Examples of conscious integration of learning organization principles into Marketing are scarce. We’re just starting to acknowledge that we’re behind other organizational functions in our learning process.

1. Building Upon the 5Ts of Marketing Operations:
Applying Learning Organization Insights to Leverage “The Power of 18”
By Gary Katz
With her the introduction of her “5Ts of Marketing Operations” model last fall, my colleague
Adrian Ott gave us a vision of marketing that has evolved beyond the fundamental 5Ps (Product,
Price, Place and Promotion with Positioning added for the purpose of this article) and 3Cs
(Customers, Competitors, Corporation).
Interestingly, add the 5Ts, 5Ps and 3Cs together and the sum is 13, the age Jewish and some
African cultures consider the entry into adulthood.
Enterprises that have invested in dedicated Marketing Operations functions are much like the
Bar/Bat Mitzvah. They’ve completed an important rite of passage, but have much to learn before
reaching a level of maturity.
Learning is the operative word when it comes to maturity. The ability of an organization to learn
– to become a learning organization – is fundamental to its long-term development. In 1990, MIT
Sloan School of Management’s Peter Senge rocked the business world with his visionary book,
“The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization.”
Senge’s Influence on Organizations Hasn’t Translated to Marketing
Though the buzz of the learning organization has lost some steam after the dot-com implosion
and 9/11, one can still find Senge’s influence in subsequent published works and today’s
management lexicon, as well as in practice in some highly successful global organizations.
Difficult to find, however, are examples of conscious integration of learning organization
principles from Senge and others into the marketing practice. We’re just starting to acknowledge
that we’re behind other organizational functions in our learning process.
For example:
 Few of us can clearly justify our marketing investment and demonstrate the return it
brings to our organizations.
 Our staff is expected to be loyal, deliver on increasingly-escalating expectations and
wholeheartedly support our enterprises’ customer experience vision while simultaneously
being treated as disposable assets.

2.  We’ve built such information silos around these individuals that we lose valuable
organizational insight whenever someone leaves, whether by force or choice.
ROI. Optimization. Enhanced customer experience. Better knowledge management.
These are just four of many areas that Marketing Operations is expected to address. With the rise
of Marketing Operations in the enterprise, this is the ideal time to acknowledge our immaturity –
our learning disabilities – and take steps to toward greater maturity.
Applying the Five Learning Organization Disciplines to Marketing Operations
Senge’s insight represents a compelling path forward. Consider the five disciplines of a learning
organization that he so masterfully described some 18 years ago:
1. Personal Mastery = Developing a commitment to individual learning to develop
proficiency, not just in our work but our ability to clarify what is important to us and see
current reality more clearly
2. Mental Models = Learning to question implicit assumptions underlying decision-making
processes and balance advocacy with inquiry
3. Shared Vision = Achieving individual and group buy-in for key initiatives by securing
enrollment, commitment and compliance
4. Team Learning – Aligning individual and team learning through a commitment to a
balance of dialogue and discussion
5. Systems Thinking = Learning to view the system as a whole rather than focusing on the
discrete parts
Each of these disciplines has huge implications on the effectiveness of Marketing Operations in
organizations. Let’s explore how in a bit more detail.
Personal Mastery in Marketing Operations
We have long recognized the importance of training in marketing (even if for no other reason
than to pay expected lip service to it). Marketing competency development (bridging the gap
between current competency and desired future state) is a big buzzword today and an important
component of Marketing Operations.
Marketing competency development is very much related to Personal Mastery, which can have
significant implications when applied to other Marketing Operations disciplines such as strategic
planning, collaborative decision-making, resource allocation, roles & responsibilities
clarification, and team dynamics.

