Analysis of learning organization concepts and implementation

¶ … Learning Organization

Peter Senge is accredited with the development of the framework and principles of the 'learning organization'. The work of Senge "The Fifth Discipline" is a springboard for many other theorists and scholars of organizational behavior. This work will use the work of Peter Senge and Kai Larsen found online the internet. This work will write a summary of each article describing the similarities and differences of the articles in their treatment of the learning organization. This work will discuss what has been learned by the writer from having read these articles and the concept of Charter Schools will be analyzed within the framework of the articles and the findings will be summarized.

INTRODUCTION

Peter Senge, Kai Larsen, and others which have jumped on the 'learning organization' bandwagon have related the principles of Senge's work 'The Fifth Discipline' and the effectiveness of those principles when applied to various organizations and institutions across the sectors of business and society. Peter Senge is now seen as a guru of change leadership. The learning organization according to Peter Senge is an organization: "...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." (1990; 3; as cited in Larsen, et al. 1996)

I. PETER M. SENGE - 'THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE'

The work of Larsen et al. entitled: "Learning Organizations" states: "In a way those who work in a learning organization are "fully awakened" people. They are engaged in their work, striving to reach their potential, by sharing the vision of a worthy goal with team colleagues. They have mental models to guide them in the pursuit of personal mastery, and their personal goals are in alignment with the mission of the organization. Working in a learning organization is far from being a slave to a job that is unsatisfying; rather, it is seeing one's work as part of a whole, a system where there are interrelationships and processes that depend on each other." (1996) Larsen et al. notes that workers in these types of organizations are willing to take risks to learn and they also seek solutions that are lasting instead of "quick fixes." (1996) Larsen et al. states that a commitment to work that is of a high quality is a lifelong commitment "when teams work together to capitalize on the synergy of the continuous group learning for optimal performance. Organizational learning is inclusive of learning on an individual basis as well. Larsen et al. states that their work in writing is organized in alignment with Peter Senge's (1990; as cited in Larsen, et al. 1996) five disciplines, which are the "core disciplines in building the learning organization. Peter Senge (1990) holds that "change is team and learning is change." The five components in Peter Senge's 'Five Disciplines' model are those as follows:

Systems Thinking: the integrative fifth discipline that fuses the other 4 into a coherent body of theory and practice;

Personal Mastery: People should approach life and work 'as an artist would approach a work of art'.

Mental Models: deeply ingrained assumptions or mental images 'that influence how we understand the world and how we take action'.

Building Shared Vision: when there is a genuine vision 'people excel and learn, not because they are told to, but because they want to'.

Team Learning: team members engaging in true dialogue with their assumptions suspended. (Value-Based Management, 2008)

The following figure is an illustration of the 'core disciplines' that are "converging to innovate learning organizations." (Smith, 2001)

Systems-Thinking

Source: Smith (2001)

Smith states that according to Senge, the five disciplines can be approached at one of three levels which are those of:

Practices: what you do;

Principles: guiding ideas and insights; and Essences: the state of being those with high levels of mastery in the discipline. (Senge 1990: 373; as cited in Smith, 2001)

According to Peter Senge: "When you ask people about what it is like being part of a great team, what is most striking is the meaningfulness of the experience. People talk about being part of something larger than themselves, of being connected, of being generative. It become quite clear that, for many, their experiences as part of truly great teams stand out as singular periods of life lived to the fullest. Some spend the rest of their lives looking for ways to recapture that spirit. (Senge 1990: 13; as cited in Smith, 2001)

II. PERSONAL MASTERY

One of the requirements of a 'core discipline' in building learning organization is that of 'personal mastery' which is applicable to individual learning since the organization cannot learn until the individual members in that organization begin to learn. There are two components to personal mastery as follows:

Define what needs to be learned or achieved; and Attain a true measure of how close one is to the goal. (Senge, 1998;; as cited in Larsen, et al. 1996)

It is necessary however, to understand that the 'goal' is not a place because in what Senge refers to as 'generative learning' is actually continual learning in which the goal is never reached because it is always being set a little higher than previously. (Senge, 1990;; as cited in Larsen, et al. 1996)

III. MENTAL MODELS

'mental model' is the way the world is viewed by an individual and provides a framework for the mind's cognitive processes and affect how the individual thinks and acts. Many times there is competition when in an alternative model should the two individuals or teams work together instead of compete the win-lose proposition can be transformed to a win-win proposition for both sides.

