Book excerpt: Learning and performing profoundly affect our results and actions. Yet getting the balance right is a challenge to individuals and organisations. While performing is about meeting the demands placed upon us, learning expands our capacity to meet future demands. Everyday successes and failures are shaped by the way we balance learning and performing. More than just actions, balance involves a set of values that are fundamental to the successful operation of organisations. These values are key dimensions around which organisational cultures form. Unfortunately, achieving balance is like a dance going wrong in organisations around the world: we have been following the same pattern for so long that we are now struggling to establish better ways of going about it.This intriguing book is a collection of essays from leading consultants, practitioners and scholars offering practical approaches, fresh insights and strategies to proposed solutions for sustained organisational growth and competitive advantage. The book explains the nature of the learning and performance OC danceOCO and its importance to organisations today, and is an indispensable resource for managing the dilemmas and tensions faced by individuals and organisations.