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Senge’s Impact Upon Today’s Leadership

Peter Senge had an academic background in a variety of fields from engineering to social systems to management (Smith, 2001). When he combined knowledge from the various fields, he founded a new concept of organizational leadership that he entitled the Learning Organization. Twenty-six years ago, Senge published a ground-breaking book describing an ideal organization that facilitated the learning of its members and thus continually transformed itself to keep up with the pace of change in the 21st century (Pedler, Burgogyne, & Boydell, 1997). In The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Senge (1990) describes how companies can rid themselves of learning disabilities that threaten their success by adopting the strategies of learning organizations: nurturing new and expansive patterns of thinking, collectively aspiring, and continually learning how to create results they truly desire.

Senge stated in an interview that “a Learning Organization is a group of people working together collectively to enhance their capacities to create results they really care about” (Fulmer & Keys, 1998). In order to be a learning organization, there must be two conditions present at all times: the ability to design the organization to match the desired outcomes and the ability to recognize when the direction of the organization differs from the desired outcome and to follow the necessary steps to correct the trajectory (Senge, 1990). Learning organizations develop as a result of the pressures facing modern organizations and enable them to remain competitive in the business environment (O’Keeffe, 2002). The only sustainable competitive advantage is an organization’s ability to learn faster than the competition (Senge, 1990). A leader must nurture within the learning organization five characteristics: personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking, where systems thinking, the “fifth discipline”, is the cornerstone of the learning organization (Senge, 1990).

Advanced Understanding of Leadership

Senge’s theory of learning organizations revolutionized how companies are structured in the 21st century to be able to transform for the future and quickly adapt to new technologies. Deming, an academic hero of Senge’s, taught that the prevailing system of management has destroyed society. People are born with intrinsic motivation, curiosity, and joy in learning; managers amputate these qualities (Deming, 1990, xii). People who need one another to produce an outcome are working teams, fundamental learning units in an organization. Senge’s five learning disciplines represent theories for developing Deming’s three core learning capabilities of working teams: fostering aspiration, developing reflective conversation, and understanding complexity. Senge (1990) metaphorically refers to the core learning capabilities of teams as a three-legged stool to convey the importance of each in that the stool would not stand if any of the three were missing.

Senge’s Systems Thinking holds that all the characteristics must exist in a learning organization or the organization will fall short of its goal. Personal Mastery is the commitment by an individual to the process of learning. There is a competitive advantage for an organization whose workforce can learn quickly through staff training, development and continuous self-improvement; however, learning cannot be forced upon those who are not receptive to learning. Mental Models are the assumptions held by individuals and organizations. Individuals tend to espouse theories, which they intend to follow, and theories-in-use, which they actually do. Organizations tend to have 'memories' which preserve certain behaviors and values. These models must be challenged in a learning organization, and unwanted values need to be 'unlearned' (Easterby-Smith, Crossan & Nicolini, 2000). Shared Vision is important in motivating staff to learn, creating a common identity that provides focus and energy for learning. Successful visions build on individual visions of employees at all levels, thus the creation of Shared Vision can be hindered by traditional structures where the company vision is imposed from above. Team Learning requires individuals to engage in dialogue with open communication, shared meaning, and shared understanding (Senge, 1990). The benefit of Team Learning is that staff grow more quickly and the problem solving capacity of the organization is improved through better access to knowledge and expertise. This combination of characteristics encourages organizations to shift to a more interconnected way of thinking and become a learning organization.

Relevance to Distance Education Today

Deming (1990) posited that a common system of management governs modern institutions and form a deep connection between work and school. “We will never transform the prevailing system of management without transforming our prevailing system of education. They are the same system. The relationship between a boss and a subordinate is the same as the relationship between a teacher and student” (Deming, 1990, xiii). Senge further explains that few managers seem able to truly implement Quality Management because they have been socialized in ways of thinking and acting that were embedded in their most formative institutional experiences. “The teacher sets the aims; the student responds to those aims. The teacher has the answer; the student works to get the answer. Students know when they have succeeded because the teacher tells them. By the time all children are 10, they know what it takes to get ahead in school and please the teacher – a lesson they carry forward through their careers of ‘pleasing bosses and failing to improve the system that serves customers’ ” (Senge, 2006, xiii). Distance education is affected by this socialization through teachers who have to unlearn setting the aims and holding the answers and through students who have to unlearn relying on teachers for answers and for approval.

