More About The Learning Paradox
After co-authoring The 100 Best Companies To Work For In Canada, I began speaking at conferences and seminars on corporate strategies for survival and success. Frequently, participants asked, "What makes an enterprise one of the best companies to work for?" Many of the companies that found their way into The 100 Best in Canada — Federal Express, Sun Microsystems, Hallmark Cards, IBM, H.J. Heinz, Kodak (just to name a few) — are American multinationals with Canadian operations. The secrets of success for such organizations have obvious relevance for enterprises throughout North America. This book, The Learning Paradox, having drawn from case studies of companies such as these, attempts to demonstrate how North American organizations can best guarantee their long-term success and attain security within an environment of rapid change...In the past, the unwritten workplace contract provided the employee with security in return for loyalty to the organization. People worked for a single company for most of their lives and at the end of their career, received the gold watch. "Work hard, do what you are told, don't question authority," was the implicit message. But this type of "security" has disappeared. Even IBM, which prided itself in offering employees lifetime security, laid off 200, 000 people — half of its workforce — between 1989 and 1995...
Many people are frightened by the disappearance of the traditional workplace contract. Increasingly, in the hope of finding security, people are looking to work for enterprises that have good employment practices and have expanding — or at least stable — market share. The Learning Paradox has been written to show how this yearning for employment security may be met within a rapidly-changing marketplace...
The forces of change are empowered by information and freedom. Consumers are more knowledgeable than ever before and have the freedom to choose what organizations they deal with. "Loyalty," says Dave Nichols, the president of Cotts Beverage, "is merely the absence of a better value alternative." "Brand loyalty" is a thing of the past. "Value consciousness" is the growing determinant of purchasing decisions...
The past will never return.
How then, amid all of this change, can we create security? How can we attain stability and constancy while all around us things are changing? How can we:
These are only some of the questions that The Learning Paradox answers.
- Build a positive, motivating vision of the future, while undergoing wrenching reorganization?
- Create, innovate, and continuously improve, while maintaining the essence of the stability and security that people long for?
- Maintain control, yet allow people the freedom and autonomy necessary for them to be effective and satisfied in their work?
- Be "hard" (demanding, insistent, challenging) on performance, while being "soft" (concerned, supportive, adaptable) with people?
- Create learning organizations, when people are so reluctant to take risks and be open about their mistakes?