3. Mental Models in Marketing Operations
Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, pictures or images that
influence how we understand the world and take action. We tend to unconsciously make
decisions based on these ingrained mental models, which control what we perceive can and
cannot be done.
Bringing the skill of surfacing and challenging mental models in Marketing creates a powerful
vehicle for making decision-making processes more explicit, better understanding our and
others’ motives, learning to appreciate differences and discovering common ground.
This has compelling implications in Marketing Operations when applied to strategic planning,
socializing new concepts and plans, achieving buy-in and alignment, leveraging voice of the
customer and encouraging innovation and value creation.
Shared Vision in Marketing Operations
Many companies fail to advance their objectives because key fundamentals, such as mission,
vision and values, are either poorly defined or articulated, or they are imposed on the team by a
CEO or other authority figure without the opportunity for real buy-in.
People are often lost in the shuffle when new marketing initiatives are rolled out. Employee
ambivalence, confusion, resistance and passive-aggressive behavior are unintentionally or
consciously transferred to customers, partners, press, analysts and other target audiences.
Training, socialization and winning buy-in are integral to generating committed action.
Developing shared vision is more critical than ever. Consider:
 Marketing is becoming increasingly complex due to globalization and the emergence of
new marketing and media channels
 Increasing C-level expectations on marketing are requiring greater need for cross-
functional strategic collaboration and more coordinated execution to meet enterprise
strategic objectives
The implications of leveraging shared vision in Marketing Operations (as is true within the
enterprise in general) is improved ability to better socialize new Marketing Operations
initiatives, achieve ownership and buy-in, define mission and charter, clarify values and more
effectively align key players across organizational functions who are instrumental in making a
vision a reality.

4. Team Learning in Marketing Operations
An important challenge for organizations is evolving from the individual as the learning unit to
the enterprise as the learning entity.
Groupthink can be a painful symptom of organizations that have not learned from their
experience. In “The Abilene Paradox,” the story of a group of cowboys deciding to go to Abilene
for the day even though not a single one of them really wanted to go there is a telling reminder
that more (however brilliant) minds does not necessarily equal smarter.
In work environments -- especially fast-moving, outward focused marketing departments where
we are motivated to show our colleagues how smart and competent we are -- it’s a real challenge
for the group to “get” the big lesson and see the internally-imposed barriers to its collective
learning process.
Increasing focus on Team Learning in Marketing Operations also can have major impact on
decision-making, marketing competency development, knowledge management, marketing
intelligence, planning, process design, socialization and program evaluation.
Systems Thinking in Marketing Operations
To be effective, Marketing needs accurate information, a historical view into past successes and
failures, and the ability to recognize patterns that link seemingly unrelated data points. To be
optimally effective, we need the capacity to reflect and the critical ability to see patterns of
interdependency.
Systems Thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It provides a framework for seeing
interrelationships rather than isolated parts, and patterns rather than “snapshots” or “events.”
By embracing Systems Thinking, we are forced to look outside self-imposed boxes of comfort
that limit growth and creativity. We can use Systems Thinking to help us manage overwhelm
from complexity and overcome “learned helplessness.”
Because Systems Thinking requires a balance of linear and non-linear thinking, it promotes “out
of the box” thinking.
In addition to encouraging innovation, we can leverage System Thinking in Marketing
Operations to support marketing intelligence, knowledge management, assessments, product
portfolio and marketing mix management, process design, marketing automation, leveraging the
voice of the customer and demonstrating return on marketing.

5. Introducing the Power of 18 Marketing Maturity Model
Each of the above learning organization disciplines can be added to the 5Ps, 3Cs and 5Ts to
create a new marketing maturity model. Let’s call these disciplines the 5Ds:
Discipline #1 - Personal mastery
Discipline #2 - Mental models
Discipline #3 - Shared vision
Discipline #4 - Team learning
Discipline #5 - Systems thinking
Now we have an even more evolved marketing maturity model, which I’ve coined “The Power
of 18” – 18 being the age that a person is legally considered an adult in the US, the UK and
China, for example. By embracing “The Power of 18,” Marketing can more quickly evolve from
basic maturity (5Ps and 3Cs) to deeper, more fundamental, more sustainable maturity (5Ts) to
full-fledged, fully responsible corporate citizenship.
And the beauty is, “The Power of 18” is simply a substantial step forward. Like the other models
that preceded it, we can keep building upon this model to reflect increasing levels of marketing
maturity and mastery of lifelong organizational learning.
As we apply these proven business insights and tools to marketing, we will be better equipped to
address the strategic, accountability, optimization, scalability and cross-functional alignment
challenges Marketing Operations teams face now and into the future.
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6. Gary Katz is founder and CEO of Marketing Operations Partners, a ready-to-go COO and
change management team helping marketing executives and their teams run marketing as a
profit center and fully accountable business. www.mopartners.com