The Learning Organization as a Technology for Introducing the Socioeconomic Paradigm and Solving the So-called “Wicked” Problems

This chapter, entitled “The learning organization as a technology for introducing the socio-economic paradigm and solving the so-called “wicked” problems,” from the third part of the book Managing Learning Enterprises, entitled “Possibilities of implementing the concept of a learning organization and enterprise,” begins by identifying the modern “wicked” problems at the collective and individual levels as problems that are getting worse and more complex over time, with no end in sight. Dominant values of individuality and masculinity lead to assertive, aggressive, and goal-oriented behavior without the need to develop and nurture human relationships. The result is dominance tendencies that lead to further division and conflict and require a shift to more sustainable, appropriate, and acceptable patterns of behavior. This is all the more pronounced as employees achieve great professional success and material wealth but feel increasingly alienated, frustrated, and meaningless. Numerous fraud and embezzlement scandals contribute to this feeling. Since it has been proved that people value a sense of purpose and meaningfulness as well as a sense of belonging, acceptance, and respect from their community, it has been suggested that the postulates of the socioeconomic paradigm should be implemented. It was outlined why this paradigm should be called the learning socioeconomic paradigm and how the learning organization could be seen as a technology to implement this paradigm on a broader societal level.