peter senge "fifth discipline" book review - learning organization bible

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A M2MSys® Production

Mandatory Reading

The Arts & Practice of the Learning Organization

Review by: Filipe Pinto

M2Msys® Chief Architect and FounderPeter M. Senge 2003 Edition


What is the book about?In short: the Learning-Organization (LO)

an organization that is uses a management philosophy based on knowledge and understanding (not fear) for the COMPLEXITY of the real world.

opposes the dominant western management philosophy, which rewards short term decisions (reacting to events) based on preconceived ideas with little respect for past experience, that eventually lead to failure,

understands that ALL elements within the organization are connected and hence decisions impact different elements in a counter-intuitive fashion.

a status only achieved through the continuous study of 5 different disciplines( Personal Mastery, Mental Models, Team Learning, Shared Vision and Systems Thinking)


Part I (Chapters 1 – 3)Senge lays down his arguments for the necessity of the Learning Organization:

The Lever - inability to understand complexity and thus the ability to target specific points within the system to that would render tremendous efficiencies.

Learning disability - the seven learning disabilities (“I am my position”, ”The enemy is out there”, “The illusion of taking charge”, “The fixation on events”, “The parable of the boiled frog”, ”The delusion of learning from experience”, “The myth of the management team”

Prisoners of our Thinking - we are prisoners of our own thinking which is fueled by our lack of knowledge


Part 2 (Chapters 4-7)Senge introduces core concepts necessary for the

understanding of the Learning Organization:

Complexity Laws - the 11 Laws of the Fifth Discipline.

Feedback Loops – in the real world, every influence is

both a cause and an effect, and how not understanding it,

leads to an impossibility of understanding dynamic

complexity systems.

Templates – most organization scenarios follow partners

and Senge identifies the leverage points..

Seeing the forest and the trees – the case for People

Express Airlines, the succumbed for not being able to see

the forest.


Part 3 (Chapters 8-11)The author describes how to put in practice the Learning Organization

Personal Mastery – organizations learn through individuals. Personal mastery is one’s drive towards continuously improvement by learning.

Mental Models – the reason why “system’s thinking” project’s fail and the author explains by the ladder of inference.

Shared Vision - people have added commitment in a group by sharing images of the future they seek to create in common.

Team Learning – how dialogue and skillful discussion transforms teams to swarm and combine their energies and ability greater than the sum of individual members’ talents.


Part 4 (Chapters 12-17)Senge shares best practices from lessons learned from Learning Organizations building.

Foundations – good organizations, good people, and trends of collaboration, machine-learning and biologic systems. Evolving from transformers to growers

Impetuous – pursuing what matters to us, with people we care is reason behind those who advocate the learning organization.

Strategies – how to allow change to flourish

The Leaders New Work – The work of the leader in the Learning Organization

System Citizens – connectivity is allowing people to.

Frontiers – it’s impossible to change overnight.


Part 5 (Chapters 18)

The Indivisible Whole

“Nature (and that

include us) is not

made of parts within

wholes. It’s made of

wholes within

wholes”, pag. 382


Why is this a MUST read @ M2MSys? At M2MSys® we are experts on Complex Adaptive

Systems which are a sub-class of systems which are

able adapt and learn.

This book is a great introduction to

Complexity Theory and it does an exceptional

work mapping engineering to businessconcepts


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peter senge "fifth discipline" book review - learning organization bible

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