If you weren’t hiding under a rock in the last few months, you’d be familiar with the national news story of “The Quality Learing (sic) Center,” a supposed day care located in Minneapolis, MN, and spotlighted by freelance journalist Nick Shirley.
Jim CastigliaThis led to FBI raids and the discovery of widespread fraud. One example is a $259 million scheme that exploited the Federal Child Nutrition Program during COVID. State and federal authorities have sentenced 26 defendants so far in this one racket.
Note: The center closed down in January, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services licensing records. The MN Department of Children, Youth, and Families said the center requested closure of its license.
My point is that The Quality Learing Center is an example of a fake program. The “owners” pretended a legitimate business existed when, in reality, it was nothing but a scam on taxpayers by a bunch of thieves.
Since this article isn’t about fraud, I sought to bring up a glaring, bald-faced example of something that isn’t really there.
The Real Support in Your Organization
This month’s article is about learning, the real support your organization provides for it continuously, and the benefits of a learning environment for your finishing and coating business.
Peter Senge, Ph.D., MIT Sloan School of Management lecturer, author of the bestseller The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (1990), and founder of the Society for Organizational Learning, introduced the business idea of a learning organization.
I later realized that my martial arts training, which began in my early 20s, and six years (11-17 years old) of training in the Jesuit tradition at Georgetown Preparatory School outside Washington, D.C., steeped me in the idea of constant learning from an early age.
In fact, a favorite photograph in my book, Martial Arts of the Orient, shows five students in a dojo (a Japanese martial arts immersive learning hall; literally, “a place of the Way”) mimicking a teacher, all with a sword raised above their heads.
What’s compelling to me is that the students are all 7th-degree black belt masters or above; the teacher is a 9th-degree. And it takes decades of dedicated training, teaching, and service to reach these levels.
Yet learning still happens despite these individuals' mastery.
One is Never Too Old — Or Too Good — To Learn
They understand the principle that one is never too old or too good to learn.
My point here is not to review and rehash Senge’s basic theories on the key ingredients for a learning organization—systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, and team learning. Get his book if you want to do a deep dive.
It’s time to ask about the learning culture in your firm.
Why would you even care?
Because the big benefit of creating a learning environment is that it can greatly enhance the organization's value in so many ways.
It can impact the top line and bottom line, and it can support employee growth. It can foster innovation and creativity. It can engage your people.
Last month’s article explained culture as a set of values, beliefs, and behavioral norms.
- Does your organization value learning?
- Is learning and growing as a person and as a professional really valued?
- Or is learning just lip service?
- Does the firm have a formal learning strategy (plan) in place at all levels of experience and background?
- Do all employees learn the corporate vision until they own it?
- Are they enthusiastic about where the company is headed and 100% bought in to its direction?
- Are people held accountable and rewarded for learning and growth?
- What was the last thing you learned at work?
A great way to start your learning journey is to read the work of the masters in your industry. You can start by reading the articles in the wonderful publication, www.FinishingAndCoating.com. You can broaden and deepen your skills, expertise, knowledge, and competencies by reading and discussing what’s written here with peers and co-workers.
It’s an excellent resource since its articles are first-rate.
After you’ve considered these questions and if there’s room for improvement in your firm, talk to someone interested in upping the learning process and who has the authority to make it happen.
And make it your intention to become a learner yourself. Even masters can learn.
Jim Castiglia is the founder of Business Street Fighter Consulting, supporting entrepreneurial business owners as they work to grow and maximize their businesses’ value. Contact Jim at JimC@BSF.consulting or his personal email, jvcastiglia@icloud.com, or text him at 949-338-7141.
