ABSTRACT
My research has found that event-driven learning is essential to most workers who have yet to learn through other means. I agree with Senge that not all learning can be obtained through event-oriented thinking, but I feel that much of what occurs at this horizon pertains more to the senior levels than to what many line managers have to deal with as part of their functions in business. Senge’s concern with learning methods that focus too much on the individual, perhaps, is more powerful, if we see the learning organization as starting at the top and then working its way down. The position, however, particularly with respect to the integration of technology, is that too much dependence on executive-driven programs to establish and sustain organizational learning, is dangerous. Rather, the line management-or middle managers who fundamentally run the business-is best positioned to make the difference. My hypothesis here is that both top-down and bottom-up approaches to organizational learning are riddled with
problems, especially in their ability to sustain outcomes. We cannot be naï ve-even our senior executives must drive results to maintain their positions. As such, middle managers, as the key business drivers, must operate in an event-and results-driven world-let us not underestimate the value of producing measurable outcomes, as part of the ongoing growth of the organizational learning practicum.
