Management Business

The Learning organization promotes learning with its members (employees) and is constantly transforming itself. This type of organization has come along because of the highly competitive world it is today. The features of this type of company are personal mastery, systems thinking, shared vision, team learning and mental models.

Now organizations are not naturally this way though. As they expand and become more profitable, they lose their learning capacity because of how they are structured and/or people become too rigid in their thinking. Under these circumstances the suggested solutions only last a short while, which is called single-loop learning, and then the problem comes back that it was supposed to solve in the first place.

Many companies have had to do restructuring using less people to run them. The ones that remain employed must then work more efficiently. To stay competitive, these companies have to learn more quickly than the companies competing against them and they need to be very customer responsive.

Companies need to constantly stay abreast of new processes and products, know what is occurring in the competitive market, and think of innovative solutions utilizing the skills and knowledge of all members of the company. This does require a good deal of cooperation among the employees, reliable and forthcoming communication and atmosphere of trust.

The benefits to having an organization like this are:

* Remain competitive
* High levels of innovative thinking and actions
* Knowing better what the customer needs
* Higher-output quality
* Improved company image because of being more people and customer oriented
* A faster rate of change in the company

Even with the organizations that encourage learning there can be problems along the way. These usually happen though with the concepts are not fully adhered to. Once they have been, the problems are quickly solved. Through constantly learning and evolving, a company can compete better and become more successful.

Successful change depends partly on the learning capacity of the organization and the employees. The long-term success of continuous change relies on the organization’s ability to promote a culture that creates the desired results. Finally, the key to effective change process relies on the ability to measure the change. The organizational goals must be quantifiable and linked to individual performance. Leadership must create an environment that involves all employees in the change process allowing them to be part of the new ideas.

Learn more about building your learning organization that outperforms the competitor.

This information is inspired with a conversation that I had last week having a great teacher and coach Geoff Cullum.

Geoff is an excellent guy and it has recently moved from Wellington to Nelson (home town). Geoff has coached me previously and that i have a big amount of respect for him.

Last week Geoff and I caught up for a chat. Understandably we’re both into self improvement, personal growth and self-mastery. We’ve got to talking about buying and reading books to advance our knowledge for business and personal growth and between us both we reckoned that we have invested heaps of money in books, audio books, courses, etc and I am sure you have too – think about your bookshelf at work or at home – just how much have you invested over the years in business, self improvement, self improvement books, courses and resources?

I am sure like Geoff and I you’ve spent anything or 2…

Should you go to your local book store, how many books exist on ‘How to reside an excellent life, How to own and make a fantastic business, How to become a huge success? There’s heaps, consider the internet, there’s loads of websites, loads of free tips and free E-Books on the same subjects, you’ll find them within minutes.

When we have so much information open to us these days, and thus lots of people learning and reading about business growth, leadership, management and private growth – why we do not have millions of millionaires, millions of fantastic businesses, millions of inspired transformational leaders? Because lets be honest there’s millions of answers and an incredible number of experts.

Have you ever read a great business book and got really fired up and able to do something?

Perhaps it had been ‘Michael Gerbers ‘The EMYTH’ or ‘Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill’ or ‘How to Win Friends and Influence people by Dale Carnegie’ or you attended a dynamic business or motivational presentation and got the product specifications on how to increase your business, new insights about you, learned new leadership skills and you may have believed to yourself:

‘Right, there you have it, next Monday I’m a new person, a brand new leader and I’m likely to do X,Y,Z….and by the finish of next week things will be different, better, improved’….

And you know what? By Wednesday from the exactly the same week….what you had planned to put in place hasn’t happened.

So…What did happen? Since the idea, the brand new business growth strategy, the new habit was important for you/for your business but it isn’t been implemented, will still be in your mind, simply not as fresh now, not too charged, which means you place it within the ‘start next Monday basket’ or even the ‘too hard basket’ and deep down you are feeling frustrated, you are feeling internal tension because you attempted to succeed and you have not.

So…What’s really going on?

My story would be that the missing outcomes of acquiring new knowledge, new ideas and new concepts, and having them truly benefit our businesses and our way of life, is integration. And what I mean by integration is acting on the data, putting things in place and forming new habits and behaviours using what we now have learned.

So…What stops us integrating?

Most of us have formed thinking and doing habits in our brains, driven by our beliefs, values, life experience and perceptions. We could call this our conditioningand our conditioning drives our attitudes and behaviors (what we should do). We have developed heaps of programmes that be employed in the backdrop (inside your subconscious) allowing you to cope with your day – like driving your car to operate, it’s not necessary to think about ‘how to place the vehicle into gear’, this just happens and it is exactly the same with your daily routines and just how you think about and run your business, in this way you’re on auto-pilot.

Our brains are almighty, amazing tools, enabling us to do this a lot of things automatically, and our minds are also wired for survival plus they help us to avoid pain (which is nice).

Putting your brand-new strategy or idea into place is basically a ‘change’ to our brains current operating system also it isn’t keen on it, intellectually you might say you love and embrace change, but unconsciously your brain fights it, because we’re creatures of habit and that brain of yours as fantastic because it is – just really wants to do its job – help you stay thinking and doing what you have always done this that you’ll always get what you have always got…Survival.

And even though your brand-new idea, strategy or habit will help you enhance your business or yourself, in a subconscious level your brains is thinking:

“Danger! Off course – that’s not what we usually do on a Monday morning, lets just do what we have always done and we’ll cope with the day.”

This is exactly what makes the integration difficult, this is exactly what we’re facing, essentially interrupting our current programs and installing new ones.

Question is….Can you prefer surviving or thriving?

