According to Peter M. Senge, a learning organization is “an 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”. It is an organization wherein there is continuous expanding of knowledge, people or businesses learning from one another and capacity to create for the betterment of its future. There should be continuous learning because time continues on going, not waiting for anyone, so we are the ones that should adapt to the changes occurring. To not be left behind in the business world, there should be adaptation and innovation, which would be a great competitive advantage. There are different reasons for the success and failure of businesses and one of the possible reasons for failure is that the company has become complacent and thought that they do not need to learn anything anymore, but that is wrong. A company should be ready to adjust to the whole business activity and also in the traditional operations. Senge believes that we are all learners and all we need to have a learning community is to be able to influence people to be committed and capable to learn at all levels.
Senge proposes five disciplines and states that it is important that the five disciplines develop as a whole because having to integrate all the five disciplines would really be beneficial for all and for the success of the business. He acknowledged that it is challenging to integrate several things all at the same time considering that a single discipline is not easy for companies to begin and do with.
2) What are the 5 disciplines/characteristics of a learning organization? Discuss and give examples for each.
Peter M. Senge constructed a framework of five disciplines, which are Systems Thinking, Personal Mastery, Mental Models,