Building a Learning Organization
I am a member of many different organizations; however some of them get more of my time and most importantly, money, then the others. What separates the organizations that get my money from the organizations that don’t?
The ones that get the money are learning organizations helping me gain knowledge, apply the knowledge, and facilitate making the connections I need to advance my career.
What Learning Organizations Provide
Content – A learning organization has produced a lot of content that provides useful information to all members that have joined that organization. An example is Toastmasters. They have manuals, books, and forms that allow you to explore many different leadership and public speaking topics within the club. The only downside is that most of the materials will help you in Toastmasters and more tools are needed to help people apply what they have learned outside of the club.
Application – Does the organization give you the tools you need to apply the information you have learned? Where a learning organization like Toastmasters does a good job of providing content, it does not always do a good job of connecting that learning to making money. A good example of an organization that enables members to apply their knowledge is the National Speakers Association. They do a good job at providing their members the tools that they need to help them grow their speaking business. The only problem is that the tools they provide are expensive and they don’t always do a great job connecting their members with people that are seeking their members.
Connections – This is the point that most learning organizations have fallen short. They have built a brand around the content and teach you how to apply the content, but then what? How do you promote your members so that they can use the connection to your brand to succeed? There are only a few organizations that I have recently investigated that does a good job at this.
Example of a Good Learning Organization that provides Content, Application, And Connection
The American Hypnosis Association –
An organization that does all three is the American Hypnosis Association
(AHA). The AHA provides its members a ton of recorded seminars and documents to help them learn to be better hypnotists, they give members the tools to apply that in practice, and they have a great directory that helps the members publicize their practice. While the organization does do a good job of helping advanced therapists connect with clients, I find that there is still a need for the organization to help junior members connect and collaborate in order to increase their knowledge and better learn what it takes to be successful.
Point of Improvement for all Organizations
This is one of the same issues with many organizations, they promote their advanced members, which make junior members feel left out of the opportunities that advanced members have. There is a great need out there in many organizations to help junior or new members really connect with all levels of the organization, develop their knowledge, and learn to apply that knowledge to grow as individuals. Not doing this is what I believe causes the high turnover that membership organizations report.
The organizations that can deliver content, teach how to apply the content, and allow members to connect and share their knowledge will be immensely successful in the future.
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