B O O K S
Everyone agrees with the statement: "Much is being written today about learning organizations." There is indeed another book on the subject: Strategic Readiness - The Making of the Learning Organization by John C. Redding and Ralph F. Catalanello. As regards the topics, there is little innovation: strategic plans, experiential methods of implementation, communication procedures, conflict management,...Yet this book refuses to be simply categorized as an additional study of learning organizations. Its outstanding feature is its scope. Not only the primary analysis of the learning organization is unusually thorough, this subject here becomes a field in itself, a learning tradition in a workplace's history. Moreover, the various contexts in which the learning organization appears, also widen the scope of this study. From the origins of the learning organization, to step-by-step directions for particular strategies and finally, to the human and institutional benefits of such learning, this "story" of the learning organization touches upon multiple fields: history, business, social psychology, philosophy... This seems to enrich the present qualities of the learning organization: its benefits are far-reaching and accessible at all times, in all places, and to anybody willing to embrace change, providing he shows dedication and persistence.John C. Redding and Ralph F. Catalanello, both authorities on management and organization from Northern Illinois University, wrote this book together in a joint effort to provide companies with a solution for not only survival, but also success in today's competitive and mutable conditions. The driving principle of their theory is: the creation and sustainability of a successful organization rely on steady, individual - and collective learning, with the aim of generating continuous improvements. Two other key principles are presented as vital to the learning process: the necessity of cultivating a readiness for change - now called strategic readiness and the importance of learning on a collective, organizational scale. Although expressed more implicitly by the authors, such qualities as receptivity, open-mindedness and adaptability are obvious requisites for steady learning.
The recipe for the Strategic Learning Cycle, a method proposed by the authors to develop sustainable improvement, is simple: Develop a plan, Implement the plan, Reflecting on the Plan. What is striking is the wealth of concrete examples and practical guidelines supporting this plan and other concepts. This reveals the authors' method of research: an exhaustive study of no less than two hundred learning organizations. As a result, the ideas and conclusions about becoming a learning organization have been tried and tested and therefore are reliable. On a stylistic level, this extensive use of illustrations enhances the quality of the writing. The choice of examples at times sways towards scientific precision - in the epilogue, the necessity of fast learning is illustrated by a mathematical equation: probability of survival = an organization's learning : environmental change + competitor learning - sometimes towards metaphorical images - in the prologue, the learning process is equated with journeys of learning, which the authors compare to a trip into the Rocky Mountains - and even towards the literary scene, as a poet is quoted to prove the value of ambiguity in accelerated learning: Keats define negative capability as: "When a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, and doubts." The volume contains a prologue which outlines organizational learning, and three parts, each divided in three chapters. Part one, From Strategic Planning to Strategic Learning, introduces the basic elements of the learning organization. A range of organizations is examined closely and conclusions are drawn from their experiments in strategic learning. Those conclusions serve as stepping stones to the main topics of this part, namely the Strategic Learning Cycle, accelerated learning, and strategic readiness. Part two, Accelerating Strategic Learning, takes us a step further with the aim of accelerating the methods of strategic learning described in Part one. The three methods which favor accelerated learning - Continuous Planning, Improvised Implementation and Deep Reflection - are all described in depth. Finally, Part three, Building Strategic Readiness, leads to a higher sphere as it exhorts us to Heighten Strategic Awareness, Make learning a way of life, and Become self-organizing. The epilogue closes this book with an original note: Improvising the future: Learning organization and Jazz.
Who is Strategic Readiness for? Obviously, people directly involved in - and responsible for major changes in their organizations form the primary audience. But any organization nowadays is subject to transformations and therefore, anybody interested in understanding this current phenomenon of change, and in staying ahead of the developments will benefit from this book. The fruit of many years of research on the part of the authors, Strategic Readiness proves an illuminating contribution to the existing knowledge of strategic planning and learning. It can also usefully complement other fields, such as education, management, organization-theory, -behavior, -development. Without doubt, it is a good read.
Strategic Readiness - The Making of the Learning Organization * John C. Redding / Ralph F. Catalanello * Jossey Bass Publishers. To order, please contact: Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers, 350 Sansome Street, San Francisco, California 94104. For sales outside the United States, contact Maxwell Macmillan International Publishing Group, 866 Third Avenue, New York, 10022.