Like me, I reckon you’d like to be thriving, this is exactly why you want to acquire new knowledge, get new skills and concepts to begin with, so here’s a few pointers on how to integrate your opinions, knowledge and plans better:

1. Self awareness is definitely key: recognize what’s happening inside (not outside), realize that your subconscious is the most powerful oral appliance that it may also be your biggest obstacle to integration. Also believe that potential to deal with integrating is simply ‘normal’ and there is no problem.

2. Keep focusing on the ‘Pleasure’ that you’ll gain from integrating the new idea, habit or strategy: use pictures, notes and affirmations to remain centered on WHY implementing the brand new habit, idea or technique is important to you.

3. Take 1 small action each day, small actions repeated again and again form new habits, commit to just 1 action each day and when you do not take the action, drop the idea of and energy beating yourself up, instead re-focus again on the ‘Pleasure’ – your purpose in putting this new idea, strategy or habit in place.

4, Communicate your new strategy to an employee member, your team, a buddy, a relative, or perhaps a coach – have somebody hold you accountable to ‘integrating’ your ideas, plans, strategies.

Geoff’s pointer:

5. Select a few of your favourite books or resources, those that really resonate with you and commit to mastering and integrating the ideas, concepts, knowledge within these books/resources and don’t buy anymore until you do, you will be much more focused and you will save some money and space over time!

Dance for your own tune after redundancy.

Music is really a significant part of our lives. There are lots of occasions, films, events where the song which were sung or played, stay nicely etched into our minds and, on hearing these songs, we’re also taken back to that particular specific experience. Whenever we hear specific songs, we may be transported to a place or time, with the associated smells, tastes and sounds. Yes, music is amazingly powerful.

Can you make a list of the favourite songs and also the experiences that you had which made them to your favourite songs? This is a private exercise which you’ll not require to talk about but when you experience the past when thinking about these songs, do not be surprised.

I’d now like to ask you to choose a favourite song. Anyone is going to do as long as it brings positive joyous feelings overall. Ironically, there are several songs developing positive and sad feelings simultaneously. Let’s concentrate on an audio lesson that can bring forth more positive feelings today.

If you have selected your favourite tune, think about what effect it’s you. Music has the ability to make us feel a variety of emotions, very quickly. These could include joy, happiness, sadness, desire, action, motivation and much more.

Can you move through the dance? Are you able to act out the movements, the benefits and the laughter? Go on… dance until you have the feelings of that past experience.

Now that you have successfully danced to 1 your favourite tunes, take a moment to jot down whether this was comfortable or difficult. Then think about what managed to get comfortable or difficult?

Ok now, having experienced your dance to your favourite tune, are you able to imagine how it would feel if you were out and someone asked you to definitely dance for their favourite tune? Could it feel awkward? It might feel just a little uncomfortable. You might not be aware of song, what or the melody. If it includes a special dance to go with it, you might not know what that dance is. Wouldso would that overall experience leave you feeling?

So having danced to your favourite tune and to another person’s tune, whose would you prefer to dance to? Having been an employee to another person’s agenda and expanded someone else’s company, whose agenda do you want to work to now and whose company would you like to expand now?

The opportunity for redundancy is drawing closer and it is just that – A chance to plan and also to prepare for the dance of your change of career! It’s time to create a career which has a rhythm that you know and that goes in a pace that you’re confident with.

While you move forward, how would you like to move forward? Understand where you are now and all the wonderful achievements that you have to date that will build the bridge towards your new career.

There are lots of steps which you’ll take towards your brand-new career. What is the very first step that you can take that will imply that you are preparing to dance for your own tunes? How will the dance look, feel and sound when you are inside it? Do you want to continue going at your current pace? Do you require a change in rhythm and pace so that your new job demands that you simply work fewer hours but more productively?

You’re standing at the doorway of the room where you dance…approaching the new road of beginnings. Is there a difference when the road may be the one that you’ve chosen? Does the dance operate correctly if you select the tune instead of you gelling with another person’s tune? This is actually the beginning of the new job… when you pick the tunes.

Running a business, it is so present with be so close, yet so to date from massive, unabashed success. Of course, success means completely different things to differing people, but I am talking about an interpretation that’s widely accepted among business people: being profitable. Very profitable, as a matter of fact.

There is great instance of this idea within the book: Of the same title by Napoleon Hill. Hill tells the storyline of the man who spent all of his time and resources digging for gold during the gold rush. He missed anything and lastly sold his equipment and gave up. The person that bought the gear continued on and did actually strike gold – just 3 feet from where the man was digging.

While it’s easier in theory, more often than not when we are struggling in business it does not suggest the business isn’t sound.

Often we have to make the slightest shift in our business for that biggest gain.

Here are some things to consider if you think as if you “know your stuff” yet don’t feel you are experienceing this kind of success that you simply feel you’re determined to achieve:

Are you fishing in the right pond? It’s a rare occasion that a business proprietor understands their target market on the first try. Who we think we serve and who our gift really benefits are usually very different. Before abandoning any company, assess if you are building relationships and trying to serve the marketplace that really needs (and will purchase) what you offer in your business.

Are you currently offering what people want, or what you think they require? I, like countless other business people, have enrolled in the “if you build it they’ll come” mantra many, many times in my life. Allow me to save you some time and toiling: except in the movie Field of Dreams, developing a service or product in advance of assessing what your audience really wants never pans out.

Is the message bigger than you realize? Area of the reason why your message may not resonate with people is you aren’t dialed in to precisely what your message is. This could be partly a clarity issue but it’s much more likely that you are not conveying a message that suits precisely how big and brilliant your talents in your area of expert knowledge are.

When our companies are not going according to plan, don’t believe it’s you, or even the business, or anything major or necessarily worth quitting over. It might just be the slightest shift can create the biggest gain.