REPRESENTING FEAR IN LEARNING IN ORGANIZATIONS

Literature and practice on learning in organizations often seem to ign ore the expression of fear. This article explores the role of represen tations of fear in collective learning. Three expressions of fears are analysed: by Pat, an individual whose workplace trials parallel those of the authors; by Ricardo Semler, Brazilian business executive, whos e business autobiography, Maverick! some see as a manual for learning in organizations; and by W. Frank Blount, CEO of Australia's largest t elecommunications firm, Telstra. These analyses bring to the fore issu es of shame (Schneider), needs for mutual self-disclosure (Goffman) an d conditions that cause us to 'sanitize' representations of fear in wa ys that inhibit reflective practice and, hence, limit occurrence of ep isodes of deep, collective learning that are termed here the 'learning space'.