Team learning, according to Peter Senge is: "the process of aligning and developing the capacity of a team to create the results its members truly desire. It builds on the discipline of developing shared vision. It also builds on personal mastery, for talented teams are made up of talented individuals. (1990, p. 236; as cited in Larsen, et al. 1996) in the book 'The Fifth Discipline" Peter Senge made identification of various learning disabilities that result from failing to think in a systemic manner which are those as follows:

I am my position;

The enemy is out there;

The illusion of taking charge;

The fixation on events;

The parable of the boiled frog; and the delusion of learning from experience (1990, pp. 17-26; as cited in Larsen, et al. 1996)

IV. SYSTEMS THINKING

Systems thinking serves to improve learning of individuals through bringing individuals to a focus upon the 'whole system' and then provisioning those individual with the necessary tools that enable them to view patterns of behavior that are observable in the system. The patterns of relationships or the systems are informed by the mental models held by people or their view about the interactions of the system with one another. Therefore it is necessary that mental models are aligned is a 'shared vision' is to be realized within the organization. Only upon realization of a shared vision among organization members can the organization begin to become a learning organization. Learning begins with learning from each other as different views are shared among organization members and as alignment is created during this process of sharing which results in learning. The second method or condition in which learning takes place is the submission to testing of the shard vision.

Systems-thinking is representative of a giant evolution in the manner used by individuals in their thinking and involves a transformation. Senge states: "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 problems as caused by someone or something 'out there' to seeing how our own 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." (1990, pp. 12-13; as cited in Larsen, et al. 1996) According to Senge, in 'The Fifth Discipline' there are a variety of structures and patterns in systems and relationships, which include:

Balancing process with delay;

Limits to growth;

Shifting the burden;

Eroding goals;

Escalation;

Success to the successful;

Tragedy of the commons;

Fixes that fail; and Growth and under-invested. (1990; 378-390; as cited in Larsen, et al. 1996)

V. APPLICATION of PRINCIPLES to a CHARTER SCHOOL

The work of Scott Thompson entitled: "Children Get Left Behind when High Stakes are confused with High Leverage" states:

We need to take both a deeper and longer view and ask, Where will an approach to educational accountability that is tied to annual standardized testing take us? One powerful set of lenses for gaining a deeper perspective on these issues is provided by systems thinking. The disciplines of organizational learning - systems thinking being chief among them - provide the concepts and tools for uncovering the underlying dynamics that cause complex human systems, such as school districts and multinational corporations, to behave the way they do. This way of thinking and taking action has been evolving over many decades, but it reached its widest audience with the 1990 publication of 'The Fifth Discipline' by Peter Senge." (2003)

The Charter school has a unique opportunity to implement the principles of Peter Senge, and most particularly the principles associated with the 'learning organization' and from a perspective noted in the statement of Senge that it is very unlikely that the "deep systemic problems that afflict our institutions and society..." will find correction until "the ability to honor and integrate theory, personal development and practical results..." has been rediscovered since it is seemingly a lost ability. (Senge, 1997)

Senge states that change may very well involve "returning to an older model of community: traditional societies that gave respect to elders for their wisdom: teachers for their ability to help people grow, and warriors, weavers, and growers for their life skills." (1997) it is important to note the statement with which Senge concludes this work in writing as he states: "Our responses may lead us, ironically, to a future based on more ancient -- and more natural -- ways of organizing: communities of diverse and effective leaders who empower their organizations to learn with head, heart, and hand." (1997) This requires that each individual community school take the responsibility that older generations previously took in their systems and that community members shift the burden back to themselves for the state of affairs in their local schools.

Peter M. Senge, in the work entitled: "Communities of Leaders and Learners" published in the 75th Anniversary Issue of the Harvard Business Review (1997) states: "Increasingly, successful organizations are building competitive advantage through less controlling and more learning -- that is, through continually creating and sharing new knowledge. The implications this change will have for the theory and practice of management are impossible for us to overestimate." Senge states that the myths surrounding leadership roles must be put aside and specifically those which view leaders as "isolated heroes commanding their organizations from on high." (1997)