Five Principles of Learningby Peter Senge

March 27 2012

Learning organisationAccording to Peter Senge learning organisation are:

…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 to see the whole together.

Learning organisationThe basic rationale is that in situations of rapid change only those that are flexible, adaptive and productive will excel.

For this to happen organizations need to ‘discover how to tap people’s commitment and capacity to learn at all levels’

Learning organisationPeter Senge identifies five principles of learning that are said to be converging to innovate learning organizations.

They are:• Systems thinking• Personal mastery• Mental models• Building shared vision• Team learning

Personal MasteryOrganizations learn only if individual employees who learn.

Individual learning is a necessary, through not sufficient condition for organizational learning.

But without it no organizational learning occurs

Personal MasteryPersonal mastery is the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively

It goes beyond competence and skills, although it involves them.

Mastery is seen as a special kind of proficiency but it is not about dominance, but rather about calling.

Personal MasteryPeople with a high level of personal mastery live in a continual learning mode. They never ‘arrive’.

It is a process. It is a lifelong discipline.

People with a high level of personal mastery are acutely aware of their ignorance, their incompetence, their growth

areas. And they are deeply self-confident.

Personal Mastery

The discipline entails developing:– personal vision; – holding creative tension – recognizing structural tensions and

constraints– and our own power (or lack of it) – a commitment to truth– using the sub-conscious

Personal MasteryPersonal Vision

– What do you want in life?– Where do you see yourself in society?

Personal MasteryPersonal Vision

– Real vision cannot be understood in isolation from the idea of purpose

– For example: Do you want to be rich?

Personal MasteryPersonal Vision

The ability to focus on ultimate intrinsic desires, not only secondary goals (like having money or material goods) is the corner stone of personal mastery

Personal MasteryVision is different from purpose.

Purpose is similar to a direction. Vision is specificdestination. Purpose is abstract. Vision is concrete.

Vision is intrinsic not relative. It is something you desire for its intrinsic value.

It is also takes courage to hold to one’s vision especially if the vision is not in mainstream of society.

Personal MasteryHolding creative tensionThe essence of personal mastery is learning how to generate and sustain creative tension in our lives.

The gap between vision and current reality is a source of creative energy.

If there is no gap, there would be no need for any action to move toward the vision.

Personal MasteryHolding creative tensionCreative tension = the gap between the goals and the

current reality, negative emotion may also arise.

It is the force that comes into play at the moment when we acknowledge a vision that is odds with the current reality.

Personal MasteryHolding creative tensionStill, like regular tension, creative tension also creates tension, anxiety, hopelessness called emotional tension

So what do people do?

Personal MasteryHolding creative tension

To release this tension, the lower the vision. It is the easiest thing to do and give us instant relieve.

By saying, “It was not important to run a mile in one minute. I was too ambitious.” Or something like that.

Personal MasteryHolding creative tension

Emotional tension can often be relief by adjusting one of the poles – current reality or vision.

Usually, we lower the vision as it is under our control and changing reality take time.

The price we pay is to abandoning what we really and truly want, our vision.

Personal MasteryIn organisation, goals are eroded because of low tolerance for emotional tension.

Nobody wants to be the carrier of bad news.

So what do they do? Pretend there is no bad news or better yet, declare victory – to redefine the bad news as not so bad by lowering the standard.

Somerset Maugham said – Only mediocre people are always at their best.

Personal MasteryOn the other hand, when we understand creative tension and we do not lower our vision, we can use it as an active force.

Truly creative people use the gap between vision and current reality to generate the energy.

Perseverance and courage are needed.

Personal MasteryMost of the time we may not reach our vision but the journey to reach our vision usually generates positive outcomes.

For example:

Intel’s wish to maintain DRAM leadership. Though they drop out of the DRAM race, their efforts led them to create other positive outcomes like microprocessors.

Personal MasteryFor example:

Alan Kay of Xerox had a vision of an electronic book called Dynabook that allowed children to be interactive with the story in 1970s.

But he failed.

However, his research led to the creation of icons and menus which was later used to transform PC with the use of Apple Mac or windows in PC.

