A typology of the idea of 'learning organization' is developed and presented. The typology is inductively created and based on how the term 'learning organization' is used in the literature and by practitioners. Four distinct hypes of understanding were found: 'organizational learning, 'learning at work, 'learning climate' and 'learning structure'. The same types of understanding seem to appear both in the literature and in accounts made by practitioners. Thus the term 'learning organization' is probably not unduly confusing to the practitioners. Instead, the different versions of the idea in the literature seem to give companies the opportunity to choose a version suitable for their specific situation.