How best would you describe how your organization learns?
I currently work as an Information Services Librarian at the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). First, a brief history of this institution. HKBU was founded in 1956 as the Hong Kong Baptist College. The College was established as a statutory body in 1983, and became a fully government-funded institution that same year. Degree programmes began being offered in 1986, with University status being attained in 1994.
After attending the first session for this module and further consulting the text Schools That Learn by Senge et. al., I will approach the question of how HKBU learns as an organisation using the conceptual framework of the five disciplines.
1. Personal mastery
The goal of this discipline is to enable individuals within the organisation to better define and pursue their goals while also ensuring that they have an enhanced understanding of the reality in which they exist. Senge et. al. assert that organisations can assist in this, by setting a context in which people have time to reflect upon their personal vision.
At HKBU, this is actually a stated goal of the performance assessment system. A section is set aside in performance assessment forms for staff to reflect not only upon their past accomplishments but also on their aims for the future. However, this is probably the sole instance in which the organisation explicitly encourages the development of personal mastery in individuals, and this occurs only once per year for most staff. Additionally, it could be asked how genuine these self-reflections are, given that they take place in the context of a fairly bureaucratic procedure.
2. Mental models
Senge et. al. assert that people often interpret situations based on tacit mental models that exist below the level of conscious awareness. This discipline aims to bring these to the surface, so that any miscommunications that they have engendered can be discussed and explored with a minimum of defensiveness. At the organisational level, attempts should be made to make the decision-making process visible.
While there are attempts to do this at HKBU (for example through town hall style meetings where staff are encouraged to make known their views), it would be fair to say that the size of the organisation precludes the possibility of a perfectly transparent decision-making processes. Nevertheless, the effort is made and staff views are sought - focus groups are sometimes used to get representative feedback on issues that affect all staff.
3. Shared Vision
HKBU has developed a strategic plan called "Vision 2020". Elements of this plan can be readily mapped to the three areas that Senge et. al. allude to in their discussion of this discipline:
- Images of the future: "By the year 2020 the University will be the best regional provider of whole person education"
- Values that will be important in getting there: Dedication to quality teaching and learning; innovation in research; service to the wider community
- Goals that will be achieved along the way: Strengthen staff development; establish "Institute of Creativity"; establish Chinese medicine teaching hospital
Vision 2020 has been promoted to staff, and it clearly sets out our institutional goals. It certainly provides a framework around which individual units can organise their efforts.
4. Team Learning
This discipline aims to get people thinking and acting together in concert. Senge et. al. refer to this as "alignment" whereby individual efforts are aligned so as to result in progress towards a common goal. It is asserted that this begins with the ability to see and respect others, and the establishment of common mental models about reality.
In my experience at HKBU, this happens to an extent within individual units. I can only speak of direct experience of one unit (the University Library), however from observations it would seem that most other units are similarly able to work in concert towards the goal of their particular department. However, at the institutional level the organisation may not be as successful.
5. Systems Thinking
This final, fifth discipline focuses on developing awareness of complexity, interdependence, and change. As such, it would seem to require a certain degree of sophistication above and beyond that of the first four disciplines. System-wide thinking encourages change to be enacted throughout the organisation, rather than in one narrow domain - this is generally more effective than working in isolation.
As alluded to above, HKBU examined through this theoretical lens may fall somewhat short of the mark. Like most universities, individual departments tend to form independent silos that do not interact much with each other. This is true even of departments within the same Faculty, and is also true (to varying degrees) of administrative units. This can naturally result in problems when trying to move the organisation as a whole towards the vision that has been set.
In summary, examined using the framework of the five disciplines, HKBU has placed significant effort into creating a shared vision and into providing opportunities for staff to develop personal and shared understandings of this vision. However, it is less clear as to whether the organisation is learning at the systems thinking level.
Hi Chris, useful reflections and comments drawing on Senge's disciplines, well done
ReplyDeleteHi Chris，
ReplyDeleteAlmost organization propagandizes that “Team learning is very important，we should cohence team”， but the fact is only a few achieve these，people think more than group， they focus on individual promotion and proof of his ability.