City of Jacksonville’s Community Development Division as a Learning Organization

City of Jacksonville’s Community Development Division as a Learning Organization

Tracy Jackson

OMM 625

Dr. Henrietta Okoro

April 17, 2012

Learning organizations require good timing and an ideal environment in order to thrive so they can plan projects and goals after past performances and measured outcomes. These organizations are poised and ready to accept mistakes as stepping stones to successes. Mitleton-Kelly (2003) said learning organizations will accept some unpalatable truths and is not a blame culture in the sense that ‘mistakes’ are unacceptable. People or stakeholders are the most important component in learning organizations. Machines can communicate with each other (with people input) but they cannot collaborate with each other. An organization needs people who can communicate and collaborate with each other in order to be a successful organization. If an organization is not willing to reach out and collaborate then organization will not grow and be successful. Individuals will influence each other during collaboration and their ideas will evolve together and develop. They will embrace the team concept which is another characteristic of learning organizations. Another characteristic of learning organizations is to empower employees of different levels to make decisions without being micromanaged. Mitleton-Kelly (2003) said learning organizations will encourage self-organization, so that teams can come together to explore new ideas without being directed to do so by a manager outside the team such as a City Manager in the City. Without certain boundaries employees can explore, research, develop creatively, be innovative and create something new that has never been done in an organization. Smith (2007) said organizational learning can be seen as a process of team learning activities that are independently carried out but interdependent in their impact on an organization’s performance.

Learning organizations reflect and review on...