Most studies that examine patterns of individual and organizational learning stem from similar European American epistemological assumptions. To enrich this approach, this article begins with a considerably different foundation-the Native American medicine wheel- and constructs a learning framework that has distinct advantages for contexts that are dynamic, diverse, and interconnected. The frame work encourages us to perceive, to think, and to create in ways that are multifarious rather than dichotomous, circular rather than linear, longitudinal rather than cross-sectional, and integrative rather than compartmental. We are only beginning to understand how different perspectives may all contribute legitimate insight about the same phenomena; this article celebrates this growing realization.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adler, M. J.
(1988). Reforming education: The opening of the American mind. New York: Collier.
2.
American Heritage Dictionary. (2nd college ed.). (1985). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
3.
Andrews, L. V
(1990). Teachings around the sacred wheel. San Francisco: Harper.
4.
Argyris, C.
(1977). Double-loop learning in organizations. Harvard Business Review, 55(5), 115-125.
5.
Argyris, C.
, & Schön, D. A. (1978). Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
6.
Aristotle
. (1952). Logic. The works of Aristotle, Vol. 1 (Vol. 8 of Britannica Great Books) (pp. 5-258). Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica.
7.
Ashby, W. R.
(1956). An introduction to cybernetics. London: Chapman & Hall.
8.
Barnett, C.
(1994). Organizational learning theories: A review and synthesis of the literature. Unpublished manuscript, University of Michigan.
9.
Bateson, G.
(1979). Mind and nature. New York: E. P. Dutton.
10.
Bennis, W.
(1989). Why leaders can't lead: The unconscious conspiracy continues. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
11.
Bennis, W.
(1994). On becoming a leader. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
12.
Bigelow, J.
(1992). Developing managerial wisdom. Journal of Management Inquiry, 1, 143-153.
13.
Black Elk, W.
, & Lyon, W. S. (1990). Black Elk.- The sacred ways of a Lakota. San Francisco: Harper.
14.
Blair, L.
(1991). Rhythms of vision: The changing patterns of myth and consciousness. Rochester, VT: Destiny.
15.
Blum, D. E.
(1993). Arizona professor offers curriculum on ignorance to give medical education a wake-up call. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 39(21).
16.
Botkin, J. W
, Elmandjra, M., & Malitza, M. (1979). No limits to learning: Bridging the human gap (A report to the Club of Rome). Oxford: Pergamon.
17.
Branden, N.
(1985). The nature of intelligence. Guilford, CT: Jeffrey Norton.
18.
Cajete, G.
(1994). Look to the mountains: An ecology of indigenous education. Durango, CO: Kivaki.
19.
Calvino, I.
(1972). Invisible cities. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace.
20.
Campbell, J.
(1949). The hero with a thousand faces. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
21.
Campbell, J.
(1988). The power of myth (with Bill Moyers). New York: Apostrophe S. Production.
22.
Capra, F.
(1983). The Tao of physics. New York: St. Martin's.
23.
Capra, F.
(1988). Uncommon wisdom: Conversations with remarkable people. New York: Bantam.
24.
Capra, F.
, with Rochlin, S., & Wljers, L. (Producers), & Harris, M., Harris, M., & Rochlin, S. (Directors). (1993). The Shifting Paradigm [Film]. Cooper Station, NY: Mystic Fire Video.
25.
Cohen, M. D.
(1991). Individual learning and organizational routine: Emerging connections. Organization Science, 2, 135-139.
26.
Cohen, M. D., & L. S. Sproull (Eds.). (1991). Organizational learning [Special issue]. Organization Science, 2(1).
27.
Collins, A.
, Brown, J. S., & Holum, A. (1991). Cognitive apprenticeship: Making thinking visible. American Educator, 15(3), 646.
28.
Cooper, C. L.
, & Cox, C. J. (1989). Applying American organizational sciences in Europe and the United Kingdom: The problems. In C.A.B. Osigweh, Yg. (Ed.), Organizational science abroad: Constraints and perspectives. London: Plenum.
29.
Corner, P. D.
, Kinicki, A. J., & Keats, B. W (1994). Integrating organizational and individual information processing perspectives on choice. Organization Science, 5, 294-308.
30.
Covey, S. R.
(1991). Principle-centered leadership. New York: Summit.
31.
Cowan, J. G.
(1992). The elements of the Aborigine tradition. Rockport, MA: Element.
32.
Csikszentmihalyi, M.
(1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row.
33.
Csikszentmihalyi, M.
(1993). The evolving self. New York: Harper Collins.
34.
Cyert, R. M.
