learning organization

Vasudevan Fifth discipline

1

PhD graduate from

MIT in Systems

Management

Founding chair of

SOL (Society for

Organizational

Learning)

1990 wrote The

Fifth Discipline

2Vasudevan Fifth discipline

3


Vasudevan Fifth discipline 4

*Systems Thinking

Interdependency and change

Focus on whole not individual parts

Long-term goals vs. Short-term

benefits

Better appreciation of systems

leads to more appropriate action


5


*Personal Mastery

Organizations learn

only through

individuals who learn.

Strive to clarify and

deepen personal

vision.

Deeply aware of

growth areas and

Tension between

Vision and Reality


*Mental Models

Deeply ingrained

assumptions and

generalizations

Honest and critical

scrutiny of entrenched

mental models

Transcend mental

models in order for

change to take place


*Shared Vision

A genuine vision leads to

people wanting to excel and

learn

Leaders must translate

personal visions into shared

visions

Unearthing shared ‘pictures of

the future’ that foster genuine

commitment rather than

compliance

Leaders learn the counter-

productiveness of trying to

dictate a vision, no matter how

heartfelt.

(Senge 1990: 9)


*Team Learning

Team learning starts with

‘dialogue’= the capacity of

members of a team to

suspend assumptions and

enter genuine ‘thinking

together’

Allows the group to

discover insights not

attainable individually

Shows group how to

recognize the patterns of

interaction that undermine

learning

(Senge 1990: 10)

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*A Learning Organization Is...

Where people continually expand

their capacity to create the results

they truly desire

Where new patterns of thinking are

nurtured

Where collective aspiration is set

free

Where people are continually

learning to see the whole together

“When you ask people about what it

is like being part of a great team,

what is most striking is the

meaningfulness of the experience.

People talk about being part of

something larger than themselves,

of being connected, of being

generative.”

(Senge 1990: 13)


*Senge Video Clip

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