Innovation and the Learning Organisation

Arguably, the term "Learning Organisation" (LO) was coined in the 1970's, in the organisational learning context, by Chris Argyris. Certainly it has been around for many years. But it achieved new heights of popularity after the publication of Peter Senge's book "The Fifth Discipline the Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation". Now every respectable Government Agency and major company feels obliged to call themselves a L0. A review of the academic literature and organisation documents show many different concepts being described. Indeed, it seems that some organisations claiming to be a L0 have no clear idea of what they mean by the concept. This paper seeks to go behind the confusion to see whether there is still value for serious practitioners to continue using this concept, or whether it is now such a hackneyed phrase that more precise concepts are desirable. The Literature relating to the L0 is vast and it is beyond the scope of a conference presentation to give a comprehensive literature review. Instead, the paper gives an overview of the broad groups using the term and summarises their similarities and differences. It then reviews the key concepts in Senge's work in the light of this cacophony. The paper concludes that the diversity of definitions render the term "Learning Organisation" virtually meaningless. unless it is accompanied by a specific definition. The paper also concludes that the central tenet of Senge's work, which played a major role in popularising the concept, has been largely overlooked by the many organisations claiming this proud title "A Learning Organisation." It is argued that Senge's contribution to the literature in this field, the centrality of systems thinking to effective organisation learning remains a little understood, but critical insight.