The Fifth DisciplinePeter Senge

Srinath Ramakrishnan

Learning Organization

People continually expand their capacity to create

the results they truly desire

New and expansive patterns of thinking

are nurtured

Collective aspiration is set free

People are continually learning to see the

whole together

Learning organizations

In times of rapid change, only organizations 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

Besides having the structures, tools and practices in

place, it requires a fundamental shift of mind

among the members to embrace a learning

organization

Learning organizations

For a learning organization, it is not enough to

survive.

Survival learning or adaptive learning is necessary

For learning organizations, adaptive learning must

be joined by generative learning – that enhances

our capacity to create.

Learning Culture

A learning culture is one with organizational values,

systems and practices that support and encourage

both individuals, and the organization, to increase

knowledge, competence and performance levels on

an ongoing basis. This, in turn, promotes continuous

improvement and supports the achievement of

business goals, innovation and the ability to deal

with change.

5 disciplines of Learning Organizations

Personal Mastery

Mental Models

Team learning

Building Shared Vision

Systems Thinking

Personal mastery

Discipline of

continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision

Of focusing our energies

Of developing patience

Of seeing reality objectively

People with high level of personal mastery

Live in continual learning mode

Are acutely aware of their ignorance, their incompetence

and growth areas

Deeply self confident

Personal mastery

When we experience personal mastery, there is a

sense of effortless “flow” done with little conscious

effort

Involves a dual process of

Clarifying what is important and envisioning it vividly

Continually learning how to assess current reality in

relation to progressing towards that vision

Personal mastery

How do you do it?

Compare people’s individual’s visions with the vision of

the company

Identify and discuss behaviors that are personally and

professionally important to the success of the team

Educate the members on how the financials/ budgets

are determined and how they relate to meeting the

organization’s mission

Mental Models

Discipline of Mental Models

starts with 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.

Includes

the ability to carry on “learningful” conversations that balance inquiry and advocacy

Where people expose their own thinking effectively

Make that thinking open to the influence of others

Mental Models

Involves discerning the actual data that supports (or

doesn’t) the generalizations that we hold about the

world

Working on mental models requires openness and

honesty with ourselves and with others

Requires art of listening and inquiring

Walk the talk – learn about others and ourselves

through how well we integrate what we say with

what we do

Mental Models

If organizations are to develop capacity to work

with mental models then it will be necessary for

People to learn new skills and develop new

orientations

Fostering openness

Seeking to distribute business responsibly while

retaining coordination and control

Team Learning

When teams learn together, not only there will be good results for the organization, members will grow more rapidly than could have occurred otherwise

Discipline of team learning starts with a “dialogue”, the capacity of the members of a team to suspend assumptions and enter into a genuine “thinking together”.

On a qualitatively deeper level than simple team work or work in teams

it is getting to know how to create a space where people are able to relax, work hard, have fun, and creatively produce

Team Learning

When team learning exists, there is

A flow of information

Feedback freely given, eagerly accepted and valued

Generative thinking

Innovative problem solving

People learn to ask questions that help learning, not to make expert points

People learn how to inquire genuinely, with care, and advocate clearly with balance and data

Becoming comfortable with feedback builds trust, care, listening skills and integrity in how people talk with one another

Building a shared vision

Discipline for bringing into alignment the vision and

efforts of people organization wide

The practice of shared vision involves the skills of

unearthing shared “pictures of the future” that

foster genuine commitment and enrollment rather

than compliance.

Where there is a genuine vision, people excel and

learn, not because they are told to, but because

they want to.

Creating a shared vision

Telling : “this is the vision of what the orgzn is going to look like 2 years from now”

Selling: “the leader attempts to enroll people in the vision, enlisting as much as commitment as possible”

Testing: “the leader needs to find out how enthusiastically members support and accept the vision”

Consulting: “enlisting the support of the members to make the vision stronger – the boss as a consultant

Co-Creating: “members begin to work for what they want to build … creating a future that we individually and collectively want”

Systems thinking

Discipline that integrates the others, fusing them into

a coherent body of theory and practice

Way of seeing the connections, links or relationships

between things

Process for understanding the interrelationships

among key components of a system such as

hierarchical relations, process flow, attitudes and

perceptions, product quality, sales, production, cash

flow, customer service, delivery, R&D etc

Systems thinking

Comprehend and address the whole and examine the

interrelationships between the parts , which were

previously thought to be unrelated variables

Use feedback loops, reinforcing loops and balancing

mechanisms to maps the desired systems and the

outcomes

Mapping and analyzing at the systems level allow a

careful tracking of factors affecting inputs, processes,

output and outcomes that might otherwise have

remained invisible or misunderstood

Systems Thinking

Systems view point generally oriented towards long

term view – hence delays and feedback loops are

important

Can be ignored in the short run, they come back to

haunt you in the long term

Eg cut in advertising budgets cost savings

Little impact in the short run, in the long term

decline in visibility will impact sales

Thank you