1. Senge’s Five Disciplines
Living System Ministry
Senge’s Five Disciplines
Understanding Senge’s Five Disciplines and their Relevance to Living Systems Ministry
© 2012 Emmanuel Gospel Center

2. Senge’s Five Disciplines
Personal mastery
Mental models
Shared vision
Team learning
Systems thinking
Who is Peter Senge and what is his contribution to systems thinking?
We now know that living systems are complex systems. We also know that people, families, churches, neighborhoods, and cities are all examples of living systems: they, too, are complex. Living Systems Ministry is about caring for God’s people and communities – including meeting their needs and addressing their problems. The Works Method can help us tackle simple and big systems issues. Yet needs and problems within complex, living systems are very different and require a completely different approach. You wouldn’t tend to a hungry or sick cat in the same way you would fix a broken toaster, would you?
A good place to start is with Senge’s Five Disciplines. Peter M. Senge is a world famous expert in organizational development and problem solving. His book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, explains why Personal Mastery, Mental Models, Shared Vision, Team Learning, and Systems Thinking are important to creating a learning organization. Because a living system is always adapting and changing, anyone trying to care for it must also be committed to learning and growing alongside. Senge’s Five Disciplines help us to concentrate on the skills necessary to understanding and engaging living systems well.
Here is a brief overview of Senge’s the Five Disciplines:
© 2012 Emmanuel Gospel Center

3. Personal Mastery Dedication to continuous focus, learning and growth
“Personal mastery is the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively.”[1] In other words, it means we have the commitment, motivation and persistence to gain knowledge and skills in any given situation because we are aware of our ignorance and shortcomings. This means we try to have an honest self-awareness about our strengths and weaknesses.
© 2012 Emmanuel Gospel Center 3

4. Mental Models
Ingrained assumptions that influence our understanding and actions.
Mental models “are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures of images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action." Whether or not we are consciously aware, we each see the world through lenses that include biases and prejudices. Mental models are powerful because they include such things as our values, culture, and experiences – even family norms and gender. They shape how we understand ourselves, other people, and the situations we face. Right or wrong, they also inform our decisions and actions. For these reasons and more, mental models – both our own and of others – are important to consider and try bring to surface.
© 2012 Emmanuel Gospel Center 4

5. Shared Vision
Unearthing shared ‘pictures of the future’ that foster genuine commitment and enrollment
“Shared vision involves the skills of unearthing shared ‘pictures of the future’ that foster genuine commitment and enrollment rather than compliance.” We cannot and do not serve or work alone in Living Systems Ministry. In order to meet the needs and address problems of living systems such as individuals, churches, and communities, we need to share the same values and goals with those we minister to and with. Otherwise, it can feel forced or, at worst, we end up imposing our mental models and customs of doing things in ways that are hurtful or harmful.
© 2012 Emmanuel Gospel Center 5

6. Team Learning
Suspending assumptions and genuinely thinking together (dialogue)
“Team learning starts with ‘dialogue,’ the capacity of members of a team to suspend assumptions and enter into a genuine, ‘thinking together.’” In other words, team learning is about practicing the first three disciplines of personal mastery, mental models, and shared vision in the context of an effective, healthy, and unified team. Teams are living systems and work best when there is strong understanding, relationship, and communication between and among their members.
© 2012 Emmanuel Gospel Center 6

7. Systems Thinking
Integrating all of the other disciplines into a holistic approach to understanding and acting
“Systems thinking is the fifth discipline. It is the discipline that integrates the disciplines, fusing them into a coherent body of theory and practice… By enhancing each of the other disciplines, it continually reminds us that the whole can exceed the sum of its parts.” Unlike a toaster, a cat cannot be broken down into its individual components to be fixed. Instead, the best way to meet a cat’s needs or heal it from sickness is to consider it as a whole and understand how its parts are highly interrelated and interdependent. In a similar way, systems thinking requires that we see and act holistically, challenging us to skillfully practice and combine the other four disciplines. We are called to question and break out of the Works Method approach to ministry. Systems thinking is the discipline and means by which we can effectively meet living systems’ needs and address their complex problems. Simply put, the foundation of Living Systems Ministry is systems thinking!
© 2012 Emmanuel Gospel Center 7

8. What are Senge’s Five Disciplines?
So…
What are Senge’s Five Disciplines?
The participants should now be able to answer this question.
KEY TEACHING POINTS:
Living Systems Ministry is about caring for God’s people and communities knowing that the Works Method cannot meet the needs or address the problems of living systems.
Senge’s Five Disciplines are:
Personal Mastery – we must set aside the time and energy necessary for our own on-going learning and personal growth
Mental Models – they are important to consider and bring to surface because they shape how we understand ourselves, other people, and the situations we face. Right or wrong, they inform our decisions and actions.
Shared Vision – in order to meet the needs and address problems of living systems, we need to share the same values and goals with those we minister to and with.
Team Learning – we need to practice the disciplines of personal mastery, mental models, and shared vision together in the context of effective, healthy, and unified teams.
Systems Thinking - a way of understanding and operating in the world as it truly is – highly interrelated and interconnected – by practicing and combining the disciplines of personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, and team learning.
Systems Thinking is the foundation to Living Systems Ministry:
It is more important to understand and engage relationships than individual parts or components alone.
It can enable us to see patterns and begin to understand how to influence positive change in the living systems to and within which we minister.  
© 2012 Emmanuel Gospel Center 8