Personal MasteryIt is not what the vision is, it is what the vision does.

Having failed or failure leads to learning. Failure is simply a shortfall, evidence of the gap between vision and current reality.

Failure is an opportunity for learning – about inaccurate picture of current reality, about strategies that did not work as expected, about the clarity of the vision.

Ed Land, founder of Polaroid had this on his wall– A mistake is an event, the full benefit which has not yet been turned to your advantage.

Personal MasteryMastery of creative tension beings out a capacity for perseverance and patience. It leads to a fundamental shift in our posture towards reality.

Current reality becomes the ally not the enemy.

An accurate, insightful view of current reality is as important as a clear vision.

Personal MasteryFor example:The manner US people do business and Japanese do business. US arriving in Japan has a tight schedule to meet.

They need to do this and that at a certain time. Therefore, time is the enemy.

Whereas Japanese, take their time, drink tea, karaoke enjoy before talking about business. To them.. time is a friend.

Personal MasteryWhat would you do if you had a life of absolutely no

problems?

Personal MasteryWhat would you do if you had a life of absolutely no problems? Most will say “change it”.

Therefore, this shows, people don’t resist change. They resist being change.

The truly creative person knows that all creating is achieved through working with constraints. Without constraints there is no creating. – Robert Fritz.

Personal Mastery

Structural conflictRead this:

I can create my life exactly the way I want in alldimensions – work, family, relationship, community and the larger world

Personal Mastery

Structural conflictYour belief in powerlessness and unworthiness. This is what is known as structural conflict.

It is our own limitation. Our own self worthlessness.

Structural conflictCreative Tension

Personal Mastery3 strategies to over come this

– Let the negativeness erode the goals.– Conflict manipulation – we try to manipulating

ourselves into greater efforts by creating artificial conflicts.

For example, the manager may give motivationalspeech saying how dire the company will be if we don’t succeed. Therefore, we must work harder etc.

Boss provides a negative vision to manipulate the staff to work harder to avoid it (negative reinforcement).

Personal Mastery

3 strategies to over come this– Willpower.

Most successful people use this. Persevere and patience and endurance.

Will power gets stronger when we believe in our vision and ourselves.

Personal Mastery

Commitment to truth• In order to begin to deal with our structural

conflict, we simply must learn to tell the truth.

• By committing to truth, we tend to be more realistic of a situation.

• We recognise our shortcomings and our position.

Personal MasteryCommitment to truth

It means continually broadening our awareness, removing our limits and to continually challenge our theories of why things are the way it is.

It also means continually deepening our understanding of

the structures underlying current events.

Personal MasteryCommitment to truth

The power of truth, seeing reality more and more as it is, cleansing the lens of perception, awakening from self-

imposing distorting of.

Personal MasterySubconscious• It is through our all of us deal with complexity.

• What distinguishes people with high levels of personal mastery is they have developed a higher level of rapport between their normal awareness and their subconscious.

• What most of us take for granted, they approach it as a discipline.

• Like driving a car. We train our subconscious through practise.

Characteristics of People Expressing Personal Mastery

1 Creative Orientation

2 Deep sense of purpose

3 Ability to seek and tell the truth

4 Courage of Conviction and Ability to Choose

5 Awareness and expression of natural curiosity

6 Commitment to continuous lifelong learning

7 Ability to be self aware and reflect and adjust in the moment

REACTIVE CREATIVE

Life Happens to me ! I Make Life Happen !

Fundamental Orientation:

Fundamental Orientation:

Creative Tension

Key Points

1 Mind is the Key !

2 Some ways of thinking are more powerful than others.

3 Focus on the Results.

The Hay Model: How Managerial Excellence is Achieved

OrganizationalPerformance

IndividualCompetencies

JobRequirements

ManagerialStyle

OrganizationalClimate

Personal MasterySummary

This is why people committed to continually developing personal mastery practice.

They have strong focus on the desired result that they want or their vision.

Focusing on the desired intrinsic result is a skill. It takes time and patience to develop. It takes discipline.

Hence continuous practise or learning will led to personal mastery.