Five Disciplines (Senge)

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For Peter Senge (1990), change is teaming and learning is change. Thus, it is possible for organizations to learn to change because "deep down, we are all learners". In his book "The Fifth Discipline", Senge wants to destroy the illusion that the world is created out of separate, unrelated forces. When we give up this illusion, 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. Managers must learn to detect seven organizational 'learning disabilities' and use the "Five Disciplines" as antidotes to them.

The Five Disciplines of Senge

The five components in the model from Senge are:

1. Systems Thinking. The integrative (fifth) discipline that fuses the other 4 into a coherent body of theory and practice.

2. Personal Mastery. People must regard their life and their work such as an artist would regard a work of art.

3. Mental Models. Deeply ingrained assumptions or mental images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action.

4. Building Shared Vision. If there is a genuine vision, people excel and learn, not because they have to, but because they want to.

5. Team Learning. Team-members participate in true dialogue. They suspend their assumptions.

All these 5 disciplines must be employed in a never-ending quest to expand the capacity of the organization to create its future. Learning Organizations are those organizations that can go beyond survival learning, to perform generative learning: a form of learning that enhances their capacity to create.
 

Book: Peter Senge - The Fifth Discipline

Forum Forum discussions about the Five Disciplines. Below you can ask a question about this topic, share your experiences, report a new development, or explain something. Start a new topic about Five Disciplines Share your knowledge here (or ask a question)   More Factors than Learning in Organizations Let us think first in the present days of neck to neck competition, how far the models of 90s are suitable. Governments, in other words politicians, have become a strong force either to allow an organ... 14   Characteristics of a Learning Organisation What are the characteristics of a learning organisation?... 11   2 comments Hard But Sweet Nut to Crack Converting a conventional organization into a learning organization is a hard nut, but if cracked offers sweetness. A few dedicated young staff can take the initiative voluntarily and gradually others... 10   2 comments How to Become a Systems Thinker? How does one become a systems thinker? After reading The Fifth Discipline and getting interested in the subject I have read a number of books; some of which are mind blowingly complex! How have other ... 8   9 comments Pillars of the Five Disciplines Senge's five disciplines would not be well understood without considering the following critical pillars: values, guiding principles, personal experience, commitment and context.... 5   5 comments Learning Organizations in Social Services I am currently researching the application of the theories of Senge's 'Learning Organization' in the social services setting. I would love to gather input from anyone who has had experience in this ar... 4   4 comments Learning Organizations vs Social Media I think that we can develop a different point of view or a relationship between social media and learning organizations. Social media are changing budgets on marketing departments and the approach of ... 4   1 comments Aligning a Firm's Vision Statement to Peter Senge's Disciplines How can a firm's vision statement be crafted in line with Peter Senge's 5 disciplines? I want to have an insight on how this can be done to create a learning organisation.... 4   2 comments Does Senge's View of Systems Thinking Go Far Enough? In the 5th Discipline Senge outlines his views on systems thinking, when in reality this is only one dimension of the systems thinking concepts. I have come across many people who have read the 5th D... 3   3 comments Applying Mnemonic Tools Senge's 5th discipline offers a practicable tool leading to organizational learning and enhanced overall corporate relationships and performance. However, it fails to meet the dynamics of change and c... 2   2 comments Why creating Learning Organizations is hard According to Senge, transforming organizations into learning organizations is not easy, because managers have to surrender their traditional spheres of power and control to the people who are learning... 2   1 comments What are the Merits of Senge for Human Resources Development? What are the pros and cons of Senge's Learning Organization for Human Resources Development? Any help would be greatly greatly appreciated! Thanks.... 2   4 comments 🔥 NEW Applying Learning Organizations at Society Level Our technological progress is outpacing our social progress.We are caught in an evolutionary mismatch: Our technological progress is outpacing our social progress. The impact of robotics and artifici... 0

Best Practices The best, top-rated topics about the Five Disciplines. Here you will find the most valuable ideas and practical suggestions. 🥇 Turning an Organization into a Learning Organization I have worked on changing people's thinking. But, in organizational context, the turning point for converting a conventional style organization into a learning style is a subject of research for me. I... 29   38 comments 🥈 What are Mental Models? I understand how to use 4 disciplines but maybe somebody can explain me the mental models... Thanks...... 26   7 comments 🥉 Schools as a learning organisation Educational orgainsations also need to develop themselves to be learning organisations. This is mainly because of the changing in the aim of education Claxton (2002, p.46 and 2008) pointed out comm... 24   3 comments Three Levels in Senge's 5 Disciplines A ‘discipline’ is viewed by Senge as a series of principles and practices that we study, master and integrate into our lives. Each of the five disciplines can be approached at three levels: 1) PRACTI... 22   5 comments Summary of Senge's Ideas Senge can be summarized as follows: People should put aside their old ways of thinking (developing new mental models for the driving forces behind the organization's values and principles), learn to ... 21   What Skills do Employees Need in a Learning Organization? What skills or traits do employees / knowledge workers need in a learning organization?... 9   5 comments Skills of Leaders of Learning Organizations? What skills or traits do leaders or managers need in a Learning Organization?... 6   6 comments

Expert Tips Advanced insights about the Five Disciplines. Here you will find professional advices by experts. Building an Organizational Coaching Capacity Developing an Organizational Coaching Capacity, Learning Organization, Developing Coaching as an Organizational Capacity COACHING ON AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL In their book "Trillion Dollar Coach: Lessons for Managers", Google's Schmidt, Rosenber... Capturing Learned Lessons How to Capture Organizational Learning? Best Practices Knowledge from bad and good experiences will lead you and your organization to better future performance. You can improv... To What Extent are you a Learning Organization? Take this Test..., Benchmarking the Depth of Learning in your Organization Professors Garvin, Edmondson and Gino have developed an online assessment tool to determine and benchmark the depth of l...

Information Sources Various sources of information regarding the Five Disciplines. Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc. to use in your own lectures and workshops. Knowledge Management Between Fad and Relevance Knowledge Management Paper by Marin Fotache. Related to Learning Organization (Chris Argyris, Donald Schon, Peter Senge etc.), but establishe... Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning Models, Implementation, Overview, Examples An extensive presentation explaining both the concept of Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning by H. Gundogan... Organizational Learning and Senge's Five Diciplines Creating a Learning Organization Concise explanation of the five disciplines of Senge: - First, the concept of organizational learning is explained, in ... Introduction of Organizational Learning Initial Understanding of Organizational Learning Peter Senge explains that Organizational Learning is about how organizations work at their bests. It comes down to how p... Introduction to Organizational Learning and Learning Organizations Organizational Learning, Learning Organizations Presentation that gives a clear overview to the concept of Organizational Learning (OL). The following sections are incl... Five Disciplines Diagram Learning Organizations Download and edit this 12manage PowerPoint graphic for limited personal, educational and business use. Republishing in ...

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Compare with Senge's Five Disciplines:  Organizational Learning  |  Organizational Memory  |  System Dynamics  |  Theory of Mechanistic and Organic Systems  |  Fourteen Points of Management  |  Eight Attributes of Management Excellence  |  Ten Principles of Reinvention  |  Theory X Theory Y Theory Z  |  Business Process Reengineering

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