creating Company – How Japanese

Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation, Oxford University Press, USA.

Owen, H., 1990, “Learning as Transformation – The evolution of Consciousness”. Available:

http://ho-image.com/learnTrans.htm (8/5/2007).

Owen, H., 1997, Open Space Technology – A User’s Guide, 2nd ed., Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

OST World Wide Community NING, 2009, http://openspaceworld.ning.com/ (12/12/2010)

Robinson, Ken, 2011, Out of Our Minds – Learning to be Creative, Capstone, Chicester, UK, 2nd ed.

Scharmer, O., 2000, “Presencing: Learning from the Future as It Emerges. On the Tacit Dimension of Leading Revolutionary change”, Conference on Knowledge and Innovation, May 25-26, Helsinki School of Economics, Finland. Available: http://otto.scharmer.com (8/5/2007).

Scharmer, O., 2005, “A New Social Technology for Transforming Capitalism and Deepening Democracy” Voices from the Edge”, presentation recorded live at Foxhollow Forum , MA (2005). Available: http://www.wie.org/unbound/media.asp?id=78 (8/5/2007).

Scharmer, O., 2006, “Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges. Fieldnotes: an online Newsletter of the Shambhala Institute for Authentic Leadership”, Setp.-Oct. Available: http://otto.scharmer.com (8/5/2007).

Schön, D., 1983, The Reflective Practitioner – How Professionals Think in Action, Basic Books.

Senge, P., Scharmer, C.O, Jaworski, J. and Flowers, B.S., 2005, Presence – Exploring Profound Change in People, Organizations and Society, Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Smith, M. K., 2001 “Chris Argyris: theories of action, double-loop learning and organizational learning”, the encyclopedia of informal education. Available: www.infed.org/thinkers/argyris.htm (8/5/2007).

AFS - IST SIDS 2012

BIBLIOGRAPHY (3) Van Krogh, G., Ichijo, K. and Nonaka, I., 2000, Enabling Knowledge Creation – How to Unlock the

Mystery of Tacit Knowledge and Release the Power of Innovation, Oxford University Press.

von Hippel, E. (1976). The dominant role of users in the scientific instrument innovation process.

Research Policy, 5(3), 212-239 . (http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/papers/evh-01.htm)

von Hippel, E., 2001, Innovation by User Communities: Learning from Open-Source Software. MIT Sloan Management Review, 42(4), 82 (http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/papers/evh-04.htm)

von Hippel, E., 2005, Democratizing Innovation, MIT Press (also Creative Commons License: http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/democ1.htm

Watzlawick, P., Weakland, J. and Fisch, R., 1974, Change – Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Transformation, New York, Norton Inc, tradução em castelhano (1985) Cambio, Barcelona, Ed. Harder.

Wenger, E., 1998, Communities of Practice – Learning, Meaning and Identity, Cambridge University Press.

Wenger, E., McDermott, R. and Snyder, W., 2002, Cultiving Communities of Practice, Harvard Business School Press.

Wilson, T.,2002A,The Nonsense of Knowledge Management, http://informationr.net/ir/8-1/paper144.html

Wilson, T., 2002B,The Nonsense of Knowledge Management (presentation) http://dcti.iscte.pt/eibd/seminarios/20031018_Tom_Wilson/KM_dissent2.pdf

AFS - IST SIDS 2012