ABSTRACT

Decades of research on workplace learning has reinforced that professionals learn through work; however, organisational learning practices have often not shifted to recognise or facilitate this learning. This article presents findings from an interview-based study of professionals in Australia that investigated their experiences of work and learning in a variety of complex adaptive organisations. The focus of this article is on a particular aspect of the study’s findings which identified that, despite the organisations studied espousing support for learning through work, the professionals interviewed described learning through engaging in ‘fluid work’, and that organisational learning and development systems and practices were still largely oriented towards formality and structure. The study contributes to the research field of work and learning, through the use of complex adaptive systems theory to examine how organisational complexity influences professionals’ experiences of work and learning. It also empirically indicates the interrelatedness of work and learning in complex adaptive organisations. The implications of this study suggest that the focus for understanding and reforming organisational learning and development systems and practices needs to shift away from structure and measurement and towards the interplay of organisational complexity, fluidity of work, and experiences of learning primarily through work.

摘要

对工作场所学习的数十年研究强化了专业人士通过工作学习；然而，组织学习实践往往没有转变为认可或促进这种学习。本文介绍了对澳大利亚专业人士进行的基于访谈的研究结果，该研究调查了他们在各种复杂的适应性组织中的工作和学习经历。本文的重点是研究结果的一个特定方面，该研究结果表明，尽管研究的组织支持通过工作学习，但受访的专业人士描述了通过参与“流动工作”来学习，并且组织学习和发展系统和实践仍然主要面向形式和结构。该研究有助于工作和学习的研究领域，通过使用复杂的适应系统理论来研究组织复杂性如何影响专业人员的工作和学习体验。它还从经验上表明了复杂适应性组织中工作和学习的相互关联性。这项研究的意义表明，理解和改革组织学习和发展系统和实践的重点需要从结构和测量转向组织复杂性、工作流动性和主要通过工作学习经验的相互作用。