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Post #1
One of the most engaging descriptions of a learning disability Senge discusses in The Fifth Discipline is around the idea of leaders being blind to their decisions and their ultimate contribution to their demise. Senge sums it up as follows: “In story after story, leaders could not see the consequences of their own policies, even when they were warned in advance that their own survival was at stake” (Senge, 1990, p. 25). For some reason, human beings, especially those in positions of power, feel the need to assert themselves, or make decisions based on the immediate result. Senge also discusses this learning disability in the beer game with the structures of supply and demand. Initially, the beer game showed tremendous success and expansion, until the supply and demand model could no longer handle the growth. This truly prohibits the long-term success of organizations, simply because leaders cannot ignite the collective capacity of the individuals in their organizations.
A term that Senge describes in the field book and at length in The Fifth Discipline can allow leaders to escape the perpetual implosion faced by so many organizations. The term is dialogue. Senge provides the following narrative in the field book: “The philosopher Martin Buber used the term ‘dialogue’ in 1914 to describe a mode of exchange among human beings in which there is a true turning to one another, and a full appreciation of another not as an object in a social function, but as a genuine being” (Senge, 1994, p. 359). I have personally employed this tool and it has truly rewarded me. I have most noticed the application of this concept in meetings where ideas are being traded and discussions are occurring. Senge specifically differentiates dialogue from discussion.
Senge, P.M. (1990). The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organization, NY: Double Currency.
Senge, P.M., Roberts, C., Ross, R. B., Smith, B. J., Kleiner, A. (1994). The fifth discipline fieldbook, NY: Doubleday.
Post #2
One learning disability is “I am my position,” where an organization focuses too closely on their own positions and responsibilities, missing the big picture or entire system. Senge (2006) states that most people see themselves as part of a system where they have little to no influence, so they do their job and put in their time, resulting in their responsibilities being limited to the boundaries of their position (p. 18).
This learning disability often occurs at Medtronic on project teams. Each project team is comprised of representatives from various functions such R&D, quality, regulatory, manufacturing, marketing, clinical, and a few others. Each function is focused on achieving certain goals, improving their processes, reducing costs, and functioning efficiently, that they often forget the effects they have on the other functions. This begins to manifest as they operate in silos without collaborating with one another. Sometimes new processes are implemented that can benefit manufacturing but pose durability concerns for R&D and quality. Team members are not continuously focused on expanding their collective awareness and capabilities which is necessary for a learning organization (Senge, Kleiner, Roberts, Ross, & Smith, 1994, p. 4). Furthermore, learning organizations require looking at the big picture and understanding how smaller pieces fit within a larger system, but functioning in silos inhibits this.
Overcoming the “I am my position” learning disability in an organization requires systems thinking. Senge (1994) suggests identifying the undesirable impacts on others as it is emphasizes that solutions are not implemented in isolation (p. 170). Actions taken by one group almost always affect others in the organization so it is important for each function on a project to identify the impact of their actions prior to implementation.
References
Senge, P. M. (2006). The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization (Rev. ed.). New York, N.Y.: Crown Business.
Senge, P. M., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R. B., & Smith, B. J. (1994). The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. New York, N.Y.: Doubleday.
Post #3
An organization can create a learning disability by how they are designed, managed and how their jobs are defined, and how humans are taught to think and interact (Senge, 2016, p. 18). According to Peter Senge (1990) there are 7 learning disabilities I am my position, the enemy is out there, the illusion of taking charge, the fixation on events, parable of the boiled frog, delusion of learning from experience and myth of the management team (Vora, 2017). I will describe how parable of the frog manifests in an organization and gets in the way of achievement. According to Peter Senge (2016) The Fifth Discipline Parable of the frog is when, “Maladaptation to gradually building threats to survival is so pervasive in systems studies of corporate failure” (p. 22). I like this parable as I am dealing with it now even when I am retiring from the Army. Three years ago, I was giving a task from the command Sergeant Major of JBLM to create from the ground up seven Warrior competitions and to include Marines, Navy, Air Force, Army and Coast Guards. This project required in-depth planning, coordination’s, budget, and endless meetings. I have executed and written orders for this competitions for three straight years. On the last two years I have expressed to my boss that I am retiring, and someone will have to shadow me to take over these yearly events. The usual, “Yea, I get it I will give you someone to shadow you” speech for the last two years. When it got to six months I again brought up the issue that it is getting danger close as someone will have to write the new orders and take charge and I still got the yup I am on it speech. Well as I am now on retirement leave he asked me last week to give all my work, personal contacts and written orders to another person and gave him a tight deadline saying to him, “If Otero can do it so can you”. The command Sergeant Major was the “frog” as he was so comfortable with me handling all his competitions that he paid no heed to the fire that was developing underneath him. Then when he finally realized that I was on retirement leave he panicked and called me to help him. I learned from this as well as not to wait to the last second to handle a problem as it only gets bigger and more problematic with time. The one archetype tool I can think of for this situation is to use the “Shifting of burden” from the Fifth Discipline Field book (Senge, Kleiner, Roberts, Ross & Smith, 1994, p. 123). The short-term fix for him was to keep me doing the competitions when the real problem was to fundamentally pick another person who had more time than me. If he had use this tool he would have corrected this problem and not put a band aid on the issue.
References
Senge, P. (2006). The fifth discipline: the art and science of a learning organization. New York, NY: Currency/ Doubleday.
Senge, P.M., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R.B. & Smith, B.J. (1994). The fifth discipline field book: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. New York, NY: Doubleday.
Vora, T. (2017, February 20). Peter Senge: How to overcome learning disabilities in organizations. Retrieved 30 January 2017 from http://qaspire.com/2017/02/20/peter-senge-how-to-overcome-learning-disabilities-in-organizations/
