Book Reviews: The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization

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The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization

Peter Senge Available Here
Category: HR Books
Subcategory: Training and Development
Price: $16.47
Average Rating:
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(8 Votes)
Description:

This revised edition of Peter Senge’s bestselling classic, The Fifth Discipline, is based on fifteen years of experience in putting the book’s ideas into practice. As Senge makes clear, in the long run the only sustainable competitive advantage is your organization’s ability to learn faster than the competition. The leadership stories in the 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 their managerial practices. In The Fifth Discipline, Senge describes how companies can rid themselves of the learning “disabilities” that threaten their productivity and success by adopting the strategies of learning organizations—ones in which new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, collective aspiration is set free, and people are continually learning how to create results they truly desire. The updated and revised Currency edition of this business classic contains over one hundred pages of new material based on interviews with dozens of practitioners at companies like BP, Unilever, Intel, Ford, HP, Saudi Aramco, and organizations like Roca, Oxfam, and The World Bank. It features a new Foreword about the success Peter Senge has achieved with learning organizations since the book’s inception, as well as new chapters on Impetus (getting started), Strategies, Leaders’ New Work, Systems Citizens, and Frontiers for the Future. Mastering the disciplines Senge outlines in the book will: • Reignite the spark of genuine learning driven by people focused on what truly matters to them • Bridge teamwork into macro-creativity • Free you of confining assumptions and mindsets • Teach you to see the forest and the trees • End the struggle between work and personal time

Member Reviews

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    Jessie, Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:46:05 UTC.
    1st review

    this book is a cornerstone of organizational learning - a must-have for all practitioners in a knowledge economy

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    kjeffery, Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:29:12 UTC.

    Peter Senge is by far one of my favorite business writers. He masterfully conveys the art of understanding organizations through systems thinking and change management. This is an excellent book that I have used to help companies build their learning organizations and to remind me that the people, process, systems in an organization are complex and dynamic in our ever changing global environments. Great book if you plan to develop the people in your organization or are faced with BIG changes. This book is beneficial for small to large companies. Enjoy!

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    ponchitos, Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:41:24 UTC.

    Great book

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    bojan, Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:43:16 UTC.

    Very inspiring book !!!

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    dharni, Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:42:34 UTC.

    Amazing!!!!!!!!!

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    Layla, Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:05:25 UTC.

    The Learning Organization remains one of the most talked-of management concepts in today's business world, and nobody is as capable of explaining exactly what is a Learning Organization or what are the requirements for such an elusive concept than Peter Senge.
    Senge's main thesis is that for an organization to become a Learning organization, it must embrace five disciplines:
    1) Building Shared Vision so that the organization may build a common commitment to long term results and achievement.
    2) Mental models are a technique that can be used to foster creativity as well as readiness and openness to change and the unexpected.
    3) Team Learning is needed so that the learning is passed on from the individuals to teams (i.e. the organization as a whole).
    4) Personal Mastery is the individual's motivation to learn and become better (hence the term Mastery).
    and Finally
    5) The fifth discipline is that of Systems Thinking which allows to see a holistic systemic view of the organization as a function of its environment.

    However, this is not simply a book about management practice.. though it was written primarily for the use managers. This is a book about growth, improvement and continuous development. If you wish to achieve these results for yourself, your home, or your organization, then you MUST read this book.

    Senge introduces his ideas and concepts smoothly and in an absorbing style. He is able to explain difficult concepts simply and by the end, you find that you have whole-heartedly embraced his belief in the Learning Organization, in fact, you find yourself yearning for it!

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    Account Removed, Sun, 03 May 2009 18:52:40 UTC.

    Great book and easy reading if you put your mind to it! ive read 2 different editions of this book and loved reading it both times!!

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    LeonardClark, Sun, 17 May 2009 23:57:52 UTC.

    Some books will tell you how others may explain why; Peter Senge accomplishes both as he presents the theory and practice behind building a "Learning Organization". If more people in leadership positions were able to grasp the benefit and effectiveness of such organizations it would change the way people viewed going to "work". The audiobook is a staple in my car library.

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