ABSTRACT
Deming, the great pioneer of total quality management from whom the Japanese learned so much in the postwar years, commented in his book that all human beings are born with intrinsic motivation,
an inner drive to learn, to take pride in their work, to experiment and to improve.1 This philosophy also lies at the foundation of much of our work as described in Learning Organisations in Practice. 2
For many people the issue is not that they are unable to learn more effectively but that their learning has been blocked by bad experiences in the past, both during formal education and also formal training at work. One effect of such experiences is that they reduce their level of personal confidence and the associated belief that they can learn. These experiences also lead to a lack of opportunity to develop strategies for coping with situations where learning is needed, and opportunities to succeed in a learning environment.
