Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to answer two interrelated questions: "Who learns and how in the learning organization?". By implication, many theories of the learning organization are addressed that are based on a static and erroneous separation of individual and collective. Design/methodology/approach: Four episodes from a larger case study exemplify the theoretical arguments. These were based on a longitudinal ethnographic study of a salmon hatchery and the public-sector organization to which the former was accountable. Conceptual framework is strongly dialectical: in their actions individuals concretely reproduce the organization and, when actions vary, realize it in novel forms; organizations therefore presuppose individuals that concretely produce them. However, without an organization, there would be no aim or orientation to individual actions to speak of in the first instance. Findings: The paper finds that individuals learn, through the production of socio-material resources, notions of organizations which are not abstract. These resources increase action possibilities for the collective, whether realized concretely or not. Expansive learning in individuals is co-constitutive of learning in organizations and decreasing interest in individual learning constitutes decreased levels of action possibilities for the collective. Research limitations/implications: The paper shows that using this framework, it becomes problematic to separate individual and collective learning. Originality/value: The paper shows that access to participation by all members is a key component as are affordances given by the organization for the development of individuals.