Excerpted from The Learning Organization and the Evolution of Practice Academy Concepts by Marvin J. Malecha, FAIA.

Creating an office learning plan structures professional aspiration and involves components of the following nature:

• Assuring the continuity of a culture of practice
• Developing project case studies as reflective practice
• Connecting project management with knowledge development
• Creating a functional library of knowledge.

The culture of a design/architecture practice is best defined by the body of knowledge that has evolved within it.

Creating an office knowledge plan is as much about aspirations as about experience. It is as much about personal development of individuals within an office community as it is about the needs of the organization. It is therefore of paramount importance that a library of experience be compiled to convey this knowledge from one generation of leadership within an office to the next.

Assuring the continuity of a culture of practice: An office-learning plan builds on the knowledge that already exists within the community. Year after year, project after project, the successes and failures of an office build a street-wise sense among the office staff. It is important to establish a strategy for how this incredibly important legacy is passed from one generation to the next and from long-time employees to recent hires. The importance of this legacy alone is justification enough for the establishment of a learning organization.

Developing project case studies as reflective practice: The development of case studies . . . provides the basis for the knowledge patrimony of an office. Within each project lie the specific stories of practice, from the generating metaphor for the creative inspiration to the choice of materials or the circumstances of construction; an entire scenario of life evolves. For this reason, every project must include within its schedule and budget the time and resources to conduct an after-action report. This form of assessment must be documented along with the normal project record to provide the basis for learning.

Connecting project management with knowledge development:
The most important motivation for the development of a learning plan is the improvement of office capabilities. The development of an office-learning plan can be directed at weaknesses and built on strengths. It is an opportunity to assess the areas of the office that if given attention could raise the work to another level. It can help to identify those individuals on whom the future can be built.

Creating a functional library of knowledge: The design office library is rapidly becoming as important as the law library is to the legal practice. This library is no longer satisfactory as the repository of periodicals. Neither is it adequate as a collection of materials specification sheets, samples, and catalogues. Certainly both materials specifications and periodicals, are components within the library. However, the functional office library must include the ability to draw information from past projects in an efficient manner. It includes an archival documentation of past experiences as well as the building of knowledge around specific building types pertinent to the work of the office.

The office library will soon replace the studio as the heart of the office. The office is evolving rapidly and the nature of the studio is evolving with it. The once clearly territorial nature of team organization has been replaced by a media space that stretches teams across continents. The library is the tie among a disparate collection of experts, clients, design professionals, and consultants.

Connecting to a larger context: In the midst of action within a professional office it is the path of least resistance to become increasingly insular. This tendency must be countered with an aggressive outreach program. Among teaching, practice, and learning organizations the most successful counter to this tendency is to seek out the involvement and collaboration of respected peers. Organizations of similar size and interest from a diverse geographic and cultural cross section of the nation (world) offer a rich source of perspectives allowing the organization to see itself as never before.

Composing a learning strategy: It is important for every organization and every individual within the organization to develop a learning strategy. If for no other reason it is an opportunity to reflect on strengths and weaknesses and the means to build on both. A campaign involves strategies, tactics, and logistics. There is no short cut around this intensely personal assessment. It may be discerned that the goals for learning may require reaching beyond the confines of the organization. It is important to consider what resources (people and otherwise) are available, what opportunities for learning present themselves to the organization, and what tools for learning exist within the organization. It is equally important to realistically assess what cannot be found within the organization and what must be developed anew.

Even the search alone is an important catalyst to achieve the aspirations of a learning organization. Define the culture of the organization through learning experiences. Do you have a learning strategy? Are you committed?

(Marvin J. Malecha, FAIA, reserves all right to this material in conjunction with the College of Design at N.C. State University. Reprinted with permission.)

A Word on The Learning Organization and the Evolution of Practice Academy Concepts

Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.—attrib. Mark Twain

In his just-published N.C. State University College of Design Publication, 2003 Topaz Medallion recipient Marvin Malecha, FAIA, takes on the timeless dilemma of how to facilitate the sometimes-daunting transition from architecture-school graduate to practicing architect. The ultimate goal of the book is to explain in detail his model for the Practice Academy.

A practice academy is essentially a program through which a school of architecture, an architecture firm, and an intern work together to structure a formal, rigorous internship curriculum that adheres to yet transcends the requirements of the National Council of Architecture Registration Boards Intern Development Program.

In fewer than 200 pages, the book evokes groundbreaking works—ranging from Success Strategies for Design Professionals, by Weld Coxe, et al., to Building Community, by Ernest Boyer and Lee Mitgang—to establish the need for a new approach to nurturing emerging professionals. After completing two levels of the ambitious practice academy program, in Malecha’s model (more than 2,500 hours of internship, academic-seminar activity in level one and 2,700 hours of internship, work-seminar, and academic seminar activity in level two), the intern sits for an oral exam to monitor his or her progress and readiness for the ARE. After passing the ARE, the Malecha model calls for a third cycle of intense specialization that results in either a practice-specialty credential or advanced professional degree (e.g., doctor of architecture).

Although Malecha’s model is only one idea—the AIA Emerging Professionals team has invited all Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture members to submit models of their own—it does provide a concrete example that helps ground his discussion throughout the book. (So a good way to begin The Learning Organization is to read the back material first.)

The discussion of the iterative nature of developing practice through theory, introspection, application, and after-action analysis in The Learning Organization is extensive. Each four-page-or-so section begins with a poignant premise; followed by a point-by-point explanation, often spiced with an equally thought-provoking quotation (“In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.”—Yogi Berra); and capped with a pithy conclusion and collection of questions.

The Learning Organization will not be the final word on this perennial topic of academy/practice debate. It is an excellent start on getting there, though.

—DEG

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