The document discusses the key concepts of a learning organization as defined by Peter Senge in his book The Fifth Discipline. It outlines five disciplines that distinguish learning organizations: systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, and team learning. Systems thinking involves understanding interrelationships rather than linear cause-and-effect chains and looking for recurring cycles or "archetypes." Personal mastery is continually clarifying one's vision and focusing energy. The goal of a learning organization is for people to continually expand their capacity to create desired results together through nurturing new patterns of thinking.

1. The Learning
Organization

2. Learning Organization
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.

3. The Need
World is more complex, dynamic, and
globally competitive.
Requires more understanding,
knowledge, preparation, and agreement
than one person's expertise and
experience provides.

4. Five Disciplines
Systems thinking,
Personal mastery,
Mental models,
Shared vision
Team learning.

5. Goals
Understand the environment that calls for
change
Understand systems thinking
Understand possible effect of learning
organizations
Understand systems archetypes

6. Discipline
What will fundamentally distinguish learning
organizations from traditional controlling
organizations will be the mastery of certain
basic disciplines.

7. Systems Thinking
Based on system dynamics
Highly conceptual
Provides ways to understand complexity
Looks for repeating cycles (archetypes)
Includes explicit system modeling

8. A Shift in How we Think
Interrelationships rather than linear
cause-effect chains
Processes rather than snapshots

9. Feedback
How actions can reinforce or counteract
(balance) each other.
Learning to recognize recurring patterns
(archetypes)
Developing a shared language for
describing these patterns.

10. The Major Archetypes
Balancing Process with Delay
Limits to Growth
Shifting the Burden
Eroding Goals
Escalation
Success to the Successful
Tragedy of the Commons
Fixes that Fail
Growth and Underinvestment

11. Problem Solving
Immediate consequences keep us from
true seeing cause and effect.
We need methods to increase
understanding.
Find point in the cycle where effort is most
effective.

12. Personal Mastery
The discipline of . . .
continually clarifying and deepening our
personal vision
focusing our energies
developing patience
seeing reality objectively

13. Dr. Greg Waddell
Professor of Leadership Studies &
Course Designer
Email:
DrGregWaddell@gmail.com

14. The Fifth Discipline:
The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization
Peter Senge, 1994 - paperback edition. ISBN 0-385-26095-4
This presentation is based on the following resource: