The capacity and willingness of an individual or organization to learn is not only a matter of personal competencies and motivation (internal locus of control), it is also a matter of creating an environment of learning—what is often called an “intentional learning community.” This environment (learning community) provides a bounded system or sanctuary (a container for anxiety), clear intentions with regard to new learning, norms about feedback and disclosure, acceptance of and support for diversity and conflict, and shared meaning that is reinforced with ritual, ceremonies, and repeated commitments.
Appreciative Perspective
In many ways this learning community—and the underlying perspectives of the American School—is best represented in the early years of the 21st Century in the enactment of what I have already identified as an appreciative perspective regarding human interactions. When there is an appreciative approach to organizational learning, we learn not only from our mistakes, but also from our successes. There is a tendency in many organizations to neglect appreciative learning about successes. We simply feel relieved that something has “worked” and move on to the next project.
We should instead pause for a moment (or hour or day) to reflect both individually and collectively on what was successful and why it was successful. What went right? What made it right? How do we replicate this success in other settings? This type of appreciative learning requires disclosure (Q3) and feedback (Q2). It expands Quad One. The Quad One (public strengths) cell of the Window of Strength also expands (see my earlier essay). To make this form of appreciation a common occurrence, we need not only a pervasive attitude of appreciation in the organization, but also organizational structures and processes that support and expand this attitude.
The British School
What about the second perspective on Quadrant One? As we enter the Victorian mansion that has been constructed by the British School. we find an interpersonal world that is filled with surprises. When we view this world from the perspective of the British school, we can never be sure that what we see in ourselves or in other people is the “whole truth and nothing but the truth.” Quadrant One is much smaller in the British school than in the American school. Fundamentally, the British school offers us two major challenges with regard to Quad One. First, we are challenged to identify what truly is “openness.” Second, we are challenged to identify what is “true” about us.
