| Abstract: | This paper addresses a central question in organizational learning, namely: how can local knowledge be accessed to improve organizational direction, performance and learning (Argyris 1957; Argyris and Schon 1978, 1996; Kim 1993)? It is partly provoked by Nonaka and Takeuchi's (1995) claim, via their 'Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation', that the knowledge of individual members can be systematically accessed and harnessed for corporate benefit. A related focus concerns the practice of action learning within a whole systems perspective and how it may serve to support local actors and promote a mutual learning exchange with their organizational leaders. A case study from local government centres on a group of 'neighbourhood facilitators' pioneering community regeneration and local democracy in the Borough of Walsall in the UK's West Midlands. The experiences and learning of this group, together with their interactions and dialogue with the leadership of the initiative and with the wider political system, are used to draw some lessons for facilitating organizational learning. The paper concludes that this is a hard-won and far from predictable accomplishment and questions the apparently reproducible process proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi. |
