Learning and Organisational Style A presentation by Francis Sathya International Human Resource Conference organised by People in Aid Geneva, 07 February 2007

Highlights Focus on Organisational Learning in relief and development NGOs. Learning and its importance Organisational Learning concepts Organisational Learning practice in NGOs Suggestions and questions

What have we lost? “Where is the life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” -T.S. Eliot, ‘The Rock’

Learning and Practice கற்க கசடறக் கற்பவை கற்றபின் நிற்க அதற்குத் தக. -Thirukkural, Verse: 391(100 – 300 BCE)

Questions from People in Aid Is your organisation ready for changes brought about by globalisation? Do you feel people are central to the achievement of your mission?

Learning Learning is part and parcel of life Learning is key to our very existence and progress. Three streams of learning: Informal, Formal and non-formal. All knowledge systems carry a number of values and biases.

OL-LO-KM Organisational Learning The process of developing new knowledge that changes an organisation's behaviour to improve current and future performance.

OL-LO-KM Learning Organisation Learning organizations are organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together. (Senge 1990) Learning organizations are characterized by total employee involvement in a process of collaboratively conducted, collectively accountable change directed towards shared values or principles. (Watkins and Marsick 1992)

OL-LO-KM Knowledge Management The process by which the knowledge required by an organisation is acquired, distilled, shared, stored, retrieved and used.

Organisational Learning 1990s: Neo-liberalism, NGO respectability, Official funding, ICT, etc. NGOs’ concerns about lack of organisational memory, donor demands, gap between M&E and planning. NGO awareness of the concepts of OL and LO – mid to late 1990s. Turning to KM by the end of 1990s

MarketGovernmentDonors NGOs Survival Growth Service The Poor

OL in Practice NGOs are a diverse group of organisations Operate in a rapidly changing and challenging environment. New and emerging challenges force NGOs take OL seriously. Depending on their primary role, leadership, sources of funding and the nature of partnership, NGOs view OL as a crime or an essential process. Most NGOs are dominated by middle and upper-middle class professionals from urban background. Therefore, OL in NGOs may reflect middle class values and biases. With the exception of NGOs mainstreaming citizen's empowerment and human rights, most NGOs are stuck in single loop or incremental learning. Reframing and transformational learning are limited or rare.

Transformational Learning

Making OL effective in NGOs NGO leadership committed and accountable to the poor and excluded. Aligning principles with practice Valuing and promoting bottom-up learning Developing and sustaining a culture supportive of learning. Avoiding uncritical importation of management techniques from other sectors. Promoting non-Western understandings of development, management and cultural practices.

Questions What kind of leadership/management is desirable for OL? What are some of the common barriers to OL in NGOs? How to overcome them?