, & March, J. G. (1963). The behavioral theory of the firm. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
35.
Davies, P.
(1980). Other worlds: Space, super space, and the quantum universe. New York: Simon & Schuster.
36.
deBono, E.
(1991). I am right and you are wrong: From rock logic to water logic. New York: Viking.
37.
deBono, E.
(1992). Serious creativity: Using the power of lateral thinking to create new ideas. New York: Harper Business.
38.
DePree, M.
(1992). Leadership jazz. New York: Currency.
39.
Dobyns, L.
(1990). Ed Deming wants big changes, and he wants them fast. Smithsonian, 21(5), 74-83.
40.
Dobyns, L.
, & Crawford-Mason, C. (1991). Quality or else: The revolution in world business. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
41.
Dunnette, M. D.
(Ed.). (1976). Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology. Chicago: Rand McNally.
42.
Fiol, C. M.
(1994). Consensus, diversity, and learning in organizations. Organization Science, 5, 403-420.
43.
Fu-Kiau, K.K.B.
(1991). Self-healing power and therapy: Old teachings from Africa. New York: Vantage.
44.
Garvin, D. A.
(1993). Building a learning organization. Harvard Business Review, 71(4), 78-91.
45.
Gatto, J. T.
(1992). Dumbing us down. Philadelphia: New Society.
46.
Gatto, J. T.
(1993). The exhausted school. New York: Oxford Village.
47.
Gattuso, J.
(Ed.). (1993). A circle of nations: Voices and visions of American Indians. Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words.
48.
Greeno, J. G.
(1989). A perspective on thinking. American Psychologist, 44(2), 134-141.
49.
Halder, R. B.
(1991, October). Establishing the vision in healthcare. Speech presented at the Juran Institute's Ninth Annual Conference on Quality Management, Atlanta, GA.
50.
Hall, E. T.
(1981). Beyond culture. New York: Anchor.
51.
Hall, E. T.
(1994). West of the thirties: Discoveries among the Navajo and Hopi. New York: Doubleday.
52.
Hall, E. T.
, & Hall, M. R. (1990). Understanding cultural differences. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural.
53.
Hamel, G.
, & Prahalad, C. K. (1994, September 5). Seeing the future first. Fortune, pp. 64-70.
54.
Hampden-Turner, C.
(1981). Maps of the mind: Charts and concepts of the mind and its labyrinths. New York: Macmillan.
55.
Harris, S. G.
(1994). Organizational culture and individual sense making: A schema-based perspective. Organization Science, 5, 309-321.
56.
Harris, P. R.
, & Moran, R. T. (1987). Managing for cross-cultural effectiveness. In P. R. Harris & R. T. Moran (Eds.), Managing cultural differences. Houston: Gulf.
57.
Harris, M.
, & Rochlin, S. (Producers). (1989). Dissolving boundaries. World of ideas anthology (Vol. 3) [Film]. Cooper Station, NY: Mystic Fire Video.
58.
Hartmann, E.
, (1991). Boundaries in the mind. Basic Books.
59.
Hodgkinson, C.
(1983). The philosophy of leadership. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
60.
Hofstadter, D. R.
(1979). Gödel, Escher, Bach: An eternal golden braid. New York: Vintage.
61.
Hofstede, G.
(1980). Culture's consequences: International differences in work-related values. London: Sage.
62.
Hofstede, G.
(1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.
63.
Huber, G.
(1991). Organizational learning: The contributing processes and the literatures. Organization Science, 2, 88-115.
64.
Hurst, D. K.
(1991). Cautionary tales from the Kalahari: How hunters become herders (and may have trouble changing back again). Academy of Management Executive, 5, 74-86.
65.
Jaccaci, A. T.
(1989). The social architecture of a learning culture. Training & Development Journal, 43(11), 49-51.
66.
Jacob, R.
(1995, April 3). The struggle to create an organization for the 21st century. Fortune, pp. 90-99.
67.
Jacobs, M. T.
(1990). Short-term America: The causes and cures of our business myopia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
68.
Jamieson, K.
(1991). How to develop skills for managing workforce 2000. Managing Workforce 2000. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
69.
Jaques, E.
(1986). The development of intellectual capability: A discussion of stratified systems theory. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 22, 361-383.
70.
Jaques, E.
, & Clement, S. D. (1991). Executive leadership. Ox- ford: Basil Blackwell.
71.
Katz, D.
, & Kahn, R. L. (1966). The social psychology of organizations. New York: Wiley.
72.
Keil, F. C.
(1979). Semantic and conceptual development: An ontological perspective. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
73.
Kierkegaard, S.