As businesses are turning toward life-long learning as an ideology, many are choosing distance education as the vehicle. Some businesses find it hard to embrace Personal Mastery because it is an intangible concept and the benefits cannot be quantified. Personal Mastery can even be seen as a threat to the organization in that if individuals do not engage with the Shared Vision, Personal Mastery could be used to advance their own personal visions. If training and development is compulsory, it can be viewed as a form of control, rather than as Personal Mastery. In some companies, a lack of a learning culture can be a barrier to learning. An environment must be created where individuals can Team Learn without it being devalued and ignored, so more people can benefit from their knowledge and the individuals becomes empowered. A learning organization needs to fully accept the removal of traditional hierarchical structures. Unless implemented coherently across the organization, learning can be viewed as elitist and restricted to senior levels. In that case, learning will not be viewed as a Shared Vision. The leadership must also address the individual and corporate Mental Models that exist and that are desired. Distance education has the ability to meet the business’ needs of creating System Thinking to wrap all the disciplines together in a seamless package of learning.

Aside from businesses, academia is also using Senge’s theory of learning organizations. To build a school culture focused on learning, educational leaders need to incorporate Senge’s disciplines by modeling, promoting and providing opportunities for everyone to be life-long learners. They need to expose their own Mental Models and foster trusting environments where others can do the same, distributing leadership, inquiring conversations and guiding others towards opening up to new ideas, adaptation and growth. Effective school leaders need to foster enthusiasm and build a Shared Vision among all stakeholders in the school community. Team Learning should be a part of daily practice – not just a random activity that occurs once in a while. School leaders need to thoughtfully and strategically embed Team Learning on a daily basis and use System Thinking to wrap all the disciplines together in a seamless package of learning.

Conclusion

Peter Senge’s theory of learning organizations, with his emphasis on the fifth discipline of system thinking, has truly changed the world of organizational management and leadership. Various types of organizations, from corporations to academia, have successfully transformed into learning organizations and are meeting the challenges of the fast-paced 21st century with solutions that are team-built and team-implemented. Senge’s book was revised and reprinted 15 years after it was a best-seller, to include experiences in putting the book’s ideas into practice. The leadership stories in the revised book demonstrate the many ways that the core ideas in The Fifth Discipline, many of which seemed radical when first published in 1990, have become deeply integrated into people’s ways of seeing the world and leadership practices.

References

Deming. (1990). As quoted by Senge in the introduction of the revised edition of The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. p xii.

Easterby-Smith, M., Crossan, M., & Nicolini, D. (2000). Organizational learning: Debates past, present and future. Journal of Management Studies, 37(6), 783-796.

Fulmer, R. M. & Keys, J. B. (1998). A conversation with Peter Senge: New developments in organizational learning. Organizational Dynamics, 27(2), 33-42.

O'Keeffe, T. (2002). Organizational learning: A new perspective. Journal of European Industrial Training, 26(2), 130-141.

Pedler, M., Burgogyne, J. & Boydell, T. (1997). The learning company: A strategy for sustainable development (2nd Ed.). London: McGraw-Hill.

Senge, P. M. (1990). The art and practice of the learning organization. The new paradigm in business: Emerging strategies for leadership and organizational change, 126-138. Retrieved from

Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Michigan: Doubleday Press.

Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization. (Rev Ed.). New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

Smith, M. K. (2001). “Peter Senge and the learning organization”, The Encyclopedia of Informal Education. Retrieved from

Heather,

Good work. Very well organized, well written, and well cited. Sometimes we all over-think Senge’s work but its essence stands up well today – organizations that are learning entities can adapt, revision and change directions to remain highly competitive in the market. I would have liked to have seen a few more of your own concise views on Senge’s work and its relevance to DE. Your APA compliance was excellence and your use of multiple resources, even a few outside of class, was very good.

Cheers,

Don

GRADE: 86

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