Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2008
Abstract
To develop, maintain and retain competitive advantage, organizations must learn new skills and adapt to rapidly changing environments. My research is focused on the means by which individuals come together to learn from each other, and to collectively advance the objectives of the organization in a fast-paced, changing environment. In particular, I am interested in the power of the conversation and the conversation space as tools to facilitate this learning, to permit individuals to share their own experiences, build on the experiences of others and catalyze innovation. Increasingly, people are called to together to innovate, to solve thorny problems and to guide decision making in conversational settings. What makes one conversation effective and another a waste of time? How valuable are the conversations in the satisfaction of these objectives and what do we understand about them? What do the individuals who participate in conversations feel about them and their efficacy? More importantly, what might we distill and discover to improve conversations and their outcomes? Expressed as a problem of practice, how might organizations facilitate the "great conversation" to permit collective and meaningful learning, innovation and results, and what elements must these "great conversations" contain?
Keywords
strategic communications, conversation, organizational learning, individuals, discourse, conversational learning
Rights
© The Author(s). Kelvin Smith Library provides access for non-commercial, personal, or research use only. All other use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly reproductions, redistribution, publication or transmission, whether by electronic means or otherwise, without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Department/Center
Design & Innovation
Recommended Citation
Smith, Ann Kowal, "From Conversation to Learning to Performance: Understanding Great Strategic Conversations" (2008). Student Scholarship. 222.
https://commons.case.edu/studentworks/222