(1986). Either-or (G. L. Stengren, Trans.). New York: Harper & Row. (Original work published 1843)
74.
Kim, W. C.
, & Mauborgne, R. A. (1992). Parables of leadership. Harvard Business Review, 70(4), 123-128.
75.
Kolb, D. A.
, Rubin, I. M., & Osland, J. M. (1991). Organizational behavior: An experiential approach (5th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
76.
Korzybski, A.
(1958). Science and sanity: An introduction to non-Aristotelian system and general semantics (4th ed.). Lake Shore, CT: Institute of General Semantics.
77.
Kosko, B.
(1993). Fuzzy thinking: The new science of fuzzy logic. New York: Hyperion.
78.
Labich, K.
(1994, November 14). Why companies fail. Fortune, pp. 52-68.
79.
Lame Deer, A. F.
, & Erdoes, R. (1992). Gift of power: The life and teachings of a Lakota medicine man. Sante Fe, NM: Bear & Company.
80.
Langer, E. J.
(1989). Mindfulness. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
81.
Langer, E.
, & Piper, A. (1987). The prevention of mindlessness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 280-287.
82.
Lawlor, R.
(1991). Voices of the first day. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions.
83.
Lessem, R.
(1991). Total quality learning: Building a learning organization. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
84.
Levinthal, D. A.
(1991). Organizational adaptation and environmental selection-interrelated processes of change. Organization Science, 2, 140-145.
85.
Levitt, B.
, & March, J. G. (1988). Organizational learning. Annual Review of Sociology, 14, 319-340.
86.
Locke, E. A.
, & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting & task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
87.
Lorsch, J. W.
(Ed.). (1987). Handbook of organizational behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
88.
Lundberg, C. C.
(1989). On organizational learning: Implications and opportunities for expanding organizational development. Research in Organizational Change and Development, 3, 61-82.
89.
Lyons, O.
, Mohawk, J., Deloria, Jr., V., Hauptman, L., Berman, H., Grinde, Jr., D., Cerkey, C., & Venables, R. (1992). Exiled in the land of the free. Sante Fe, NM: Clear Light.
90.
Mander, J.
(1978). Four arguments for the elimination of television. New York: Quill.
91.
Mander, J.
(1991). In the absence of the sacred: The failure of technology and the survival of the Indian nations. San Francisco: Sierra Club.
92.
March,J. G.
, & Simon, H. A. (1958). Organizations. New York: Wiley.
93.
Masuch, M.
(1985). Vicious circles in organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 30, 14-33.
94.
Matthews, C.
(1989). The elements of the Celtic tradition. Rockport, MA: Element.
95.
May, R.
(1991). The cry for myth. New York: Norton.
96.
Maybury-Lewis, D.
(1992, July//August). Tribal wisdom: Is it too late for us to reclaim the benefits of tribal living. Utne Reader, pp. 68-79.
97.
McCarthy, B.
(Producer & Director). (1991). Faith keeper of the Onondaga nation [Film]. Cooper Station, NY: Mystic Fire Video.
98.
McWhinney, W.
(1992). Paths of change: Strategic choices for organizations and society. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
99.
Meacham, J. A.
(1983). Wisdom and the context of knowledge: Knowing that one doesn't know. In D. Kuhn & J. A. Meacham (Eds.), Contributions in human development (Vol. 8, pp. 11-134). Basel: Karger.
100.
Meadows, D.
(1989). Earth medicine. Shaftesbury, Dorset, UK: Element Books Limited.
101.
Meindl, J. R.
, Stubbart, C., & Porac, J. F. (1994). Cognition [Special issue]. Organization Science, 5(3).
102.
Miles, C.
(1988). Developing expert novices. Journal of Educational Development, 12(2), 30.
103.
Mitroff, I. I.
(1987). Business NOT as usual: Rethinking our individual, corporate, and industrial strategies for global competition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
104.
Musashi, M.
(1974). Go rin no sho [A book off five rings]. (V. Harris, Trans.). Woodstock, NY: Overlook.
105.
Nelson, C.
(1992, November). Fostering critical thinking and mature valuing across the curriculum: Schemes and implementations. Presentation, 12th Annual Lilly Conference on College Teaching, Miami University, Oxford, OH.
106.
Newell, A.
(1989). Putting it all together. In D. Klahr & K. Kotovsky (Eds.), Complex information processing: The impact of Herbert Simon (21st Carnegie-Mellon Symposium on Cognition). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
107.
Newell, A.
, & Simon, H. A. (1972). Human problem solving. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
108.
