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five disciplines of organizational learning as published
in
The Dance of Change. Each of the five
disciplines represents a lifelong body of study and
practice for individuals and teams in organizations.
1. Personal
Mastery
This discipline of aspiration involves formulating a
coherent picture of the results people most desire to
gain as individuals (their personal vision), alongside a
realistic assessment of the current state of their lives
today (their current reality). Learning to cultivate the
tension between vision and reality (represented in this
icon by the rubber band) can expand people?s capacity to
make better choices, and to achieve more of the results
that they have chosen. |
2. Mental Models
This discipline of reflection and inquiry skills is
focused around developing awareness of the attitudes and
perceptions that influence thought and interaction. By
continually reflecting upon, talking about, and
reconsidering these internal pictures of the world,
people can gain more capability in governing their
actions and decisions. The icon here portrays of the
more powerful principles of this discipline, the ?ladder
of inference? depicting how people leap instantly to
counterproductive conclusions and assumptions. |
3. Shared Vision
This collective discipline establishes a focus on mutual
purpose. People learn to nourish a sense of commitment
in a group or organization by developing shared images
of the future they seek to create (symbolized by the eye),
and the principles and guiding practices by which they
hope to get there. |
4. Team Learning
 This
is a discipline of group interaction. Through techniques
like dialogue and skillful discussion, teams transform
their collective thinking, learning to mobilize their
energies and ability greater than the sum of individual
members? talents. The icon symbolizes the natural
alignment of a learning-oriented team as the flight of a
flock of birds. |
5. Systems Thinking
In this discipline, people learn to better understand
interdependency and change, and thereby to deal more
effectively with the forces that shape the consequences
of our actions. Systems thinking is based upon a growing
body of theory about the behavior of feedback and
complexity-the innate tendencies of a system that lead
to growth or stability over time. Tools and techniques
such as systems archetypes and various types of learning
labs and simulations help people see how to change
systems more effectively, and how to act more in tune
with the larger processes of the natural and economic
world. The circle in this icon represents the
fundamental building block of all systems: the circular
?feedback loop? underlying all growing and limiting
processes in nature. Senge, P. M., Charlotte
Roberts, Rick Ross, George Roth, Bryan Smith, and Art
Kleiner (1999). The Dance of Change: The challenges of
sustaining momentum in learning organizations. New York,
Currency/Doubleday. Page 32 |
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