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Crossing Boundaries

January 19, 2001

"Boundaries are the intangible lines that separate person from person, team from team, and team from organization.  People cross boundaries when they solicit help, collaborate with others to accomplish some end, or actively listen to another's opinion.  Learning is shared with others, which leads to better thinking and action.  People may cross boundaries for a specific purpose, or they may incidentally pick up ideas 'more or less by osmosis.'

When people cross boundaries outside of their teams, organizational learning can take place.  A high-involvement team talked about learning by going as guests to meetings in other installations and inviting others into their own meetings as guests.  They considered themselves missionaries whose task was to empower the workers through work shops, consultation and other kinds of interaction (Watkins & Marsick, 1993, p.102)."

Reference:  Watkins K.E. & Marsick, V.J. (1993).  Sculpting the learning organization.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

What are you doing to enhance learning in your organization?

* Sculpting the Learning Organization is available on loan at the OSU Leadership Center.  A listing of all the Leadership Center's resources is available on our website www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~leaders

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Created: 2009-01-02, Updated: 2009-01-16