Fifth Discipline

Book Review
Senge Peter M. The Fifth Discipline. The Art & Practice of Learning Organization. Currency Doubleday. 2006.
P.S.- senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the founder of Society for Original Learning (SoL). He is widely known as one of the most innovative thinkers about management and leadership in the world.
Comment. Henry.
I would use the metaphor of a visit to an art gallery to describe the reading of this book. Appreciation was a delight, comprehension was a challenge. It was a delight to run into a retired executive from the pulp and paper industry on the golf course (yesterday) who was a practitioner of the learning organization that is being described in this book. My son, who is doing a course on this topic, put me on to this resource. The evolution of the learning organization is a global phenomenon.
“The organizations that will truly excel in the future will be the organizations that discover how to tap people’s commitment and capacity to learn at all levels in an organization” (4) (For me this statement summarizes what this book is all about.) There are five “new component technologies” (6) that characterize learning organizations: “Systems thinking, personal mastery, mental modes, building shared vision and team learning”. (6-9) Systems thinking integrates all the disciplines and is therefore labelled the “Fifth Discipline”.
Organizations have learning disabilities. This is illustrated by the “beer game” (27) involving problems that are encountered between retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers (brewery). There are “eleven laws of the fifth discipline”. (57) Systems thinking is “a shift of mind from seeing parts to seeing the whole, from seeing people as helpless reactors to seeing them as active participants in shaping their reality”. (69) “The essence of the discipline of systems thinking lies in a shift of mind: seeing interrelationships rather than linear cause-effect chains and processes of change rather than snapshots.” (73)
When the building-blocks of systems thinking are put to proper use a “systems archetype” (93) is developed. “Self-limiting or self-sustaining growth” (113) is part of the fifth discipline.
The discipline of personal mastery is examined as it relates to personal vision and structural conflict. Personal mastery must be an ongoing goal and must be committed to diligent truth telling.
Mental modes shape our perceptions of reality. They are formed through “openness and merit”. (173) “Reflective practice is the essence of the discipline of mental modes”. (177)
“A shared vision (fourth discipline) is- a force in people’s hearts, a force of impressive power.” (192) Shared visions are built on personal visions. They are not built from the top down. There are some hazards that hinder shared visions. “Systems thinking reveals how we have created what we currently have” (214) re: shared vision.
Organizational learning is built on team learning. Dialogue and discussion are fundamental to team learning. David Bohm is a significant contributor when it comes to explaining how team learning functions. “In great teams conflict becomes productive. Defensive routines” (232) must be dealt with to make conflict productive. “Practice” (240) must be an activity of team learning.
Since learning organizations are built on relationships they must be viewed as “living systems”. (271) “Practices, skills and capabilities, awareness and sensibilities, beliefs and assumptions are elements of a deep learning cycle.” (284) Learning must include both action and reflection over an appropriate time frame.
Building organizational learning capabilities is all about leadership are various levels. “Organizations grounded in systems thinking and related disciplines can make a difference” (349) regarding the global energy system.
What about the future? Women and youth as pools of leadership will become more significant. Profound change will come to our planet through “opening the head, opening the heart, and opening the will” (372)