Working Wisdom: Timeless Skills and Vanguard Strategies for Learning Organizations

by Bob Aubrey, Paul M. Cohen

The notion of the learning organization--popularized by management thinkers and extolled by leaders of today's most progressive companies--is finally made practical for modern managers in Working Wisdom. Robert Aubrey and Paul M. Cohen offer a unique blAnd of historical context and contemporary examples from such worldwide companies as Dun & Bradstreet, LifeScan, Spectra-Physics, and Raychem to demonstrate how the new role of manager as learning guide can help build the capacity for competitive advantage. The authors show managers how to use existing resources and the age-old skills of providing capable guidance and nurturing personal experiences to make the learning organization a reality. Through a wealth of case studies--from international businesses, governments, and nonprofit organizations--and a grounded historical perspective in adult learning and personal development, the authors identify five tactics that wise managers use to trigger and enhance learning experiences at work. They also guide leaders through the organizational initiatives essential to supporting the new role for managers, demonstratating how to establish learning leadership, leverage the wisdom of middle managers, build learning networks, use technology, tackle public policy issues, and create learning alliances.

Hardcover

First published April 14, 1995

Reviews

[Venkataraman Sambasiva · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book in which the authors do full justice to the concept of Wisdom, beginning from the times of ancient Greek civilization. In their expert presentation, they do not, however, wander anywhere unnecessarily; and rapidly cover the what, why, and how of wisdom affairs in relation to organizations.

Wisdom is superior knowledge, earned through real work experience; and gaining it is the employees' responsibility as much as making it possible is the obligation of the employers / management.

The methodology of spreading wisdom and making full use of it in organizations has been discussed with reference to real case-studies.

The eagerness for learning and the spirit of mentor-ship is explained by the authors: "What each of us has learned as an adult depends on the simple fact that someone has loved us enough to make a commitment, for a time, to our future. A benefactor puts wisdom at our service as a gift, a gift all the more precious because it can never be repaid to its donor. All we can do is pass these gifts on by becoming wise and making our wisdom useful enough to be learned by others."