In the years that i4cp has been studying organizational culture, one thing has always been clear: companies that have a learning culture generally are very healthy.
My favorite example is Microsoft. While I talk about Microsoft a lot, I continue to believe they are one of the best examples of what a successful culture renovation looks like—and they represent what can happen when you embrace a culture of learning.
Not long after Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft, he was very clear on how important learning was to their culture change efforts:
“At Microsoft, we’re aspiring to have a living, learning culture with a growth mindset that allows us to learn from ourselves and our customers. These are the key attributes of the new culture at Microsoft, and I feel great about how it seems to be resonating and how it’s seen as empowering.”
Almost no company was using the phrase “growth mindset” until Satya and his team popularized it; today I hear that term used constantly throughout the corporate landscape. Microsoft continues to have a growth mindset, and while CHRO Kathleen Hogan and others would say they still have a long way to go, they exemplify that not only is having a workforce of “learn-it-alls” important, but that creating a culture of learning is entirely possible—and can be done relatively quickly (though not with a lot of dedication, focus, and hard work).
