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When Dwight Eisenhower said, "Plans are
nothing; planning is everything," he was
implicitly referring to the value of adaptive
learning. Plans may look perfect in the
boardroom, the retreat site, or the command
center, but implementing plans
requires perpetual improvisation and
flexibility—adaptive learning.
The knowledge that shapes strategies is
seldom fixed in stone; it is often
dynamically unpredictable. The operating
environment of any organization is understood
from both the grandiose perspective of
big-picture thinking and the particular
experience, moment to moment, of the people
doing the work.
The two, together, enable the
organization to make productive and useful
sense of experience and information.
While strategic learning emerges over time,
adaptive learning emerges in the
moment. Strategic learning assesses the
compilation of much data, experience, and
knowledge. Adaptive learning
responds to the new information that has
just presented itself.
For adaptive learning to be most effective,
channels of communication must be fluid,
egalitarian, and collaborative.
Everyone—no matter what her or his job
function—has a vital perspective to
contribute. Everyone plays a role in
co-creating the social and cultural fabric of
organizational resilience.
The collective "brain" of the organization
consists of the ongoing dialogue that occurs
among people from all corners of the
organization. Conversations around the water
cooler or over lunch can be among the most
vital, for they are opportunities to share
what is being learned moment to moment.
In these informal networks, if the channels
of communication are unobstructed, every
problem becomes an opportunity to adapt more
effectively. Every surprising piece of
information becomes an opportunity to adjust
to the new knowledge.
Learning and adapting this way empowers
people to take action on what they have
learned. Unusual successes become
opportunities for change, as do unexpected
failures.
Adaptive learning takes place in the midst of
the day-to-day work itself. It is practical,
responsive, "just-in-time" learning useful
for propagating flexible and responsive
organizations. It is learning in the
moment rather than from a distance and is
essential for growing a highly resilient
organization.
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Partners for Innovation is in the business of
helping you create organizations that thrive
on creativity and social capital. We write
these articles to support your work in
building vital and resilient organizations.
Please tell us what else you would like to
learn. We depend on you for our subject
matter, and as the subject of our work, you
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Please send the editor an
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Innovation Tips may be used, with permission,
in company or association newsletters,
providing that Partners for Innovation is
given credit for the article. Please email
your request to info@partnersfi.com to
receive formal permission to reproduce the
copyrighted article.
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Partners for Innovation, Inc.
email:
info@partnersfi.com
phone:
419.872.7140
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