Facilitating collective learning

Chapter 28

© John Hayes (2021)

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 Source: PHOTODISC
Collective learning
The ability to mobilize processes of
collective reflection and learning in
the service of value creation is at the
heart of modern ideas about the
role of leadership (Vince and Reynolds, 2010)

The quality of response to any threats or

opportunities that are identified may require
individuals and groups located in different
functions to collaborate and learn from each
other.

© John Hayes (2021)

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 Source: PHOTODISC
Leaders facilitating collective
learning
Leaders need to:
• recognize how others can
contribute to collective learning
• act to create the conditions that
will enable others to
o share and reflect on their
various experiences, and
o identify opportunities to
improve organizational
performance

© John Hayes (2021)

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Beliefs and assumptions that
shape the rules
Ed Schein defines an organization’s culture as:
• the pattern of basic assumptions,
• invented, discovered or developed by a
group,
• as it learns to cope with its problems of
external adaptation and internal
integration,
• that have worked well enough in the past
to be considered valid and, therefore,
• are taught to new members as the
• correct way to perceive, think, and feel in
relation to these problems

ImageSource
© John Hayes (2021)
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Rules and behaviour in organizations
Organisations can be conceptualized as a set of explicit and
implicit rules that prescribe the way individuals and groups
behave

RULES BEHAVIOUR

The rules relate to everything that happens in the organisation

and are shaped by the basic assumptions and shared mental models that
underpin the organisation's culture

© John Hayes (2021)

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Rules and behaviour in organizations

So long as the rules lead to behaviours that produce desired

results there will be no need to change the rules

RULES BEHAVIOUR RESULTS

In today’s turbulent and complex environment old ways of

behaving may fail to produce the required results and the
organisation may be faced with the need to change, to modify
the rules and encourage new behaviours

© John Hayes (2021)

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Single and double loop collective learning
SINGLE LOOP LEARNING
Implement Identify corrective
corrective action action
(redesign job) (For example, eliminate waste)

RULES BEHAVIOUR RESULTS Reflect on

outcomes

Identify beliefs and

Modify Challenge assumptions that
beliefs and beliefs
assumptions and assumptions underpin the rules that
guide behaviour
DOUBLE LOOP LEARNING
While single loop learning focuses on doing things better, double loop learning
explores ways of doing things differently or doing different things
© John Hayes (2021)
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 Corbis
The revision of shared
mental models - the key
to sustained success
Shared mental models need to
be fluid and open to
modification if the organization
is to adapt to changing
circumstances
But, often, entrenched models
are one of the main sources of
inertia

© John Hayes (2021)

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Reflection and
collective learning
Just as with individual learning,
collective learning requires
organizational members to find
the time and space to step
back, unlock from an
immediate “doing” mode, and
adopt more of an “observing”
mode so that they can bring a
critical perspective to bear on
their everyday practice

© Royalty-Free/Corbis
© John Hayes (2021)
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The role of knowledge
transfer
Knowledge may exist within an
organisation but it may not be
available to those who can
make best use of it

Information does not always flow

freely

ImageSource
© John Hayes (2021)
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Impediments to collective
learning
The essence of collective learning is
the joint construction of meaning.
This occurs through sharing and
dialogue. However, this process is
rarely problem free
• Poor appreciation of the systemic
qualities of organisations
• Lack of accessible channels for dialogue
and the sharing of meaning
• The context in which sharing and
dialogue occurs
• Ideologies and pressures for conformity
that constrain creative thinking

ImageSource
• Dysfunctional interactions between
competing ideologies
© John Hayes (2021)
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Impediments to collective learning
A poor appreciation of
the systemic qualities
of the organisation
• Many individuals and groups
have a parochial view of
their role and this restricts
their ability to contribute to
organisational learning
• Often they focus all their
attention on their
immediate task and fail to
appreciate how this relates
to the overall purpose of the

Getty Images/iStockphoto
organisation

© John Hayes (2021)

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Impediments to collective learning

Lack of accessible channels

for dialogue and the sharing
of meaning
The process of articulating one’s own
meanings and comprehending the
meanings that others have constructed
can alter the meanings held by
organisational members
Dialogue and the joint construction of
meaning is the essence of collective
learning
Often the conditions that facilitate this
process are lacking

PhotoDisc/ Getty Images

© John Hayes (2021)
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Impediments to collective learning
The context in which
dialogue occurs
While formal structures and
organisational systems affect the
possibility for dialogue, other factors
affect the extent to which these
possibilities are realized:
• Pressure of work and time for
dialogue
• Level of trust between parties
• The extent to which mistakes are
viewed as opportunities for learning
• The willingness to consider the
knowledge that others are prepared

PhotoDisc/ Getty Images

to share
© John Hayes (2021)
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Impediments to collective learning
Ideologies
Ideologies can distort the free flow of
meaning by blinding people to certain
important aspects of their environment
“Having become true believers
of a specific schema, group
members direct their attention
towards an environment and
sample it in a way that the true
belief becomes self-validating
and the group becomes even
more fervent in its attachment

ImageSource
to the schema” Weick 1979.

© John Hayes (2021)

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 GETTY
Impediments to collective learning

Dysfunctional interactions
between ideologies
Sub-groups or communities of
practice within pluralistic
organisations may have conflicting
ideologies that can lead to their ideas
and concerns being devalued by
others, thus inhibiting dialogue and
learning

© John Hayes (2021)

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 Summary
Organizations can be
conceptualized as a set of explicit
and implicit rules
• These rules prescribe the way
members behave
Double-loop collective learning
involves identifying and
challenging the governing
variables that determine the rules
and seeking more effective ways
of behaving
Some of the impediments to
collective learning have been
identified
ImageSource

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JohnHayes
Hayes(2018)
(2021) 17