The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization
Part I
“Give Me a Lever Long Enough …and Single-handedly I Can Move the World”
? From a very early age, we are taught to break apart problems, to fragment the world
? The tools and ideas that are presented in this book are for destroying the illusion that the world is created of separate, unrelated forces
? As the world becomes more interconnected and business becomes more complex and dynamic, work must become more “learningful”
? Learning organizations are possible because, deep down, we are all learners. No one has to teach an infant to learn.
? Most of us at one time or another have been part of a great “team,” a group of people who functioned together in an extraordinary way—and who produced extraordinary results
? What fundamentally will distinguish learning organizations from traditional authoritarian “controlling organizations” will be the mastery of certain basic disciplines. That is why the “disciplines of the learning organization” are vital.
Disciplines of the Learning Organization
? Engineers say that a new idea has been “invented” when it is proven to work in the laboratory. The idea becomes an “innovation” only when it can be replicated reliably on a meaningful scale at practical costs
? The DC-3, for the first time, brought together five critical component technologies that formed a successful ensemble:
? Variable-pitch propeller
? Retractable landing gear
? A type of lightweight molded body construction called “monocque”
? Radial air-cooled engine
? Wing flaps
The Five Disciplines
? Systems Thinking
? You can only understand the system of a rainstorm by contemplating the whole
? Personal Mastery
? Continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively
? Mental Models
? Deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures or images that influence how we