Organisational Change

10.1.1 What is a Learning Organisation?

A learning organisation is one that has developed the continuous capacity to adapt and change. Just as individuals learn, so do organisations.

Most organisations engage in what has been called single-loop learning. When errors are detected, the correction process relies on past routines and present policies. In contrast, learning organisations use double-loop learning. When an error is detected, it is corrected in ways that involve the modification of the organisation's objectives, policies, and standard routines. Like second-order change, double-loop learning challenges are deep-rooted assumptions and norms within an organisation. In this way, it provides opportunities for radically different solutions ...