This is the review of Peter Senge's "Fifth Discipline". Peter Senge's "Fifth Discipline" is a road map for any organization trying to find the passage from the industrial age to the information age. It is also an amazing introduction to some of the concept of new science such as complexity theory and system's theory in general. Organizations will only survive in the 21st century if they pair up the perpetual state of change of business, with the perpetual state of learning. If you prefer the video version, please check the following video on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBEWrlsl58Q M2MSys® is an expert on applying new science (chaos, quantum mechanics, evolution, complexity) to business process management. P.S. - If you use the material, please make sure that you reference the source. Thanks!

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A M2MSys® Production
Mandatory Reading
The Arts & Practice of the Learning Organization
Review by: Filipe Pinto
M2Msys® Chief Architect and Founder
Peter M. Senge 2003 Edition

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What is the book about?
Learning-Organization (LO)
In short: the
 an organization that is uses a management philosophy based
on knowledge and understanding (not fear) for the
COMPLEXITY of the real world.
 opposes the dominant western management philosophy,
which rewards short term decisions (reacting to events)
based on preconceived ideas with little respect for past
experience, that eventually lead to failure,
 understands that ALL elements within the organization are
connected and hence decisions impact different elements in
a counter-intuitive fashion.
 a status only achieved through the continuous study of 5
different disciplines( Personal Mastery, Mental Models, Team
Learning, Shared Vision and Systems Thinking)

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Part I (Chapters 1 – 3)
Senge lays down his arguments for the necessity of the
Learning Organization:
 The Lever - inability to understand complexity and
thus the ability to target specific points within the
system to that would render tremendous efficiencies.
 Learning disability - the seven learning disabilities (“I
am my position”, ”The enemy is out there”, “The
illusion of taking charge”, “The fixation on events”,
“The parable of the boiled frog”, ”The delusion of
learning from experience”, “The myth of the
management team”
 Prisoners of our Thinking - we are prisoners of our
own thinking which is fueled by our lack of knowledge

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Part 2 (Chapters 4-7)
Senge introduces core concepts necessary for the
understanding of the Learning Organization:
 Complexity Laws - the 11 Laws of the Fifth Discipline.
 Feedback Loops – in the real world, every influence is
both a cause and an effect, and how not understanding it,
leads to an impossibility of understanding dynamic
complexity systems.
 Templates – most organization scenarios follow partners
and Senge identifies the leverage points..
 Seeing the forest and the trees – the case for People
Express Airlines, the succumbed for not being able to see
the forest.

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Part 3 (Chapters 8-11)
The author describes how to put in practice the Learning
Organization
 Personal Mastery – organizations learn through individuals.
Personal mastery is one’s drive towards continuously
improvement by learning.
 Mental Models – the reason why “system’s thinking” project’s
fail and the author explains by the ladder of inference.
 Shared Vision - people have added commitment in a group
by sharing images of the future they seek to create in
common.
 Team Learning – how dialogue and skillful discussion
transforms teams to swarm and combine their energies and
ability greater than the sum of individual members’ talents.

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Part 4 (Chapters 12-17)
Senge shares best practices from lessons learned from
Learning Organizations building.
 Foundations – good organizations, good people, and
trends of collaboration, machine-learning and biologic
systems. Evolving from transformers to growers
 Impetuous – pursuing what matters to us, with people
we care is reason behind those who advocate the
learning organization.
 Strategies – how to allow change to flourish
 The Leaders New Work – The work of the leader in the
Learning Organization
 System Citizens – connectivity is allowing people to.
 Frontiers – it’s impossible to change overnight.

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Part 5 (Chapters 18)
The Indivisible Whole
(and that
“Nature
include us) is not
made of parts within
wholes. It’s made of
wholes within
wholes”, pag. 382

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Why is this a MUST read @ M2MSys?
 At M2MSys® we are experts on Complex Adaptive
Systems which are a sub-class of systems which are
able adapt and learn.
 This book is a great introduction to
Complexity Theory and it does an exceptional
work mapping engineering to business
concepts

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