An ability and willingness to openly assess fundamental beliefs and organisational design is required to become a learning organisation. Old paradigms that embed systems of control through multidivisional forms (M-form organisations) have been shown to be inadequate for effectively adapting to complex systems and issues. In environments subject to rapid change and surprise events, the learning organisation (L-form) is much greater suited to the necessary skills of integration, knowledge transfer and reflexive analysis. However, becoming a learning organisation requires much more than simply adding a few ‘learning’ elements to a M-form organisation such as creating new teams, benchmarking initiatives or some experimental processes. Rather than focusing on a few components or processes, becoming an L-form organisation demands a much deeper evaluation of organisational design and the values behind this design. The L-form is a participatory approach, and this article identifies two types of learning; adaptive learning (what is being learned) and generative learning (how learning takes place). The combination of both the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of learning is seen to provide a double loop learning mechanism. As the learning organization evolves, it becomes a teaching organization in which all actors are engaged in both learning and teaching.