If you do the
same old thing the same old way
You will always
get the same old result
can correct this problem
6.1 Introduction to Learning
This chapter is about group learning specifically
related to organizational change and even more specifically related to plantreliability.
Every organization and those within the organization learn continuously.
Although you and your organization may not learn the correct things nor apply
what you have learned, nevertheless, learning goes on all of the time.
The questions we will address in this chapter are
1. What is group learning?
2. What constitutes a learning organization?
3. How do we acquire knowledge?
4. How does this apply to reliability?
5. How is learning supported or impaired by the organization’s
6. As internal consultants, what we can we do about
In our daily lives we learn something new everyday.
It is important that we consider each of these new things that we learn and see
how they are applied to the world in which we work. If we don’t, there is a
significant risk that the world will change and we will be left behind. Just
think for a moment of the things you have learned over your career and how they
have been applied towards making work easier and making you more productive. A
simple example that has affected everyone is the computer. I can still remember
doing things long hand and the large amount of time and effort it took. I can
also remember the difficult time and extended effort required to justify one PC
in our entire organization. Times change and we need to learn and apply what we
Although it is important that we learn and apply
this learning, it is even more important for the success of our companies that
we learn as a group—hence, group learning. The reasoning for this is the simple
truth that no one individual can easily make a change for the better. You may
have learned something that can vastly improve the reliability of your
equipment. However, if that learning is not transferred to the entire group, it
will never be implemented. The reasoning behind this is the fact that groups
are what make up the organization and, ultimately, the company. If the group
learns something new that will support their effectiveness and efficiency, and
they are aligned in their approach, the result will be a powerful and
Group learning is an important organizational trait
that has the potential to make the work of internal consultants far easier than
if learning was not a key component of the organization’s make-up. After all,
internal consultants are responsible to work with the organization and develop
new initiatives that will improve efficiency and effectiveness. If the
organization is closed to learning and applying the actions required, that task
will become difficult to impossible.
Years ago I came to understand that reactive
maintenance was not nearly as effective as work that was well planned and
executed. In one consulting effort in which I was engaged, I suggested that the
organization move away from their reactive work processes towards those that
had a much higher degree of proactivity. However, there were many in the
organization who still embraced the old reactive way of working. Even with
significant amounts of evidence they failed to embrace the new concepts. They
were unable to learn that, even though they had been reactive for years, it was
not an effective way of conducting the work. As a result, the change initiative
failed. The ability of an organization to be able to learn and apply the
learning to new and better ways of performance is not just critical to the
success of change initiatives; it is also critical to organizational survival.