Definitive and accessible, this book is likely to be the only book managers read on the way to putting the learning organisation to work. The author argues that at the heart of organisational learningn lies a set of processes that can be designed, deployed and led.
He starts by describing the basic steps in every learning process - acquiring, interpreting and applying knowledge - then examins the critical challenges facing the managers at each of these stages and the various ways the challenges can be met. Drawing on decades of scholarship and a wealth of examples from a wide range of fields, Garvin next introduces three modes of learning - intelligence gathering, experience, and experimentation - and shows how each mode is most effectively deployed. These approaches are brought to life in complete, richly detailed case studies of learning in action at organisations such as Xerox, the U.S.Army and General Electrics. The book concludes with a discussion of the leadership role that senior executives must play to make learning a day-to-day reality in their organisations.