How do I grow my business? Become a learning organisation.

“How LO can you go?”

Peter Senge’s fancy phrase “Learning Organisation” may be a feature in a hip strategy line of your business plan to impress the bank manager, potential investors or even your customers! But how does a LO work in reality? What actions can businesses take to develop as a LO? Well I think lots of the companies I meet through my ION Leadership work are already doing LO stuff. Here are 5 guideline to support that development.

Systematic problem-solving

Firstly, a slight mindset change is required. View a problem as an opportunity to grow because the solution focus will make the business more positive. Every business has operational problems so identify them and embrace them. Answer this series of questions.

Why did that go wrong? How did you get to that solution? What system was used to resolve it? When another problem presents itself could (or should) we use that problem-solving process again? If not, what are the options? Are assumptions and data fact-based? Everyone will have an opinion but are everyone’s opinions valid? If they can’t back them up with factual knowledge and experience, then revert to the previous question set. Creating problem-solving systems as part of normal day to day operations is happening and changing mindsets.     

Try out new stuff

Creating opportunities to test new approaches are also going on in the businesses I engage with but is still seen as a negative. Are businesses creating ways of accepting and processing new ideas from managers, staff and customers? Again, systems are needed to ensure a new approach or a change can be assessed and sense-checked before being trialled. Then if successful, or not, after a review process the question is simple: What have we learned from this? This will give the same value to both success and failure in organisational learning terms but is only valid if action is taken.  

Lessons Learnt

One of the cornerstones of good project management is to maintain a “lessons learnt log” and act on those lessons. Project Management in general manages change and modern businesses must consistently be changing. Therefore, the lessons learnt log is valid for business and this definitely goes on. It is really cost effective to use a template specification for 2 or more clients so surely its worth considering: How can we avoid repeating mistakes when supplying a similar service again?

Learn from the Market

This definitely goes on very successfully in the businesses I know. Disruption and duplication of profitable products and effective services is millennial and is the foundation of the commercial world we operate in. However, businesses are missing out on opportunities by learning when successful business get the essentials right; for example, customer service, staffing, corporate social responsibility and communication plans.

Communicate up, down, sideways in and out!

When I go down the pub on a Friday afternoon people ask “Tony, what do you do?” to which I usually reply, “I shout at people! I tell people stuff they already know.” Communication is the key to success. How many times have you heard that?

Effective and profitable businesses create multiple opportunities for ideas, lessons and shared knowledge to be transferred quickly and efficiently throughout the organisation. The larger the business the more challenges this presents you would think. I have found even some very small companies with under 5 staff rarely meet regularly with effective agenda items. Or even meet without agenda items to touch base and listen to everyone involved.  

The above 5 Learning Organisation activities have little or no economic cost. Changing behaviour to improve your business’ culture is a huge challenge but pays off massively in the short and the long-term. Creating systems and processes that support these activities and integrate them into their daily operations is valid. Companies can manage their learning more effectively to ensure sustainable Growth!