Learning how to learn

摘要

The idea that businesses operate in a world of accelerated change goes hand in hand with a huge array of concepts to help them deal with change and stay ahead of the competition. Cynics argue that many such ideas are either things people already know with sexy new names or are so vague that consultants can charge small fortunes helping companies understand them. Vagueness may of course be a virtue. Many mission statements, for example, seem deliberately generalized in order to provide easily moveable goalposts. A dominant concept in recent years has been the learning organization. This certainly sounds like a useful description of how companies should function i.e. the company is constantly in process just as market conditions are constantly changing. Nonetheless, theorists and managers have struggled to come up with fixed and universally applicable definitions. However, a survey of existing literature suggests that a range of ideas can be usefully combined.