Wk 3 Progress HPI507

Acquired Knowledge

The class is beginning to pick up steam. Weeks one and two made a solid foundation for what qualifies as a learning organization and performance improvement. We begin building on this foundation this week. Learning will begin to take on new measures. The reading and research becomes considerable as the sessions progress. The course will require each of you to read, research, and evaluate new concept while developing practical applications.
The goal this week is to challenge your personal definitions of knowledge and how you learn. What drives you? What motivates you to be better? Some seek money. Some seek a career. Whichever the motivator, these pursuits are temporal. Goals such as these serve a purpose. Learning begins as the acquisition of knowledge. What will you do with knowledge? Acquisition of learning is great, however, if it is not put to constant use it is lost. Part of learning and performance improvement is not only gaining knowledge, but developing innovative ways to use it. The assigned readings will take you through multiple processes and models. The goal is not to manage the models, but to spark your mind to use information in new ways to further use in the field.
Understanding and applying acquired knowledge is a good starting point. Innovation is essential to the development of new ideas. Learning organizations look to innovation as critical to the momentum of the company. Much of the innovation in action comes from learning organizations. The company committed to learning based on past and present is looking to the future. How this innovation occurs is based on the learning resources available. A learning organization and the learning individual will maintain documentation on information acquired. Learning and knowledge may come from archives and databases of past projects, similar industries, unrelated industries and organizational histories, publications, and other established resources.
Identifying needs based off current learning builds resources. An organization can learn from their existing industry competitors or by looking outside the industry. Often a performance consultant brings a wealth of knowledge from different industries that provide alternatives to existing practices. An organization may use a learning library with different online databases or subscription services. The services offer a variety of subjects and fields which can lead to gaining new insights and perspectives. The computer engineer can learn from the field of psychology. Accountants can learn from clinical researchers. Construction workers can learn from anthropologists and diagnosticians. Cross-referencing opens new possibilities. Looking outside the immediate field with different and seemingly unrelated fields will hold answers to questions not previously asked. When Freud could not heal the medical patient he looked to the study of the mind to find the answers. When the Wright brothers could not get a plane to fly, they looked to physics and laws of motion.
Learning organizations and performance improvement look beyond the obvious. Look at what is possible. Look to what is not possible then find a way to succeed. You are reading large amounts of information. The information should be laying a solid foundation in which you are building. The information should be starting to gel and solidify in your mind allowing you to gain the necessary tools to prosper.