CORE AREAS OF LEARNING ORGANIZATIONAL

Organizational learning focused originally on the practice of five core disciplines, or capacities: Systems thinking team learning shared vision mental models personal mastery Systems thinking: is the art of seeing the world in terms of wholes, and the practice of focusing on the relationships among the parts of a system. By looking at reality through a systems thinking "lens," you can work with a systemrather than against itto create enduring solutions to stubborn problems in every arena of your life. Practicing this discipline involves learning to recognize "signature" systemic behaviors all around you, and familiarizing yourself with some special terminology and some powerful tools unique to this field. Team learning: is what happens when a group of people working on something together experiences that rare feeling of synergy and productiveness that happens when you're "in the groove." When a team is truly learning, the group as a whole becomes much more than just the sum of its parts. Practicing this discipline involves startlingly different kinds of conversations and a remarkable degree of honesty and mutual respectall of which you can learn to do through familiarizing yourself with specific tools from this field. Shared vision: emerges when everyone in an organization understands what the organization is trying to do, is genuinely committed to achieving that vision, and clearly grasps how his or her role in the organization can contribute to making the vision real. Practicing this discipline involves knowing how all the parts of the organization work together and being clear about how your own personal goals align with those of your organization. Mental models: are the deep beliefs and assumptions we hold about how the world works. These models shape the decisions we make in life, the actions we take in response to events, and the ways in which we interpret others' behavior. Practicing this discipline involves surfacing and testing your deepest assumptions and beliefs, and helping others do the same. Again, there are specific tools available from this field that can help you with this practice. Personal mastery: is the art of identifying what mark you want to leave on the world during your lifetime. That is, what's your unique purpose in life, and how do you want to go about fulfilling that purpose? Practicing this discipline involves some honest exploration of your own life experiences and desires and a willingness to take some risks. (http://www.pegasuscom.com/aboutol.html)

The term 'Learning Organization' refers to an organization that constantly monitors its environment for changes, and learns from and adapts to these changes. The term was coined by Harvard's Chris Argyris, but it was Peter Senge, a highly acclaimed business strategist with a PhD in Management, who popularized the term in his book, "The Fifth Discipline." Senge defines a 'learning organization' as a dynamical system that is in a state of continuous adaptation and improvement. Learning organizations build feedback loops designed to maximize the effectiveness of their learning processes. Organizational learning is becoming more and more important in the modern business world where things change rapidly and information get transmitted almost instantaneously. In such a constantly changing environment, only the truly flexible and adaptive companies will excel, i.e., learning from the past is vital to success in the future. According to Senge, companies should be 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 to see the whole together." Peter Senge identified five (5) basic disciplines or components of a learning organization: 1) systems thinking; 2) personal mastery; 3) mental models; 4) shared vision; and 5) team learning. People need structures and systems that are conducive to learning, reflection, and engagement. The 5 components of the learning organization were conceptualized to help people become active participants in understanding their reality at present and shaping it for the future. Systems thinking, which is said to be the conceptual cornerstone of Senge's approach, is the discipline that recognizes the interconnection between parts that make up a whole. It acknowledges that organizations are complex systems composed of many inter-related components, and that it is very important to understand how the key components dynamically interact with each other to give life to the system that they comprise. Managers within the organization must learn to think at the 'systems' level, giving more importance to the long-term impact of system dynamics instead of the short-term problems encountered in each part of the system. Personal mastery refers to the discipline of an individual being able to continuously clarify and deepen his personal vision, focus his energies, develop patience, and openly and honestly see reality as it exists. Personal learning does not ensure organizational learning, but the latter cannot exist without the former. Individuals must therefore strive to learn and live life from a creative rather than reactive perspective. Having a very clear personal vision of how things should be and a very objective recognition of what the reality is would help the individual determine the gap between his vision and the reality, motivating him to learn in active pursuit of continuous improvement. Mental Models are, according to Senge, "deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures and images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action." Mental models represent an individual's ability to compare new ideas with internal images of how the world works. These mental images, if in contrast with new ideas, can prevent the latter

from being turned into reality. It is therefore important for an organization to foster openness among its people while providing them with the right direction in order to prevent mental models from limiting the organization's ability to put new ideas into practice. Shared vision refers to the ability of a group to form and hold a common picture of a desired future that its members seek to create. According to Senge, a shared vision is "a vision that many people are truly committed to, because it reflects their own personal vision. Shared vision is vital for learning organizations because it provides the focus and energy for learning." When there is a genuine commonly-held vision within the organization, people strive to learn and excel, not because they are told to, but because they want to. Team learning, according to Senge, is "the process of aligning and developing the capacities of a team to create the results its members truly desire." Achieving personal mastery and having a shared vision are important to a learning organization, but not enough. People need to be able to learn together, so they can act together. Team learning starts with a 'dialogue', or the process of 'thinking together', wherein its members suspend personal assumptions and enter into a state of genuine group awareness and collective thinking.

1. Systems Thinking - the ability to see the big picture, and to distinguish patterns instead of conceptualizing change as isolated events. Systems thinking needs the other four disciplines to enable a learning organization to be realized. There must be a paradigm shift - from being unconnected to interconnected to the whole, and from blaming our problems on something external to a realization that how we operate, our actions, can create problems (Senge 1990,10). 2. Personal Mastery - begins "by becoming committed to lifelong learning," and is the spiritual cornerstone of a learning organization. Personal Mastery involves being more realistic, focusing on becoming the best person possible, and striving for a sense of commitment and excitement in our careers to facilitate the realization of potential (Senge 1990,11). 3. Mental Models - must be managed because they do prevent new powerful insights and organizational practices from becoming implemented. The process begins with selfreflection; unearthing deeply held belief structures and generalizations, and understanding how they dramatically influence the way we operate in our own lives. Until there is realization and a focus on openness, real change can never take place (Senge 1990,12). 4. Building Shared Visions - visions cannot be dictated because they always begin with the personal visions of individual employees, who may not agree with the leader's vision. What is needed is a genuine vision that elicits commitment in good times and bad, and has the power to bind an organization together. As Peter Senge contends, "[b]uilding shared vision fosters a commitment to the long term" (Senge 1990,12). 5. Team Learning - is important because modern organizations operate on the basis of teamwork, which means that organizations cannot learn if team members do not come together and learn. It is a process of developing the ability to create desired results; to have a goal in mind and work together to attain it (Senge 1990,13). (http://www.moyak.com/papers/learning-organization.html/)