Engineering Inc. - January/February 2007 - 32

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selling widgets, so we’re only as good as our people—the more developed
and better educated we are, the better off we’ll be. ciNdi polychroNis
david evans and associates i The techniques used to promote this culture
at David Evans and Associates operate on a number of fronts. After a
recent leadership switch, a consultant was brought in to lead a five-hour
session detailing lessons learned from the changeover. Most recently, a
new career planning development resource has been rolled out to help young
employees determine their best career paths and which firm resources are
needed to support that goal. Running an effective learning organization
also involves reconnecting with the industry’s past. “In our industry,
100 years ago, if you were an expert, you hired a junior person or
apprentice who worked side-by-side with you. We’re trying to reintroduce
that concept of learning through osmosis,” says Polychronis. In terms of
real-world applications, she adds, that can mean anything from promoting
mentorships to having a junior associate take a lunch hour to learn from
an expert within the firm. At Psomas, a consulting engineering firm based
in Los Angeles, the philosophies of a learning organization materialize
both formally and informally. t’s less about having firm metrics and
more about the commitment to building. It’ll pay off in the long run;
you don’t have to justify it in three months. Kyle davy acec senior
executives institute What is a Learning Organization? L e a r n i n g
organizations are companies whose employees continually expand their
knowledge and capabilities. In turn, these more confident and
knowledgeable employees are better prepared to stay ahead of—and adapt
to—changes in their industry. In a learning organization, concepts such
as personal mastery, shared vision, team learning and systems thinking are
promoted through everything from mentor relationships to classes. The
resulting benefits are not all immediately visible in the quarterly
financial results: the ability to adapt more quickly to a changing
business environment, along with higher employee confidence and a more
effective work process. More knowledgeable employees also are more
curious, and more likely to bring in outside information and resources to
help the firm grow. “You want to have a culture where people are
constantly learning from what we do, including failures,” says Cindi
Polychronis, director of human resources for David Evans and Associates, a
multidisciplinary engineering firm based in Portland, Ore. “We’re not
selling widgets, so we’re only as good as our people—the more
developed and better educated we are, the better off we’ll be.” 32
ENGINEERING INC. JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2007 A learning organization is
something we continually strive to be. We try to build it into the culture
of the firm. BlaKe murillo psomas “We do peer reviews of projects, where
in-house staff reviews with the rest of the company what went well, what
didn’t go so well and, from the perspective of the client, are we
somebody you’d use again?” says Blake Murillo, the firm’s CEO.
“We’re trying to distill things that can help people do a better
job.” In addition to peer reviews, Psomas developed a system for the
firm to analyze how specific training tools can be developed around
important processes. “The last one we developed was specific negotiation
training for production managers for contract services,” Murillo says.
“It’s a way for them to go in and feel comfortable talking with
clients about why some things might be different and outside the contract
scope.” But much of the learning within the company goes on in a more
informal context. Training and learning sessions often are “meant to
encourage openness and honesty on projects,” Murillo adds. “It’s
very unusual that projects go perfectly. There’s always something you
didn’t expect. How do you follow up? What would you do differently?
Every time you do something, you evaluate.” The Art of Longevity Indeed,
the central principles of learn- Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid
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Engineering Inc. - January/February 2007

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