Understanding for Organizations

In the spring of 1996, the Rector of the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano (UJTL) asked, "How can we support the development of understanding in organizations?" To which we answered, "lets find out."

Since then, UJTL and Project Zero have been collaborating in the development of a framework which foregrounds the development of understanding in organizations. Building on our extensive research and knowledge of understanding and learning for understanding, our work has resulted in a simple yet powerful framework for supporting personal and organizational inquiry toward community understanding.

The framework invites individuals, groups, and the organization as a whole to reflect on and orient their actions around four central ideas:

Dreams: What are your dreams? For yourself, those who work closely with you, and your surrounding community and context?
Mysteries: What are the big questions, puzzles, issues, and concerns that face you in making your dreams come true?
Action: What actions can you take to make your dreams come true?
Evidence: What evidence will you be looking at and reflecting on to see that you make progress, and what else you may need to do?

These four elements are used to design and engage in actions toward making personal and organizational dreams come true through the development of understanding. The mechanism by which individuals and their community build these understandings is through the careful and critical design and engagement in "action projects": projects of action which move people toward their dreams and toward answering their big questions, continuously reflecting on the evidence necessary to learn from one's actions.

Other elements of the developing framework are mechanisms of effective and constructive communication, the use of generative "lenses" which can yield new insights into the development of personal and organizational understanding, and processes that move a community from simply "surviving" to "thriving."

Principal Investigators:: David Perkins; Chris Unger

PZ Researchers:: Daniel Wilson; Veronica Boix Mansilla

Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano Research Collaborators:: Dora de Salgado; Cecilia Miani; Juan Sastoque, Director of Operations; Fanny Mestre, Financial Director; Evaristo Obregon, Rector

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