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Senge’s model encourages a sense of community based on human connectedness to the world and each other (Senge, 1990). This sense of community is likely to be more readily experienced in a small organisation as these often use a metaphor of a family (Ram & Holliday, 1993), with the founder-manager leading the organisation and driving its culture (Schein, 2002).

“Community” and “family” are centred around a commitment to or focus on a greater or common good (Mintzberg, 2009; Ram & Holliday, 1993) where there is care demonstrated for work, colleagues, a member’s place in the world (geographic and otherwise) which results in members being inspired by this caring (Mintzberg, 2009). Relationships are also more personal than would be found in a large organisation (Schein, 2002).

However, there are challenges that are associated with being a community or “family” – as the organisation matures, politics build up (Mintzberg, 2009, p142) and as with all families, complexities and contradictions as well as disharmony exist (Ram & Holliday, 1993). Families also have obligations which may entail self-sacrifice, self-denial and hard work. They can be autocratic (Ram & Holliday, 1993). Although politics may exist together with power relationships, within a community/familial type organisation, these relationships are likely to be negotiated, as relationships tend to be less formal with the result that interaction between staff and management is neither consistently autocratic nor harmonious (Ram & Holliday, 1993).

What is meant by “community” or “family” is the environment or culture of mutual respect where people are seen as human beings and not human resources, where leadership reaches out rather than down, where trust and engagement are promoted encouraging people to share and learn together and collaborate for the organisation’s sustainability (Mintzberg, 2009). This type of culture may be cultivated by managers to increase the degree of alignment between the goals of managers and employees (Ram & Holliday, 1993).

Yet as the organisation ages, and the founder may become less personally involved, there tends to be a trend away from this community feeling to a more rational, bureaucratic type of organisation where general managers often care less about the original values and culture introduced by the founder-manager (Schein, 2002). If a family member of the founder is introduced to the organisation who perpetuates the values of the founder, the original culture and sense of community may survive, but at some point these may be morphed or displaced (Schein, 2002).

The sense of community or family in small organisations may contribute to their sustainability. Despite the relationship complexities that may exist, as members interact, care and learn with one another, collaborating for the organisation’s sustainability, small organisations in South Africa may continue to employ the large segment of the population that they do (more than half of total employment) and maintain their 36% contribution to the total gross domestic product (Cant, 2012, p1107; Olawale & Garwe, 2010, p729).

Moreover, there are a number of reasons for being a learning organisation, which are applicable to small and large organisations alike.

Why be a learning organisation?

Senge, Kleiner, Roberts, Ross, and Smith (1994, pp9-12) summarise reasons for being a learning organisation as follows:

• For superior performance • To improve quality

• To attract and retain customers • For competitive advantage

• For an energised, committed workforce • To manage change

• Because the times demand it

• Because interdependence is recognised • Because organisation members want it • And the highest ideal of all: For the truth!

In addition to these reasons, the following statements from a collage of anonymous responses to Learning-Org’s question “Why a Learning Organisation?” provide personal motivations or reasons for building or being a learning organisation:

1. I choose to contribute to human evolution, to stretch the fabric of our soul. Not knowing how, I choose to learn with others, to start where I am. Where I am becomes a learning organisation the moment I perceive it to be one, as I share insights with others. It is born with the discovery that together we can contribute to evolution, that not knowing how to stretch – together – we can each learn how.

2. The old way is for senior managers to do all the thinking while everyone else “wields the screwdrivers”. The old way works, but doesn’t tap the greater energy available when the team is fully engaged. Tapping into this energy can result in improved products and services for customers, and an improved work environment. The learning organisation approach is a new way that promises to tap this energy. Any approach that increases joy in work and the quality of products and services raises the overall quality of life.

3. I like to think that those involved in creating learning organisations are balancing the need for economic viability and continuously improving productivity with creating environments in which people can excel (contribute fully to something that matters for them individually and collectively).

(The World, n.d.).

These quotes indicate, from the point of view of various individuals, that learning organisations provide a favourable environment to attain business objectives of profit, productivity and quality, which contribute to an organisation’s sustainability, while also building an environment where individuals are valued, can learn and excel. The first quote also simplifies how to develop a learning organisation – by perceiving the organisation to be one. This may appear too simplistic, but I refer to Ghandi’s words “be the change you want to see”.