Lessons on Creating Learning Organizations from the Dog Park

This weekend, I was teaching my young black lab, Jack, to swim at the dog park. Yes, you heard it correctly. My labrador retriever doesn’t like water. There were some young dogs at the park and they hopped into the plastic swimming pool without hesitation. On the other hand, Jack was terrified. I picked up his 60 lb. body, gently placed him in the swimming pool and offered words of encouragement. The other dogs were playing a splashing game and they engaged Jack in their game. Gradually, he forgot he was in water, his nemesis, and started to play. By the time they finished playing, he seemed to be more receptive to the water. He’s not 100% comfortable in the water yet, but he showed marked improvement. This event prompted me to begin thinking about my own assumptions about business and the vital role that learning plays.

As business owners, we often develop a high level of expertise in an area. Perhaps we are excellent chefs or hair dressers or carpet cleaners for example, and we assume we know how to manage a business. We have to be cautious that we do not allow this competence to distract our focus from the needs of the business. Successfully managing a business requires additional skills such as marketing, sales, accounting, finance, negotiations, and leadership, just to name a few. As business owners, we have several issues to consider in our decision making process.

1. Are you open to learning those new skills and do you have the time to invest in learning them? Or would your time be better spent focusing on your core business and utilizing someone else to handle those tasks?
2. Do you have the talent within your business to handle those tasks or do you need to look outside the organization? Does this talent currently exist or could it be developed over time with training, and/or experience?
3. If you wish to hire an outside professional, do you know the right questions to ask so that you can get answers that truly meet the needs of your business?
4. Do you have the financial resources to hire an outside professional to perform the task?
5. Regardless of which option you select, it is likely that you will need additional education and information. Where do you go to obtain the information you need?

In his book titled, The Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Peter Senge states “Leverage often comes from new ways of thinking”. In order for businesses to thrive in our dynamic economy, businesses need to shift their thinking. The ability to learn and apply knowledge can serve as a measureable competitive advantage and provide businesses with the leverage needed to move past their competition. Here are some opportunities for learning:
 
1. Your local chamber of commerce. I recently attended a breakfast briefing at the West Chester Liberty Chamber Alliance that focused on “Tips and Advice for Securing a Business Loan”. Key leaders from the banking industry and SCORE provided business owners with insights they need to obtain financing in order to grow their business. In addition, chambers sometimes provide industry resources to serve as a sounding board, share business knowledge, and help you grow your business. As an example, I serve as a Chamber Advisor for HR for the West Chester Liberty Chamber Alliance.
 
2. SCORE – SCORE provides free one-on-one counseling to small businesses as well as workshops that focus on relevant topics for growing your business. I recently attended a Cincinnati Score Workshop titled “Score/Amex Speed Coaching” and gained valuable knowledge about marketing, social media and financing for your business. It was an excellent resource and one I highly recommend.
 
3. Local Universities – Depending on your needs and time commitments, you may wish to explore continuing education programs, professional certification or even a degree such as an MBA. I currently attend Indiana Wesleyan University’s MBA program on Saturday mornings and highly recommend it. There are several nurses in my class that decided to obtain the MBA degree so they can increase their business knowledge since they have worked for many years in nursing.

There are many opportunities and resources available in the community for small business owners to expand their knowledge. The key is to take action and reach out for them. Your openness and active engagement in learning is the lever that can propel your business forward.


I would love to hear of additional ideas for learning from you! If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to drop me a note at chrissann@blacklabventures.com.

Jack (black lab with orange collar) didn't stay in the pool long!

Lessons on Performance Management from the Dog Park

Some of the most insightful conversations about business occur at the dog park.  Perhaps this is because people are relaxed, away from the work setting, and have a chance to reflect on their business. Jack, my high energy black/chocolate lab mix, and I visited the dog park again this week. Last week, we discussed On Boarding Strategies. This week we shift our focus to Performance Management as a tool for engaging employees.

A fellow small business owner talked with me about productivity issues at his firm. He works in a competitive industry and needs his employees to bring a high degree of passion, energy and creativity to the workplace each day in order to stay ahead of his competition. Yet that is not occurring in his business. I asked if he had a performance management system in place so that employees have clarity in their roles and responsibilities in order to move the business forward. He said they were too busy to implement a system. He also believed that employees should intuitively know their roles and responsibilities. He admitted there is some conflict in the workplace and several key employees have “resigned in place”. He is sincerely concerned about losing those valuable team members. We discussed the following key opportunity areas:

1. Do you have current job descriptions in place for all your employees?
As a result of the recent changes in the workplace, many firms have asked their employees to take on additional responsibilities. Employees are being asked to handle an increased workload with fewer resources. Have your job descriptions been updated to reflect these changes?

2. Have you identified the strengths, talents and competencies that each employee will need to be successful in their new and/or expanded roles?
Businesses are experiencing significant challenges in today’s competitive environment. As my husband often says, “we all need to get smarter every day”. Consider performing a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) on your team to identify strengths as well as development opportunities.  These development opportunities can help enrich corporate culture and bolster employee engagement.