The Fifth Discipline

The Fifth Discipline(ˈdisəplən)

By Peter(ˈpēdər) Senge(sanzh)

PART I

How Our Actions Create Our Reality … and How We Can Change It

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“GIVE ME A LEVER(ˈlevər,ˈlēvər) LONG ENOUGH(iˈnəf)… AND SINGLE-HANDED I CAN MOVE THE WORLD”

From a very early age, we are taught(tôt) to break apart problems, to fragment(ˈfraɡmənt) the world. This apparently(əˈparəntlē,əˈpe(ə)r-) makes complex(ˌkämˈpleks, kəmˈpleks, ˈkämˌpleks) tasks and subjects more manageable(ˈmanijəbəl), but we pay a hidden, enormous(iˈnôrməs) price. We can no longer see the consequences of our actions; we lose our intrinsic(inˈtrinzik, inˈtrinsik) sense of connection to a larger whole. When we then try to “see the big picture,” we try to reassemble(ˌrēəˈsembəl) the fragments in our minds, to list and organize all the pieces. But, as physicist(ˈfizəsəst) David(ˈdāvid) Bohm says, the task is futile(-ˌtil,ˈfyo͞otl)—similar to trying to reassemble the fragments of a broken mirror(ˈmirər) to see a true reflection. Thus, after a while we give up trying to see the whole altogether.

The tools and ideas presented(priˈzent,ˈprezənt) in this book are for destroying(diˈstroi) the illusion(iˈlo͞oZHən) that the world is created of separate(ˈsep(ə)rət), unrelated(ˌənriˈlātid) forces. When we give up this illusion—we can then build “learning organizations,” organizations where people continually expand their capacity(kəˈpasədē) to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns(ˈpadərn) of thinking are nurtured(ˈnərCHər), where collective aspiration(ˌaspəˈrāSHən) is set free, and where people are continually(kənˈtinyo͞oəlē) learning how to learn together.

As the world becomes more interconnected and business becomes more complex and dynamic(dīˈnamik), work must become more “learningful.” It is no longer sufficient(səˈfiSHənt) to have one person learning for the organization, a Ford(fôrd) or a Sloan(slōn) or a Watson(ˈwätsən) or a Gates(gāt). It’s just not possible any longer to figure it out from the top, and have everyone else following the orders of the “grand strategist(ˈstratəjist).” The organizations that will truly excel(ikˈsel) in the future will be the organizations that discover how to tap people’s commitment and capacity to learn at all levels in an organization.

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https://www.amazon.com/Fifth-Discipline-Practice-Learning-Organization/dp/0385517254