Out of all the changes buffeting the corporate world today, a single imperative stands out above all others for individuals and organizations alike—learn to learn rapidly or be prepared to be an observer instead of a player. The global economy will have no mercy on organizations that don't learn rapidly, and organizations that want to survive will have no place for people who aren't committed to learning every day.

Why is learning suddenly so important?

	Information is now the most valuable organizational resource in virtually every industry.
	Keeping abreast of the rate of change in information is the greatest organizational challenge.
	People that can learn rapidly will be in greater demand than ever before.
	Corporations that can retain their most talented learners and develop the capacity for organizational learning will enjoy a competitive edge over the rest of the field.

What is a Learning Organization?
A Learning Organization continuously shortens the time it takes to transform data into value-added, actionable information and apply it to achieve outstanding results. In the very near future, learning organizations are the only ones that will be able to survive the rigors of global competition.

How do you build one?
Building a learning organization (or a learning environment if you prefer) requires a profound cultural change for most organizations. For starters, you must have a shared vision that tells everyone what's important and serves as a broad guide for actions. Departmental boundaries must be torn down. Information must be easily accessible to all. Employees must be empowered to act on new information as it is created. Risk-taking must be supported as an integral part of the learning process. The systems view and excellent teamwork must become the norm.

All these changes take time and all of them are necessary. The sooner you begin, the better chance you have of being among the survivors. The good news is, you have the potential in your organization right now to build a learning organization. The bad news is, there are no short cuts. You must lead your organization through the transformation from where you are to where you want to be. (More on the productivity tools you'll need)

It may not be fair, but it's happening right now—and there's no going back. More people have more access to more information than ever before—and many organizations are working hard right now to exploit what they know to gain competitive advantage. In fact, there is every indication that the development of learning organizations globally will accelerate.

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