The Fifth Discipline The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization

1. The Fifth DisciplineThe Art & Practice of the Learning Organization By Peter M. Senge Jessica Mandrioli, Mary Schwartz & Josh Shipman SL5190

2. The Author: Peter M. Senge • American scientist and engineer schooled at Stanford and MIT • Received his M.S and PhD. From MIT in social systems and management where he is currently on the faculty • Founder of the Society for Organizational Learning • Became well known for his work in systems thinking and organizational development with the first publication of this book in 1996

3. When we give up the illusion (of the world created of separate forces) we can then build “learning organizations,” organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together.~ Peter Senge, 2006, p.3

4. Part I How Our Actions Create our Reality…and How We Can Change It Senge argues that we learn, from childhood, how to break problems into parts, in a sense, to “fragment the world (p.3).” Unfortunately, this makes us blind to seeing the world as a whole and makes it very difficult to see our fundamental influence on its systems. He uses this book to provide us the tools and ideas to tear down this mindset and offers a holistic view of complex human systems through five disciplines.

5. Senge’s Five Disciplines for Learning Organizations • Systems Thinking • “A conceptual framework to make patterns clear and to help us see how to change them effectively” (p.7). • Personal Mastery • “A discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively” (p.7). • Mental Models • A discipline of “turning the mirror inward; learning to unearth our internal pictures of the world, to bring them to the surface and hold them rigorously to scrutiny” (p.8).

6. Building Shared Vision • A discipline of “shared vision involves… unearthing shared pictures of the future that foster genuine commitment and enrollment rather than compliance” (p.9). • Team Learning • A discipline of “team learning starts with dialogue and enters into a genuine thinking together. Team learning is vital because teams, not individuals, are the fundamental learning unit in modern organizations” (p.10). • Senge argues that without these disciplines in place, many organizations suffer from “learning disabilities.”

7. The Laws of the Fifth Discipline In a complex human system: 1. Today’s problems come from yesterday’s “solutions.” Solutions that move problems to another part of the system are not really solutions. 2. The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back. Senge calls this “compensation feedback” –when initial efforts to improve or change backfire, we push harder, often worsening the problem.

8. 3. Behavior grows better before it grows worse. Interventions often make things appear better than they are in the short-term. The time delay between the short-term benefit and long-term effects of an intervention make it difficult to understand what really happened. 4. The easy way out usually leads back in. The “bigger hammer” syndrome of confronting difficult issues with comfortable, familiar solutions can produce even more problems. 5. The cure can be worse than the disease. Short-term solutions can lead to long-term dependency. Senge gives the U.S. welfare program as an example.

9. 6. Faster is slower. An organization's optimal growth rate is usually much slower than what is undertaken. Senge’s analogy of the outcome of this pace is the disease cancer. 7. Cause and effect are not closely related in space and time. But many organizations assume that they are closely related, looking for solutions in the immediate moment rather than taking a longer look at the nature of complex human systems.

10. 8. Small changes can produce big results – but the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious. In a large system, sometimes small, well-focused changes can make the greatest difference. Finding these “high-leverage” changes requires understanding the underlying structure of a system, rather than its events. 9. You can have your cake and eat it too – but not all at once. The “either-or” approach to dilemmas does not allow organizations to see past the moment. Patience and “process” thinking are required to see beyond the now to what is possible over time.

11. 10. Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants. “Living systems have integrity. Their character depends on the whole” (p.66). We must look at the whole system to understand the issues we face. Senge gives the example of the Sufi tale of the three blind men and the elephant. 11. There is no blame. Thinking about organizations through a systems view shows us that there is no “other.” We are all part of the system, therefore part of the problems and the solutions.

12. Part IIThe Core Disciplines: Building the Learning Organization Personal Mastery Mental Models Shared Vision Team Learning

13. Personal Mastery “Organizations learn only through individuals who learn” (p.139). We must live with creative tension; the gap between our vision and reality must drive us towards change rather than make us cynical (p. 150). We must not let deeply ingrained beliefs about our own unworthiness hold us back from pursuing our dreams (p. 156). Personal mastery involves keeping in mind what is important to us and seeing reality more clearly (p. 141). Personal mastery is not perfection; it is constant personal growth (p. 141). To foster personal mastery, an organization must provide “[a place] where it is safe for people to create visions, where inquiry and commitment to the truth are the norm, and where challenging the status-quo is expected…” (p. 172).

14. Mental Models “New insights fail to get put into practice because they conflict with deeply held internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting” (p. 174). Mental models, or images we carry in our minds about the world, shape how we act (p. 175). Mental models about what Americans looked for in cars (styling as opposed to quality and reliability) led to a downturn in purchases of Detroit-made automobiles (p. 178). During the 1970’s oil crisis, Royal Dutch/Shell overcame mental models and gained a competitive advantage over other oil companies who failed to predict the impending crisis (p. 178). “If managers ‘believe’ their world views are facts rather than sets of assumptions, they will not be open to challenging those world views” (p. 203).

