Senge has annotated personal mastery with a notion as “living life from a creative
approach as apposed to reactive point of view.” The individual may be able to attain this
level to a certain extent on certain occasions, and he/she may not be able to exhibit the
mastery at all times. As for most part of an individual’s life, he/she has to confront
unforeseen changes (as future situational environment can not be predicted in totality),
and he/she may be engaged in search for change only under specific circumstances. Still
if an individual is able to be creative for a reasonable period or under some circumstances
as required, he/she can achieve that level of personal mastery as described by Senge. This
means that in a learning organization, if individuals are able to play creative role on
occasions required, then to a large extent organization may be considered as innovative in
its style.
Gauging ones required ability as mentioned in the concept of personal mastery is
not simple. There is no appropriate method available for this but, if a manager could
observe that an individual has gained awareness about his/her role, has attained capability
of critical analysis and has creative thinking, that might be an indication that the stage of
personal mastery has been attained. For this purpose, Senge (1990) has given certain
characteristics of individuals’ thought to have acquired the level of personal mastery and
these are:
- Their vision is a projection of a special/valuable purpose or goal.
- They are inquisitive and hold higher level of commitment to their cause.
- Their analytical skills are so developed that their own choices and basis lie low in
their process of analysis. - They do not see themselves as independent of other people and processes of life.
They are able to relate themselves and their performance to a larger process where
individuals exist with understanding of the fact that they are not the sole in-charge of
their environment.
Considering the role of personal mastery in organizational context, we see that
according to the first characteristic listed by Senge, an individual will hold a vision that
would be his own but at the same time would be based on a purpose that is of higher