Peter senge systems thinking book

book by Peter Senge

Author	Peter Senge
Language	English
Publisher	Currency
Publication date	(first edition) (second edition)
Publication place	United States
ISBN	(first edition)ISBN&#;(second edition)
OCLC

The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization is a book by Peter Senge (a senior lecturer at MIT) focusing on group problem solving using the systems thinking method in order to convert companies into learning organizations that learn to create results that matter as an organization.

The five disciplines represent classical approaches (theories and methods) for developing three core and timeless learning capabilities: fostering aspiration, developing reflective conversation, and understanding complexity.^[1]

Content

The Five Disciplines

The five disciplines of what the book refers to as a "learning organization" discussed in the book are:

1. "Personal mastery is a discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively."^[2]
2. "Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures of images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action."^[2]
3. "Building shared vision - a practice of unearthing shared pictures of the future that foster genuine commitment and enrollment rather than compliance."^[2]
4. "Team learning starts with 'dialogue', the capacity of members of a team to suspend assumptions and enter into genuine 'thinking together'."^[2]
5. "Systems thinking - The Fifth Discipline that integrates the other four."^[2]

Senge describes extensively the role of what he refers to as "mental models," which he says are integral in order to "focus on the openness needed to unearth shortcomings" in perceptions.

The book also focuses on "team learning" with the goal of developing "the skills of groups of people to look for the larger picture beyond individual perspectives." In addition to these principles, the author stresses the importance of "personal mastery" to foster "the personal motivation to continually learn how [] actions affect [the] world."^[2]

The Learning Disabilities

In addition to "disciplines," which Senge suggests are beneficial to what he describes as a "learning organization," Senge also posits several perceived deleterious habits or mindsets, which he refers to as "learning disabilities."^[2]

1. "I am my position."
2. "The enemy is out there."
3. The Illusion of Taking Charge
4. The Fixation on Events
5. The Parable of the Boiling frog
6. The Delusion of Learning from Experience
7. The Myth of the Management Team

The 11 Laws of the Fifth Discipline

1. Today's problems come from yesterday's "solutions."
2. The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back.
3. Behavior grows better before it grows worse.
4. The easy way out usually leads back in.
5. The cure can be worse than the disease.
6. Faster is slower.
7. Cause and effect are not closely related in time and space.
8. Small changes can produce big resultsbut the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious.
9. You can have your cake and eat it too but not all at once.
10. Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants.
11. There is no blame.

The Architecture of a Learning Organization

How do we learn to create learning organizations?

[Extracted from the TFD Fieldbook, pg A compelling essay on the conceptual map to guide your own decisions on how to proceed to build Learning Organisations by Dr. Peter Senge]

How do you know what to do first, second, or third in thinking strategically about building learning organizations?

At its core, learning organizations build great teams – the trust, the relationships, the acceptance, the synergy, and the results that they achieve.

It has a strong ability to learn, adjust and change in response to new realities. It can alter functions and departments when demanded by changes in the work environment or by poor performance.

Peter senge systems thinking definition Araujo and J. Authority control databases. JSTOR Particular systems [ edit ].

The distinguishing characteristics of a learning organization include a learning culture, a spirit of flexibility and experimentation, people orientation, continuous system-level learning, knowledge generation and sharing, and critical, systemic thinking.

When we look more closely at the development of such teams, we see that people are changed, often profoundly.

There is a deep learning cycle.

Team members develop new skills, and capabilities which alter what they can do and understand. As new capabilities develop, so too do new awareness and sensibilities. Over time, as people start to see and experience the world differently, new beliefs and assumptions begin to form, which enables further development of skills and capabilities.

Peter senge systems thinking However, we can make some judgements about the possibilities of his theories and proposed practices. Here we will look at the three aspects of leadership that he identifies — and link his discussion with some other writers on leadership. We discuss the five disciplines he sees as central to learning organizations and some issues and questions concerning the theory and practice of learning organizations. The book's premise is that too many businesses are engaged in endless search for a heroic leader who can inspire people to change.

This deep learning cycle constitutes the essence of a learning organization – the development not just of new capacities, but of fundamental shifts of mind, individually and collectively. The five basic learning disciplines are the means by which this deep learning cycle is activated. Sustained commitment to the disciplines keeps the cycle going.

When this cycle begins to operate, the resulting changes are significant and enduring.

Fifth discipline peter senge systems thinking As we have seen there are very deep-seated reasons why this may have been the case. The sort of know-how that Leadbeater is talking about here cannot be simply transmitted. Senge At the same time he has been able to mediate these so that they can be worked on and applied by people in very different forms of organization.

The real work of building learning organizations occurs within a "shell", an architecture. What makes up the architecture?

- Guiding Ideas. - Theory, methods, and tools.

Peter senge There are also psychological and social barriers. Peter Senge, while making use of individual case studies, tends to the latter orientation. List Principia Cybernetica. If you can get it through to people on this level, further individual developments will occur in the varied directions of the interested parties, It is a wonderful new worldview, the birth of sanity I would say.

- Innovations in infrastructure.

Without guiding ideas, there is no passion, no overarching sense of direction or purpose.

Without theory, methods, and tools, people cannot develop the new skills and capabilities required for deep learning.

Without innovations in infrastructure, inspiring ideas and powerful tools lack credibility because people have neither the opportunity nor resources to pursue their visions or apply the tools.

Peter senge systems thinking pdf

Peter senge learning organization pdf

Laws of systems book

Peter senge personal mastery

Leaders intent on developing learning organizations must focus on all three of the architectural design elements. Without all three, the triangle collapses.

Reception

In , Harvard Business Review identified The Fifth Discipline as one of the seminal management books of the previous 75 years.^[3]

See also

References

External links