BM Thinking Out Loud

     I really enjoyed this class. The subject is especially interesting to me and I loved Nancy Dixon’s book on the organizational learning cycle. It contained so many concepts

that I was excited to read about and that I was able to relate to the way things are and are not at my own organization. Some of my favorites included, hallways of learning, the four steps in the organizational learning cycle, and situating learning in real work. I also really like her ideas around developing managers. I wish all the managers in my company would read this book.

            Schein’s book on organizational culture and leadership will continue to be an important resource for me in my career. Understanding (or at least trying to understand) what makes up the culture at my organization will help me as I do my part to move the company towards becoming a learning organization. I have much to learn and experience, but I am very grateful for what I have learned in this class because it has been a great springboard from which to jump into ‘the pool of organizational culture and leadership’.

            A great part of what made this such a good class was learning about the great real life experiences shared by all my fellow learners. It was very meaningful for all of us that Carol shared her difficult experience with her company. We were able to get her synthesis of what we were learning in class and the events taking place in her organization, which was invaluable learning for us. We also learned from Kenton’s experience with the blog, as well as his own struggles to help his organization focus on its culture. We all enjoyed Tim’s wonderful flute playing and his informative description of the construction of the instrument. Everyone in class brought their ‘real world’ into the classroom and helped us construct our learning, which was an invaluable part of this class.

            I want to thank everyone in the class for sharing yourselves!