I need 2 responses 100 words min with references to each student discussion board post. please keep in order.
Joanne Ruf
Week 4: “How the Work Gets Done”
Looking at an organization through systems thinking. We have touched on this but I read an excerpt in the book that was eye opening about how a company works. “The problem starts with not understanding knowledge, how it is created and how it operates in practical settings—because knowledge is social.” (Senge, page 270) This resonated with me as I was tasked in my previous company, to create a knowledge base system. One of the recommendations that I provided was that it needed to be continuously updated, if not every 3 months but at least every 6 months. Everything changes and technology changes things very quickly. I created the knowledge base but it was never used because knowledge and the organization is organic, changing often and continuously.
“Over time we’ve learned that networks of knowledge expand and become stronger through reflection…” “When we think about who we collaborate with, and together reflect on our process of collaboration, we legitimize one another.” (Senge, page 270) In my experience, this is truer than you know, as I led teams through projects, the fact that they started to understand the process of receiving and then the process of delivering, the more they thought about other departments as part of the overall team (not just “them”). They even started collaborating on how to improve the process for other departments, which, in turn, assisted with theirs and others down the process line.
“Perhaps when we rediscover organizations as living systems, we will also rediscover what it actually means to us as human beings to work together for a purpose that really matters.” (Senge, page 271) Collaboration, working together, sharing information, working through processes is all about working in synch—systems thinking. I know that we’ve gone over this but this chapter really resonated with me on knowledge as it’s just not managing information but sharing it with others and building on that knowledge.
References: Senge, P. M., XXXXXXXXXXThe Fifth Discipline, Disciplines of the Learning Organization, USA, Doubleday
Steven Hugueley
“You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action” (Robbins, XXXXXXXXXXThis quote from Tony Robbins resonates with me because I love what I do and I have always tried to be a “just get it done” kind of person. The section of Senge’s XXXXXXXXXXbook, “Starting where you are with whomever is there” also resonates with Tony Robbins quote and really hit home with me; validating my way of thinking about organizations (p. 292).
Two years ago, I returned to my command from about twelve years at off-site locations. I quickly noticed there were three production teams that were very unproductive, the people were unhappy, and there was a real lack of direction. I also noticed that everyone in management complained about these production teams, but nobody would do anything about it, so I found some people to help me. I moved two trusted leads I had worked with before into the groups and we got started. We held a three-day seminar to break down communication barriers, discover barriers to production, and asked the team members to structure a successful model forward. By the end of the three days, we combined the three groups, developed a new mission statement, and stood-up a leadership group to keep the new team moving forward. The team accomplished all of this; they also changed their name, and developed a rotation plan that would allow each member of the team to develop the skills to do every job! The “MK One” team has been very successful; production is up and the majority of the team is happy with their new life. It was stunning to watch this group become so productive; they just needed to be empowered to succeed on their terms.
As I was reading the section, “Starting where you are with whomever is there” I realized we never asked my division head if we could make these changes with the production teams, we just did it (Senge, 2006, p XXXXXXXXXXMaybe he does not care, maybe he is smart enough to step back and let people make him look good. Regardless, “If we waited around for top managers to drive every change that is needed, we would wait a long time” (Senge, 2006, p.293). I think my upper management gets lost in the “data calls” and “dink lists” and forgets what is important. Senge has definitely inspired me to ramp up my desire to build a “Learning Organization” (Senge, 2006).
Robbins, T. [tonyrobbins]. (2017, August 21). You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/tonyrobbins/status / XXXXXXXXXX
Senge, P. M., (2006). The fifth discipline, the art & practice of the learning organization. New York, New York: Crown Business