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It is vital, Peter says, the five disciplines develop as an ensemble. This can be challenging, as it is harder
to integrate tools than simple apply them separately But the payoffs can be immense. This is why
Systems Thinking is the fifth discipline. It is the discipline that integrates the other four disciplines, fusing
them into a coherent body of theory and practice. It keeps them from being separate gimmicks of the
latests organization change fads. By enhancing each of the other disciplines, it continually reminds us
that the whole can exceed the sum of its parts.
For example, vision without systems thinking ends up painting lovely pictures of the future with no deep
understanding of the forces that must be mastered to move from here to there. If non-systemic thinking
predominates, the first condition of nurturing vision is not met: a genuine belief that we can make our
vision real in the future. Systems thinking also needs the other disciplines to realize its potential. Building
shared vision fosters commitment to the long-term. Mental models focus on the openness needed to
unearth shortcomings in our present ways of seeing the world. Team learning develops the skills of
groups of people to look for larger picture that lies beyond the individual perspectives. And personal
mastery fosters the personal motivation to continually learn how our actions affect our world. Without
personal mastery, people are so steeped in the reactive mindset that are deeply threatened by the
systems perspective.
Lastly, systems thinking makes understandable the subtlest aspect of the learning organization - the new
way individuals perceive themselves and their world. At the heart of a learning organization is a shift of
mind - from seeing ourselves as separate from the world to connected to the world, from seeing our
problems as caused by someone or something "out there" to seeing how our actions create the problems
we experience. A learning organization is a place where people are continually discovering how they
create their reality. And how they can change it.
Like the other disciplines, this discipline has it own set of practices and principles that must be applied to
become a master of this discipline. Systems Thinking is a discipline of seeing wholes. It is a sensibility -
for the subtle interconnectedness that gives living systems their unique character. It is the antidote to
this sense of helplessness that many feel as we enter the "age of interdependence". A discipline for
seeing the "structures" that underlie complex situations, and for discerning high from low leverage
change. That is, by seeing wholes we learn how to foster health. To do so, systems thinking offers a
language that begins by restructuring how we think:
- The real leverage in most management situations lies in understanding dynamic complexity, not
detail complexity. Improving quality, lowering total costs and satisfying customers in a sustainable
manner is a dynamic problem. Unfortunately most "systems analyses" focus on detail rather than
dynamic complexity. Situations with thousands of variables and complex arrays of details can
actually distract us from seeing patterns and major interrelationships. We believe that we need
detailed solutions to increasingly "complex" problems. In fact, this is the antithesis of real systems
thinking.
- The practice of systems thinking starts with understanding a simple concept called "feedback" that
shows how actions can reinforce or counteract (balance) each other. It builds to learning to
recognize types of "structures" that recur again and again. Eventually, it forms a rich language for
describing a vast array of interrelationships and patterns of change. Ultimately, it simplifies life by
helping us to see the deeper patterns lying behind the events and details. People get confused
about "feedback" because we often use the word in a somewhat different way - to gather opinions
about an act we have undertaken. But in systems thinking, feedback is a broader concept. It
means any reciprocal flow of influence. It is an axiom that every influence is both cause and
effect. Nothing is ever influenced in just one direction. The human actor is part of the feedback
process, not standing apart from it. This represents a profound shift of awareness.
- Reality is made up of circles but we see straight lines. What we see depends on what we are
prepared to see. Without a language of interrelationships, a language made up of circles, our
habitual ways of seeing the world produce fragmented views and counterproductive actions,
especially when we need to see beyond events and into forces that shape change.
- In mastering systems thinking, we give up the assumption that there must be an individual, or agent
responsible. Everyone shares responsibility for problems generated by a system.
- There are two distinct types of feedback processes: reinforcing and balancing. Reinforcing (or
amplifying) feedback processes are the engines of growth and it feels we are in a situation where
things are growing. Balancing (or stabilizing) feedback operates whenever there is a goal-oriented
behaviour. If the goal is not moving , then balancing feedback will act the way the brakes in a car
do. In addition, many feedback processes contain "delays", interruptions in the flow of influences
which make the consequences of actions occur gradually. All ideas in the language of systems
thinking are built up from these elements. The systems viewpoint is generally oriented toward the
long-term view. That's why delays and feedback loops are so important. In the short terms, you
can often ignore them: they're inconsequential. They only come back to haunt you in the long term.
- System archetypes. Reinforcing feedback, balancing feedback and delays are all fairly simple.
They come into their own as building blocks for the "system archetypes" - more elaborate structures
that recur in our personal and work lives again and again.
(To appreciate the readings here, refer to pages 68-91.)
An exercise: There is a reference to the war on terrorism on pages 69-72 with a conclusion reached on
the issue towards the end of pg 72. What's your reaction to the conclusion?
Question: What has been your own reactions to this discipline? How then do you practice the discipline in
your life?
Talk about it in your communities and share your reflections with us.
- Look out for brand new links on the LOPN website here!
- Display posters on tools covered in the workshops
- Sign-up here to be on the LOPN mailing list
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2009 LOPN NEWS!
