Kick-Start Your Learning Organization

Jamie Leitch: Director, Organizational Development & Training

Who We AreOur roots go back to 1939, when our founders established a local hauling company in the Philadelphia suburbs called Allan A. Myers and Son.

1847 employees - $1B Revenues

Allan A. MyersPA, DE, NJ, NY

American InfrastructurePA, MD, VA

Independence Construction Mtls

PA, MD, VA

We build the roads, bridges, treatment plants and  pipelines

that connect our communities to services, to clean water, and to

each other.

Why We Are An Award Winner

We have dedicated ourselves to being

a Learning Organizatio

n

Learning Organizations

More employee focused

Maintain high levels of innovation

More productive

More supportive of change

– Peter Senge

In order to be a learning organization there must be two conditions present…

Design the organization (structure, processes, & tools) to match the intended or desired outcomes.

Recognize when the direction of the organization is different from the desired outcome and follow the necessary steps to correct this mismatch.

Learning Organization

How do we put them into

action?

Shared Vision: What do we want to create together?

Mental Models: beliefs, values, mind-sets and assumptions that determine the way people think and act.

Personal Mastery: how much we know about ourselves and the impact our behavior has on others.

Team Learning: happens when teams start ‘thinking together’ - sharing their experience, insights, knowledge and skills with each other about how to do things better.

Systems Thinking: is a framework for seeing inter-relationships that underlie complex situations and interactions

Peter SengeThe Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of a Learning Organization

Today…We are going to share our best practices with you

Shared Vision -> Get everyone on the same page!Mental Models -> Get everyone working toward mutual success!Personal Mastery -> Get everyone on board with the plan!Team Learning -> Turbocharge your team effectiveness!Systems Thinking -> Get everyone moving in the same direction!

Amazingly easy and quick tools to support your successCalibration and recalibration techniques to perpetuate your success

TO GET STARTED… LET’S HAVE SOME

FUN!

MAZE MAT EXERCISE

Best Practice #1Arrange the five disciplines to support your

goals

Shared Vision Team Learning

Systems ThinkingMental Models

Personal Mastery

Shared VisionGet everyone on the same page!

MAZE MAT How did you plan to reach your goal?

Did everyone align to the plan? How do you know?

Best Practice #2Design the Organization – Structure & Process

Annual Mission Goal

Drill Down Meetings

Succession Planning

Talent vs. Skills

Implementation

Course / Program Planning

Design/Develop

Performance Evaluations

Key Result & Metric Setting

COMMUNICATION / EVALUATION & RECALIBRATION

In order to be a learning organization there must be two conditions present…

Design the organization (structure, processes, & tools) to match the intended or desired outcomes.

Recognize when the direction of the organization is different from the desired outcome and follow the necessary steps to correct this mismatch.

Engineered Planning/Evaluation/ Recalibration

Team Learning Turbocharge your team effectiveness!

MAZE MAT

How effectively did you team capture / share knowledge?

How well did you collaborate with one another?

Did someone decide not to share information? Why?/ Why not?

Best Practice #3

Engineered Collaboration

Systems Thinking Get everyone moving in the same direction!

MAZE MAT

How did you disseminate new information to your team?

How did you evaluate/recalibrate your game plan?

Best Practice #4

Engineered Work System

Mental Models Get everyone working toward mutual success!

MAZE MAT

Why did/didn’t you collaborate with the other team?

Why did/didn’t make sure everyone aligned to the plan?

Why did/didn’t you question your team leaders?

Best Practice #5

Engineered Self- Evaluation

ASSESSMENTSSTRETCH ASSIGNMENTOUTSIDE THE CIRCLE

Personal Mastery Forward your development!

MAZE MAT

What will you change?

What did you learn from this activity?

What You Can Do RIGHT NOW

Design the organization (structure, processes, & tools)

to match the intended or desired outcomes.

Set a Process for Results!

Remain standing if…. your employees regularly speak MOREin staff meetings than do their managers.

Remain standing if… your staff meetings include group problem solving and robust two-way discussions.

EXERCISE:

Please stand if effective communication is important within

your organization

Remain standing if… your organization has a standard process for managers to conduct staff meetings (in order to obtain maximum

results).

Jamie Leitchjamie.leitch@americaninfrastructure.com

QUESTIONS ?