Oxford English Dictionary (Vols. 1 & 2). (1971). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
109.
Peikoff, L.
(1967). The analytic-synthetic dichotomy. In A. Rand (Ed.), Introduction to objectivist epistemology (pp. 119-164). New York: New American Library.
110.
Peikoff, L.
(1988). Why should one act on principle. Oceanside, CA: Second Renaissance.
111.
Perry, W. G., Jr.
(1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
112.
Quinn, R. E.
, Faerman, S. R., Thompson, M. P., & McGrath, M. R. (1990). Becoming a master manager: A competency framework. New York: Wiley.
113.
Rael, J.
(1993). Being & vibration. Tulsa, OK: Council Oaks.
114.
Rand, A.
(1967). Introduction to objectivist epistemology. New York: New American Library.
115.
Rand, A.
(1982). Philosophy: Who needs it. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill.
116.
Rapoport, C.
(1994, October 31). Charles Handy sees the future. Fortune, pp. 155-168.
117.
Roberts, K. H.
, Hulin, C. L., & Rousseau, D. M. (1978). Developing an interdisciplinary science of organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
118.
Schoenfeld, A. H.
(1983). Beyond the purely cognitive: Belief systems, social cognitions, and metacognitions as driving forces in intellectual performance. Cognitive Science, 7, 329-363.
119.
Schrage, M.
(1990). Shared minds: The new technologies of collaboration. New York Random House.
120.
Senge, P. M.
(1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Currency Doubleday.
121.
Serwer, A. E.
(1994, August 8). Lessons from America's fastest-growing companies. Fortune, pp. 42-60.
122.
Shepherd, L. J.
(1993). Lifting the veil. Boston: Shambhala.
123.
Sherman, S.
(1993, December 13). A master class in radical change. Fortune, pp. 82-90.
124.
Sherman, S.
(1994, August 22). Leaders learn to heed the voice within. Fortune, pp. 92-100.
125.
Shrivastava, P.
(1994). Greening business education: Toward an ecocentric pedagogy. Journal of Management Inquiry, 3(3), 235-243.
126.
Simon, H. A.
(1976). Administrative behavior (3rd ed.). New York: Free Press.
127.
Simon, H.
(1991). Bounded rationality and organizational learning. Organization Science, 2, 125-134.
128.
Singley, M. K.
, & J. R. Anderson. (1989). The transfer of cognitive skill. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
129.
Stein, S.
(Executive Producer). (1992). Indigenous Peoples' Message to the World. [Audio Tape]. New York Inter Tribal Committee. (World Conference of Indigenous Peoples, Kari Oka, Brazil).
130.
Steinem, G.
(1992). Revolution from within. Boston: Little, Brown.
131.
Sternberg, R. J.
(1985). Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
132.
Stewart, T. A.
(1993, December 13). Welcome to the revolution. Fortune, pp. 66-78.
133.
Storm, H.
(1972). Seven arrows. New York: Ballantine.
134.
Sun Bear
. (1992). Sun Bear: Vision of the medicine wheel. Valley Head, AL: Four Directions Production Company.
135.
Sun Bear, Wind, W.
, & Mulligan, C. (1991). Dancing with the wheel. New York: Prentice Hall.
136.
Suzuki, D.
, & Knudtson, P. (1992). Wisdom of the elders: Honoring sacred native visions of future. New York: Bantam.
137.
Suzuki, S.
(1970). Zen mind, beginner's mind. New York: Walker/Weatherhill.
138.
Torbert, W. R.
(1991). The power of balance: Transforming self, society, and scientific inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
139.
Two Trees, K.
(1993). Material prepared for Management 490: Multicultural Ways of Organizing. Richard T. Farmer School of Business Administration, Miami University, Oxford, OH.
140.
Wall, S.
(1993). Wisdom's daughters: Conversations with women elders of Native America. New York: Harper Collins.
141.
Wall, S.
, & Arden, H. (1990). Wisdomkeepers: Meetings with Native American spiritual elders. Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words.
142.
Walsh, J. P.
, & Ungson, G. R. (1991). Organizational memory. Academy of Management Review, 16, 57-91.
143.
Weick, K.
(1979). The social psychology of organizing (2nd ed.). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
144.
Wheatley, M.
(1992). Leadership and the new science: Learning about organization from an orderly universe. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
145.
Wilensky, R.
(1981). Meta-planning: Representing and using knowledge about planning in problem solving and natural language understanding. Cognitive Science, 5, 197-233.
146.
Yoshida, K.
(1990). Made in Japan "whole"-istically. Cincinnati, OH: Petty Consulting.
