Creating a Learning Culture: Strategy, Technology, and Practice [Paperback]

James G. Clawson (Editor), Marcia Conner (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0521537177 | ISBN-13: 978-0521537179 | Edition: 1

Chapters on strategy, practice, and technology demonstrate how to achieve immediate lasting results by encouraging curiosity and learning at all levels of the organization. Profiles of organizations (including General Motors, Home Depot, and WD-40 Company) using learning-focused approaches, accompany leading-edge research into how and why people best work together when learning as they work. This book is intended for business leaders and educators seeking innovative approaches to cultural transformation, with learning at the center of their corporate strategy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A must read for leaders who want sustained performance in today's environment where new challenges arise faster than our responses." Art Glenn, Former Vice President, General Electric

"A compelling read." Thomas P. Hill, Program Manager, Advanced Learning Technologies, Hewlett-Packard

"As organizations take learning to the next phase, to meet the learning challenge at the global level, they will benefit from the insights and lessons presented in this excellent book." Eilif Trondsen, Director, Learning on Demand, SRI Consulting Business Intelligence

"Creating a Learning Culture is a book I devoured in several days and will be referring to for several decades...a practical book about what it takes to prosper in today's complex, information-bloated, topsy-turvy world." Jay Cross, CEO, Emergent Learning Forum and Founder, Internet Time Group

"Continuous, accelerated organizational learning represents the key discriminator between winners and losers. I strongly recommend this book to those who want to be counted amongst the winners!" Richard Bozoian, Director of Learning and Organizational Development, BAE Systems

"You will want to have Creating a Learning Culture within your grasp at all times... You can spend a second flipping open to almost any page, or take a whole sabbatical to really absorb it all, and in either case your time will be amply rewarded with new insights, inspiration and ideas." Wayne Hodgins, Strategic Futurist, Director of Worldwide Learning Strategies, Director of Strategic Executive Services, Autodesk Inc.

"...an indispensable resource... I would highly recommend this book as a quick launch for any serious student of organizational learning and a wonderfully rich reflective work for those who have a passion to create a more rewarding and innovative workplace." Verna Allee, President of ValueNet Works, author The Future of Knowledge: Increasing Prosperity through Value Networks.

"...fascinating... touches on a broad array of topics central to the task of taking learning seriously. From technology to metrics, from trust to tools - it's all there, with frameworks, philosophies and plenty of real life stories." Jeanne Liedtka, former Chief Learning Officer, United Technologies Corporation

"This powerful and unique collection of essays excited me with its picture of a strong learning culture and its practical insights on how to create one." J. Randolph New, Professor of Management Systems, Robins School of Business, University of Richmond

"This collection of condensed matter metalearning moved my cheese in so many dimensions that I would suggest the traffic warning 'Read Slowly: Curve Ahead'. Each essay develops Learning Culture from a different perspective, including the corporate learning officer,the organizational psychologist, the human capital management consultant, the technical visionary and (pardon the word) the social networkologist. In the world's current change-acceleration mode, we are better learning learning." John Sall, co-founder and executive Vice President, SAS Institute".

Book Description

Creating a Learning Culture is for business leaders and educators seeking innovative approaches to cultural transformation, putting learning at the center of their corporate strategy. Chapters on strategy, practice, and technology, demonstrate how to achieve swift returns and lasting results by encouraging curiosity and learning at all levels of the organization day-to-day. Clear and distinct profiles of organizations (including General Motors, Home Depot, and WD-40 Company) which today use learning-focused approaches, accompany leading-edge research into how and why people work together best when they are learning all the time.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (July 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521537177
• ISBN-13: 978-0521537179
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,061,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm an author, thought-leader, and industry analyst specializing in corporate collaboration, enterprise technology, and learning. I'm a fellow at the Darden School of Business, founder of the popular Twitter chat #lrnchat, and write the Fast Company column "Learn at All Levels."

My latest book, The New Social Learning: Transforming Organizations Through Social Media, co-authored with Tony Bingham, will be out August 2010. It addresses the challenges organizations face today, such as a widely dispersed employees and striking differences in work styles, particularly across generations. With case studies from Deloitte, IBM, Mayo Clinic, TELUS, Chevron, and even the CIA, it shows how social media can transform the workplace by harnessing the brainpower and experiences of colleagues working across the globe as easily as if they were side by side.

A 20-year veteran of the enterprise market, I was Information Futurist and Vice President of Education Services for PeopleSoft, Senior Manager of Worldwide Training at Microsoft, Editor in Chief of Learning in the New Economy magazine, and a Fellow of the Society for New Communications Research.

My unique perspective comes as a result of leading large organizations, developing leading-edge products and strategies, working with Fortune 100 brands, and working firsthand with social tools for longer than most people have even had email addresses.

I have lived and worked on three continents, and currently live on a 50-acre homestead in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley with my husband Karl and son Clarke.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read!, November 4, 2004

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Creating a Learning Culture: Strategy, Technology, and Practice (Hardcover)

This collection of essays would make the perfect gift for that friend who loves nothing more than to curl up with a human resources manual. The fruit of a colloquium held at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration in 2002, it brings together a wide range of contributors, spanning the spectrum from A to P - from academics who write about learning to practitioners who implement learning programs in corporations. The quality of the essays is uneven. Some of them are so chock-full of jargon that they could only make sense to a knowledge management consultant. Others are clear enough to be practical, at least in the hands of an insider. While the theoretical and abstract dominate the discussion, a couple of real-life case studies by actual executives bring the book down to earth. We recommend this compendium to practitioners in its field. They will particularly love the stimulating reflections of an Australian-born CEO who unabashedly professes his admiration for the great white shark and expresses the fond wish that his employees would approach learning in the spirit of great whites in a feeding frenzy.