To detect an error is to acknowledge incompetence. Doing so publicly in a work setting is often seen as ‘career limiting,’ discouragement enough even if it wasn’t also personally threatening.
This article is a review of the impact the book, Organizational Learning, has had on management practice since its publication. Though there are flaws in the traditional approach to doing business in high-risk fields, the concept of a learning organization has appeal to both managers and academics.
The author discusses the effect of personal change on an organization. Until a manager is willing to change personally, any change attempted within the organization will be limited. A manager should be willing to admit mistakes, and should expect subordinates to do the same, without fear of retaliation or loss of esteem or status. This contributes to a learning culture, where people can learn from failures to prevent future incidents.
HRO principles and the concept of learning cultures are compatible. A true learning culture is hard to achieve, as it typically involves admitting inadequacies or failure. We are trained from an early age how to shift blame, and avoid punishment for failures. Learning organizations and HROs try to learn from mistakes, and do not assign blame for systemic failure. Assigning blame lowers the participation, and ultimately contributes to additional failure.
Senge, P. M. (2003). Taking personal change seriously: The impact of organizational learning on management practice. Academy of Management Executive, 17(2), 47-50. doi:10.5465/AME.2003.10025191