Space and the Not-So-Final Frontiers

Abstract

In recent years there has been tremendous interest in the benefits of using teams in organizations; particularly in the synergistic effects of team (collective) learning. However, this article questions whether, as yet, the full potential of these synergistic effects has been realized. It explores two concurrent possible reasons for this failing. First, because of deficiencies in the theoretical understanding of the concept of collective learning. Second, that the rather singular, simplistic, methodologies used by organizations to record their collectives' `learning' fail to capture sufficiently the nuances of collective processes. Consequently, this article demonstrates the potential of a multifarious approach to valuing the interactions of members of collectives. At present, organizations do not seem to hold this resource in high regard and hence do not employ appropriate devices to identify and utilize this layer of knowing. The methods they employ often reduce these contributions down to simplistic summaries, often focusing on outcomes, forgoing further layers of knowing. This article argues that this is insufficient if teams/collectives seek to realize improved performance.