15. Shared Vision “At its simplest level, a shared vision is the answer to the question, ‘What do we want to create?’” (p. 206). Shared visions inspire people to new heights of creativity (p. 207-208). A shared vision allows people who once mistrusted each other to work together (p. 208). A shared vision requires abandoning “top-down” management. The vision must emanate from the people, not the administration (p. 213). “Vision becomes a living force only when people truly believe they can shape their future. The simple fact is that most managers do not experience that they are contributing to creating their current reality” (p. 231). People must be “enrolled” in a shared vision. That is, they must be part of it by choice, not compulsion (p. 218).

16. Team Learning “Team learning is the process of aligning and developing the capacity of a team to create the results its members truly desire” (p. 236). Team learning involves many minds joining together to think critically about complex issues (p. 236). Team learning requires, above all, coordination among team members. Members must be able to count on each other. In addition, team members should understand how to engage in genuine dialogue, not just talking at each other. (p. 236). In team learning, one team fosters other teams (p. 236). “It cannot be stressed too much that team learning is a team skill. A group of talented individual learners will not necessarily produce a learning team, any more than a group of talented athletes will produce a great sports team” (p. 257).

17. Part IIIReal Life Lessons and Applications • Participative openness - speaking openly about one’s views (p. 260). • This could be a survey or focus group. • Fails because it allows a person to shift the blame instead of taking responsibility for their own action in a situation. • Reflective openness - speaking openly about one’s views and reflecting upon personal involvement while listening to others do the same • This could be a round table discussion or any face to face format • Is successful because it encourages individual accountability and allows for a sharing of viewpoints (p.261).

18. Why is Participative and Reflective Openness Important? It is important to constantly work to detect problems whether it be by participative or reflective openness in order to maintain balance in your program. The questions that you ask should always relate back to your purpose and vision statements. This is why it is so important to have them be clear, doable, and factual and why we spend so much time creating and perfecting them. Once you detect that there may be a problem, you must act on it immediately. If you do not, you impede the purpose of gathering the information in the first place. In other words, if you take too long to act upon the feedback people give you, then in the future they will be less likely to give you truthful feedback, if they give you any at all. What Does this Look Like in Real Life? You give a probing survey to your staff and identify a possible problem. You then decide to form a small group to discuss the survey and clarify what the problem really is. You ask the questions: who responded to the survey, did we ask the right question, should we probe further on this issue, do we need to gather more people to reflect upon this, what is your personal reaction, etc. Then you create an action plan and timeline. You keep careful notes in case you need to revisit this issue later on.

19. Where Do We Begin? “Knowledge is social. Knowledge is what we know how to do and we do things with each other”(p. 270). Collaboration is one of the most important aspect of building a learning organization. From our class discussion it seems as though one of the most difficult things for teachers to do is to find time to meet together to share ideas. Many turn to new technology for help. Senge realizes that “people are overwhelmed with information and that a problem can not be solved by just building better IT systems. It requires collaboration and systems thinking in the context of pervasive computing and real-time systems”(p. 276). Senge also understands that “people use technology to more often than not to perpetuate the same ideas instead of using it to create new ones”(p.325). If we never work together we will never gain new knowledge!

20. Under Promise and Over Deliver Sometimes you need to be stealth in making changes. Incorporate them slowly (p. 299). Start Somewhere, Anywhere Sometimes it is best to fly under the radar of the top management since they may not understand what you are doing and may view it as a threat. Don’t just continue to do something because that is the way that it has always been done(p. 285). Starting Where You Are “I always look for places where people view there to be impossibilities and that is where I first look to change things. I try to find a pressing public need”(p. 292). Becoming Bi-cultural “To be an effective manager you have to speak two languages. You have to be able to communicate to your bosses who may be top-down type of people and usually like hard facts and numbers and you also have to speak to your workers who need translation of what the numbers really mean to them in terms of passion and what they can DO to help the situation”(p. 296).

21. Build Your Community • When school staff get together and ask a simple question such as ,“What is good for the kids?” we find that new ideas abound(p. 307). It challenges people to think beyond their school walls and see their school as part of a larger community. Each school needs to create a time and even a space that fosters thought provoking questions that inspire teachers to challenge their current way of doing things. • We can gain more diversity in our view of education when we partner with community members. This is a “key lever for strategic change”(p. 311). • What Does this Look Like in Real Life? • Invite parents to participate in a library feedback group. • Create a school-wide project that helps an organization in your community. Invite people from that organization to visit your school’s library and talk to students about the organization. • Digitally connect to students across the globe.

22. Becoming a Leader • “New leaders are helpers, seed carriers, and connectors. They are vital for spreading new ideas and practices from one working group to another and between organizations and for connecting a innovative line leaders with one another. They build larger networks that diffuse successful innovations and important learning and knowledge”(p. 319). • “The real systems citizens are mostly under the age of twenty. More and more children growing up today have a perspective and awareness of the world as a whole that did not exist in the past. They see what is happening around the world and they naturally relate to other people and cultures differently. And they have deep concerns about their future. ”(p. 361). Many of us are in positions that work to help teachers integrate technology. If we can move teachers beyond plug and chug methods and have them work towards developing lessons rich in critical thought, then we will truly begin to tap the creative energy of this generation. We will prepare them to become global citizens. Keep an eye out for schools that are using the International Baccalaureate program which works to develop the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world.

23. References Senge, Peter M. (2006) The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Random House Publishers. Müller, Gerd A.T. (2004) Peter Senge Photo retrieved from http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Senge%2CPeter.jpg on September 27, 2008.