Peter Senge’s Learning Organizations By Michelle Meyer Ngai & Katherine Davis
PhD graduate from MIT in Systems Management Founding chair of SoL (Society for Organizational Learning) 1990 wrote The Fifth Discipline
Systems Thinking interdependency and change focus on whole not individual parts long-term goals vs. short-term benefits better appreciation of systems leads to more appropriate action
Personal Mastery organizations learn only through individuals who learn never “arrive”; in continual learning mode strive to clarify and deepen personal vision deeply aware of growth areas and tension between vision and reality
Mental Models deeply ingrained assumptions and generalizations honest and critical scrutiny of entrenched mental models transcend mental models in order for change to take place
Shared Vision A genuine vision leads to people wanting to excel and learn Leaders must translate personal visions into shared visions Unearthing shared ‘pictures of the future’ that foster genuine commitment rather than compliance Leaders learn the counter-productiveness of trying to dictate a vision, no matter how heartfelt. (Senge 1990: 9)
Team Learning Team learning starts with ‘dialogue’= the capacity of members of a team to suspend assumptions and enter genuine ‘thinking together’ Allows the group to discover insights not attainable individually Shows group how to recognize the patterns of interaction that undermine learning (Senge 1990: 10)
A Learning Organization Is... Where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire Where new patterns of thinking are nurtured Where collective aspiration is set free Where people are continually learning to see the whole together “When you ask people about what it is like being part of a great team, what is most striking is the meaningfulness of the experience. People talk about being part of something larger than themselves, of being connected, of being generative.” (Senge 1990: 13)
Senge Video Clip Senge Interview Clip