Check out the network's programmes in the coming months here.
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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES:
Employment connections, click here.
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2009 COMMUNITY EVENTS AND CONFERENCES:
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2009 GLOBAL SOCIETY FOR ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING (SoL) AND RELATED GROUPS
 | | SOCIETY FOR ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING (SoL Global) DATES:
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"For a long time I had felt like a mouse on a corporate treadmill and I was curious to find out how the
programmes was going to provide me with some new insights and fresh perspectives. As the days
unfolded, I thought the program was pleasant, relaxing and a good opportunity to recharge the battery. It
wasn't until I came home, however, when it suddenly dawned on me that I had subtly changed. It was as if
in this moment of stillness in Vermont, I had changed a lens on my mental camera and was looking at the
world in a different way. As if in a moment of connection with life and the universe, I finally understood that
our greatest power to change the world lies in our power to see beyond the veil."
- Recent Participant
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"Enhancing our capacity for generative conversation, especially in dealing with highly contentious issues,
is vital in building learning organizations. The work of Action Design is an essential foundation in building
this capacity."
- Peter Senge, Society for Organizational Learning.
The work of Action Design has grown out of their immersion in deeply rooted practice traditions that
combine intervention and scholarship. A distinctive feature of the approach they have built on these
foundations is that it integrates three domains: how people interact and form relationships, how
organizations function, and how individuals learn and develop. We believe that integrating these three
domains is essential to helping people create more effective organizations. The Action Design Institute
offers three-day and five-day open enrollment programs. A seminal work I find is the programme:
"Creating Productive Conversations with Chris Argyris"
"The Action Design Institute is among the most powerful developmental experiences I've had in my
career. I now have tools and approaches to help me understand dilemmas, appreciate the perspective of
others and know how to help when the conversation appears stuck. - Global Quality Manager, BP Solar.
.... "I really enjoyed the Action Design workshops when I took them but I also noticed that they had a 'time
release' quality in my life. It's been a gradual process but I have actually caught myself seeing things very
differently." - An Organizational Development Director.
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Human Dynamics is the term given to new understanding of human functioning developed by Dr. Sandra
Seagal and her associates at Human Dynamics International in the course of continuing research since
1979. This investigation has involved more than 80,000 people from over twenty-five cultures.
Dr. Seagal and her team have explored the interaction in people of three universal principles - the mental,
the emotional (or relational) and the physical (or practical). In the human system, the mental principle is
related to the mind - to thinking values, structure, focus, objectivity, perspective. The emotional principle is
more subjective. It is concerned with relationships - with feelings, communication, organization, and
synthesis. The physical principle is pragmatic. It is the making, doing, operationalizing part of us.
Of the greatest significance is the discovery that the mental, emotional and physical principles combine in
a dynamic interplay in people in specific ways, to form distinct personality dynamics or ways of being, each
characterized by fundamentally different inner process and ways of functioning in the world. Five such
personality dynamics predominate in Western cultures, and three in Eastern cultures in relatively
consistent, although not equal, proportions.
The personality dynamics do not appear to be determined by culture, age or gender. They appear in
every culture; they characterize men and women in equal numbers; and they can be observed at every
age level. The distinctions are so fundamental that they can be identified even in babies.
Each personality dynamic constitutes a whole way of functioning. Members of one personality dynamic
differ distinctly from those of another personality dynamic in the way in which they process information,
learn, communicate, problem-solve, function on teams, and become stressed. Each personality dynamic
has specific requirements for learning, maturing and functioning optimally. Each has characteristic gifts
and affinities. And the path of development is different for each.
To know someone's personality dynamic, therefore is to know a great deal about that person. Each
person constitutes a whole system,.
It is important to note that each personality dynamic is of equal value. Anyone of any personality dynamic
may be more or less intelligent, compassionate, skilled or gifted. And every personality dynamic has an
unbounded capacity for maturation. But the way in which the members of each personality dynamic
function is completely different.
The lack of recognition of these differences in human functioning has led to much misunderstanding,
conflict, and wastage of individual and group potential - in the classroom, in the work-place, in the home.
Awareness of them, however, offers new opportunities: for greater individual self-understanding and
growth; for greater understanding of others; for improved communication and cooperation; for more
effective teaching and learning; and for the conscious development of balanced teams in which all of the
personality dynamics are represented, and in which the participants are able to work in creative synergy
through consciously respecting each other's inherent processes and utilizing each other's gifts.
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For details of annual conference (Nov 2-4, 2009 (Mon-Wed)), click here.
Join Peter Senge, Linda Booth Sweeney and a diverse learning community who know why systems
thinking and systems action are now more important than ever.
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| | GREENLEAF 19TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR SERVANT-LEADERS AND | | | ASPIRANTS OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP
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The phrase “Servant Leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay
that he first published in 1970. In that essay, he said:
"The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve
first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is
leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material
possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are
shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature."
"The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s
highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow
as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely
themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit
or at least not be further deprived?"
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July 8, 2009 (Wed)
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