How To Assess Your Learning Culture with Paul Millerd

Joining me this week is Paul Millerd.

Paul is the author of a new book called the Pathless Path. He’s also a freelance consultant and a Content Advisor to Curious Lion. He has been an indispensable help on a few client projects, helping assess clients’ existing Learning Cultures. This is the topic of today’s episode.

Paul spent more than a decade at companies like GE, McKinsey, and BCG as an organizational consultant, observing, shaping, and cultivating strong organizational cultures.

Much of our conversation in this episode draws upon the work of Edgar Schein, one of the most impressive thinkers on organizational culture from the late 80s and early 90s.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

What organizational culture is.
How culture is the result of individuals’ behavior, not the other way around.
How culture doesn’t exist unless a group owns it.
How establishing the right culture is crucial during the early stages of a company.
How cultures emerge and solidify through positive problem-solving and anxiety avoidance.
How cultural strength comes from the stability of group membership and the length and intensity of shared experiences.
How culture and learning are inextricably linked, and why we at Curious Lion believe that cultivating a learning culture is incredibly important.

You’ll leave this episode knowing what role you can play in establishing and cultivating the culture you want to see at your company.

So please sit back and enjoy my episode with Paul Millerd.

Full Episode

Guest Links

Show Notes

Paul’s early experiences. (00:03:22-00:05:14)
Deep exploration of what organizational culture is. (00:05:15-00:11:16)
Culture is the result of individuals’ behavior, not the other way around. (00:11:17-00:13:18)
Culture doesn’t exist unless a group owns it. (00:13:19-00:15:20)
Establishing the right culture is crucial during the early stages of a company. (00:15:21-00:17:20)
Cultures emerge and solidify through positive problem-solving and anxiety avoidance. (00:17:21-00:25:45)
Cultural strength comes from the stability of group membership and the length and intensity of shared experiences. (00:25:46-00:32:41)
Paul’s process for assessing an organization’s culture. (00:33:19-00:46:30)
Culture and learning are inextricably linked. (00:46:31-00:51:34)
Why is learning culture so important in an organization? (00:51:35-00:59:05)

Selected Links from the Episode

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~ This episode is brought to you by The Learning Culture Experience~