The Learning Culture

Did you complete the recent survey on the organizational learning framework? Good. I will be looking forward to its findings. Because I got lost halfway through the questionnaire.

How many minutes did I spend last month learning? I wouldn’t know. I didn’t participate in any scheduled or organized learning activity, but I surely learned a lot.

In our work, both the need and the opportunities to learn are endless. Anyone in UNICEF looking for knowledge can learn something new and relevant any minute of the day. Read the latest emergency update. Or start with the Programme Manual. Link to the Learning Web. Online manuals, CD-ROMs, Short Guides and literature on almost everything abound. And then one can always ask.

Still, training budgets remain underspent. Latest Directives are not read. The Intranet is not visited as it should.

We are only going to affirm ourselves as the world authority on children’s rights as long as everyone of us wants to know how to analyse better, how to programme competently, how to manage effectively and how to advocate more compellingly. We are a knowledge-based organization. Acquiring, producing and sharing knowledge is our business. The responsibility for learning does rest squarely with each of us. Professional advancement and organizational excellence is not only a question of expanding training and learning opportunities. It is a state of mind.

(14 January 2005)

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