A learning organization is one that continually adapts and learns in order to respond to changes in the environment and to grow successfully. more →
In 1990, Peter Senge’s book The Fifth Discipline and its description of learning organizations offered a means to increase organizational capacity and creativity. The idea of a learning organization
…where people can 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.…
began to wield influence in the boardrooms of corporate America (and education circles). In it, learning assumes a central role in expanding our capacity to react in the world and make decisions:
Real learning gets to the heart of what it means to be human. Through learning we re-create ourselves. Through learning we become able to do something we never were able to do. Through learning we reperceive the world and our relationship to it. Through learning we extend our capacity to create, to be part of the generative process of life. There is within each of us the deep hunger for this type of learning. This, then, is the basic meaning of a “learning organization” — an organization that is continually expanding its capacity to create its future “generative learning”, learning that enhances our capacity to create.
Senge’s (1999, p. 32) ensemble of five disciplines of organizational learning offer a means to share our perceptions of the world:
Personal Mastery. The essence of personal mastery is “continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively” (p. 7). It is the tension between personal vision and assessed reality expands our ability to make better choices.
Shared Vision: Shared vision is a force of “impressive power” that emerges when people share a common purpose.
Mental Models. These are the deeply held images we hold about the world around us, which in shape how we act. Developing an awareness of these perceptions changes the way we think and create new ideas.
Team Learning. Senge notes that “teams, not individuals, are the fundamental learning unit in modern organizations” (p. 10). It is the dialogue among the members of the team which results in stretching the ability of the organization to grow and develop. Team learning is the process of aligning and developing the capacity of a team.
Systems Thinking: Systems thinking is oriented to looking at the interrelatedness of forces, and seeing them as part of a common process of a system. Better understanding of interdepencies and help us better understand the forces that lead to more effective changes to the system.
There is an underlying assumption in all this: For learning team collaboration and personal reflection to take place, there must be some degree of personal mastery to attain an awareness of both vision and reality, and the thinking skills to mediate the differences in these views.
Reading List
To read
Recommended
You have better things to do
Argyris, C. and D. A. Schon (1996). Organizational Learning II.
Brown, J., D. Isaacs, World Cafe Community (2005). The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter.
DiBella, A. J. and E. C. Nevis (1998). How Organizations Learn : An integrated strategy for building learning capability.
Kahane, A. (2004). Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities.
Learning Organizations
A learning organization is one that continually adapts and learns in order to respond to changes in the environment and to grow successfully. more →
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reading lists, systems thinking
In 1990, Peter Senge’s book The Fifth Discipline and its description of learning organizations offered a means to increase organizational capacity and creativity. The idea of a learning organization
began to wield influence in the boardrooms of corporate America (and education circles). In it, learning assumes a central role in expanding our capacity to react in the world and make decisions:
Senge’s (1999, p. 32) ensemble of five disciplines of organizational learning offer a means to share our perceptions of the world:
There is an underlying assumption in all this: For learning team collaboration and personal reflection to take place, there must be some degree of personal mastery to attain an awareness of both vision and reality, and the thinking skills to mediate the differences in these views.
Reading List