The Business Book

204

W

hen a company is

devoted to the

development and

education of its employees it will

be able to reinvent itself constantly,

adapting to the market due to the

intellectual skills and commitment of

its employees. If the key to success

in a rapidly changing marketplace

is adaptability and foresight, then

it makes sense to train and foster

talented individuals as a means of

marshaling an entire organization.

This is the essence of what

management authority Peter Senge

called “the learning organization,”

a place “where people continually

expand their capacity to create the

results they truly desire, where new

and expansive patterns of thinking

are nurtured, where collective

aspiration is set free, and where

people are continually learning

how to learn together.” To reach

this ideal a company should adopt a

collective, community-minded

approach so that employees feel

part of a worthwhile enterprise

that will nurture them, and in

return those employees will show

commitment to the business.

Senge proposed his vision for

a corporate utopia in The Fifth

Discipline (1990). In this book he

set out the five disciplines to which

an organization should aspire in

order to succeed in the long term:

personal mastery; mental models;

shared vision; team learning; and

systems thinking—the fifth

discipline, which incorporates

the preceding four.

The five disciplines

The first two disciplines are

individual. By personal mastery,

Senge means that individuals

should use their own interest

and curiosity to improve their

capabilities. Mental models refers

to ingrained ways of thinking,

which should be challenged so

that individuals become aware

of why they think in a particular

way, and of the effect this has on

behavior. Senge encouraged

employees to analyze their own

subtle mental filters and to be

prepared to question and change

them in order to adapt to the future.

The remaining three disciplines

are collective. The goal of shared

vision involves the members of an

organization deciding together

what they want to create and

agreeing on targets and processes

THE LEARNING ORGANIZATION

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

The personal approach

KEY DATES

1920s Charles Allen develops

a training program for

shipbuilders in the US, which

involves personal teaching

intended to develop loyalty.

1950s Job training becomes

individualized, replacing the

teacher with programed

materials that employees work

through at their own pace.

1984 Professor Richard

Freeman proposes that

workers are “stakeholders”

and are vital to the survival

of the organization.

1990 Peter Senge publishes

The Fifth Discipline,

advocating “the learning

organization.”

To compete in

a constantly

changing

marketplace

a company needs...

...a smart and

adaptable

work force.

The work force

needs to

challenge itself

and the

business.

...a responsive

and insightful

approach.

The business

must learn from

its employees and

constantly adapt.

To excel, tap

into people’s

capacity to

learn.