How to Build a Learning Organization

Twenty-five years ago, Peter Senge wrote “The Fifth Discipline”, considered the seminal text for how to build a learning organization. With obvious benefits, and the recipe needed for success, why don't we see more learning organizations? That was twenty-five years ago!

As Ash Maurya pointed out in his new book, Scaling Lean, “The goal isn't learning, the goal is traction.” Without a process that helps us turn learning into momentum, a culture of learning gets us nowhere. Without a strategy to overcome the challenges of distributed decision-making, we still make most decisions in ignorance.

Let's dust off these old ideas in light of all the discoveries we've made over the last decade in Lean Startup, Agile, and Continuous Delivery.

What are the critical elements that are missing in our organizations that prevent us from building a learning organization? What are the key obstacles to success?

In this talk, we'll breakdown the concept of a learning organization into discrete system components and analyze the requirements like engineers. Then we'll discuss a strategy for overcoming the challenges and iteratively transforming our organizations into learning organizations. From the building blocks of culture, to the design of organizational architecture, we'll build a roadmap for learning how to learn together.

Want to learn your way to being an AWESOME company? Learn how to become a learning organization.

About Arty Starr

Arty Starr is a recognized Flow Experience expert, researcher, speaker and thought leader, and author of Idea Flow, how to measure the friction in software development. Arty's PhD research is developing a theory of momentum in software development, and she is creator of the FLOWS platform designed to help developers thrive and find joy through more time in the flow state. The company she founded, FlowInsight, is on a mission to bring back joy to our everyday work.

Arty is also a 2D/3D animator and artist, and has spent the last couple years building 3D apps in AR. She loves to share about her experiences with these technologies.

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