Rating: 
Summary: An Intellectual Look Into Creating A World-Class Business
Review: The Fifth Discipline stresses the importance of cultivating a learning organization. Accordingly, it is a book of learning more than of application. The content is very philosophical compared to other business-oriented books that I've read. The author, Senge, forces the reader to be alert and to be open. With that in mind, this book has a wealth of information to share with its readers. Although I would not recommend this book to the casual reader, it is a must-read for anyone who cares to be intellectually challenged from a business leadership perspective, and who wants to deepen their own knowledge-base in order to become more insightful leaders in their organization.In chapter two, Senge wastes no time getting to the fact that most business organizations (even the "good" ones) have a real learning deficiency. Often, businesses find some way to get the job done, but have no culture that fosters real growth and accumulation of new, outside knowledge. As a result, many businesses-while growing in the areas of sales, profits, employees, etc.-nonetheless are often doomed to repeat past mistakes, and perhaps set themselves up for a much bigger fall in the future. Senge's discussion of mental models (chapter 10) and the role they play in every person's interactions with others is of value to the manager who wonders why they are sometimes ineffective when it comes to working with certain other individuals. Our mental models often effect our outward actions towards others in negative or at least non-productive ways, and we are usually not even cognizant of that fact. The "Action Science" theory is also interesting as we try to learn how to more effectively interact with others in the organization. Towards the end of chapter 10, Senge shares some very basic ideas that, if remembered, can help individuals cultivate more fruitful working relationships within the organization. In chapter eighteen, Senge focuses on what it takes to be a leader in a continually improving, systems-oriented organization. The leader of this type of organization must become a better "designer" of that business's capabilities. This person cannot expect his employees to perform to his expectations if the system that has been designed (within which they perform) is not capable. The leader must continually improve and redesign the overall system/organization so that organizational growth can always be a reality. "'The bad leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people praise. The great leader is he who the people say, "We did it ourselves."'" In Senge's paraphrase of Lao-tzu, we learn that people have thought about leadership criteria for thousands of years. We also can read that a great leader is one who helps design a system that enables all employees to contribute and grow. Senge interviewed three executives whose organizations have thrived as learning, systems-oriented businesses, and included their responses in the chapter on leadership (18). Ray Stata, President and CEO of Analog Devices, Inc. notes that "the rate at which organizations learn may become the only sustainable source of competitive advantage" in the future (p349). As worldwide industries mature, and companies become global, we have every reason to believe that certain variables (employee education, technology, etc.) will be increasingly equal. If this assumption holds to be true in the future, then Ray Stata's observation is one that today's business leaders should beware. In the not too distant future, it may be only the learning organizations that survive and prosper.
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Summary: Understand the systems around you, and create lasting change
Review: Nothing happens in isolation, every event or situation is the result of numerous related events. In order to create lasting change in a work environment, in your personal life, or in your physical health, there are numerous interrelated factors that contribute to the current situation. Within this book you will discover how your actions create your current reality, and why certain actions may or may not bring about the desired change. The book identifies "systems archetypes" such as the snowball effect, balancing loops, growth and under investment, fixes that fail, limits to growth, shifting the burden and others. These are general models that describe many familiar scenarios and situations. Along the way, the book details: Personal mastery - a commitment to personal growth and learning Mental Models - The beliefs that people hold about the world, change, and reality that may be impeding the change process or limiting growth. Shared Vision - Overcoming mental models and bringing concerns and beliefs out in to the open, so members of an organization may work toward a common goal. Team learning - Building on shared vision, by aligning goals, dreams and desires, in a manner such that a group of people function as a whole to achieve a common goal. There are numerous easy to understand examples of the five disciplines at work in the book, that anyone can relate to and understand. They range from corporate examples such as the ultimate failure of Peoples Express airlines, a simple supply chain management scenario in the "Beer Game" and numerous examples from everyday life. It's an easy reading book, very thought provoking, and enlightening, definitely worth picking up a copy. The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, and the Dance of Change provide excellent complimentary reading to the 5th Discipline, and are full of exercises relating to the Fifth Discipline. In addition, Eli Goldratt has written several books that compliment this work very well particularly the Goal.
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Summary: Great Theory, Misses Mark on Identifying Obstacles
Review: Without a shared vision there can be no shifting of minds, no team leaning, no local initiatives consistent with the shared vision, and so on. This is all really great theory. Taking the U.S. Intelligence Community--which failed spectacularly on 9-11 after resisting change for just over a decade--as an example relevant to both business and the public, one can readily see that great theory simply does not translate into relevant action. Most helpful would be a new edition of this book, but one that places fully half the book's emphasis on identifying the obstacles to reform and learning, with each obstacle then addressed from both a top-down and a bottom-up perspective. 9-11 demonstrated that the theory of this book is badly needed within the ultimate "learning" community, the U.S. Intelligence Community. Even after 9-11, the leadership of that community refuses to admit it failed, and refuses to propose or acknowledge the substantial changes recommended by over 15 books--a huge critical mass--recommended by the Council on Intelligence. CEOs of multi-billion dollar corporations might choose to reflect on how best to combine the lessons from this book, which are valuable, with the lessons from how a $30 billion a year tax-payer funded community can refuse to change.
Rating: 
Summary: Systemic Thinking
Review: Peter Senge presents a methodology for creating a learning organization (one that reacts to processes with sound business systems and not instinctual reactions). While the principles are sound and necessary, the presentation is unfortunately uninspiring.
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Summary: Even More Relevant and More Valuable Now
Review: This is the first of three Senge books I greatly admire, the others being The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook and The Dance of Change. It is important to keep in mind that "total learning" is a misnomer. We can never learn everything it is possible to learn (are you fluent in Mandarin Chinese?) nor can we ever learn all of the possible applications of what we do know. Senge's objective is to help all organizations (regardless of nature or size) to optimize opportunities for appropriate learning, and, to assist everyone involved to optimize the results of their efforts to learn. What several other reviewers have either ignored or minimized is Senge's substantial contribution to our understanding of effective, sustainable change within any organizational structure. (You are also urged to check out O'Toole's Leading Change, another excellent source of information and counsel.) Senge organizes The Fifth Discipline as follows: Part I How our Actions Create Our Reality...and How We Can Change It Part II The Fifth Discipline: The Cornerstone of the Learning Organization Part III The Core Disciplines: Building the Learning Organization Part IV Prototypes Part V Coda According to Senge, there are five new "component technologies" which are gradually converging to innovate learning organizations: Systems Thinking ("invisible fabrics of interrelated actions"), Personal Mastery (of various skills at the highest possible level), Mental Models ("deeply engrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures or images" which influence learning), Building Shared Vision (of "a set of principles and guiding practices" which help to define "pictures of the future"), and finally Team Learning (based on dialogue which enables effective collaboration). The book examines each of these five separate but interdependent "disciplines" with meticulous care and compelling eloquence. Organizations as well as those who comprise them can (and often do) have learning disabilities. For example, what I call the Negative Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: "I can't do "it" or "We can't do "it." The prophecy is then fulfilled (of course) as if it had been expressed by the Oracle at Delphi. Senge is well-aware of learning disabilities. Within the framework of his narrative, he suggests a number of practical strategies and tactics to overcome them. In effect, Senge has created a highly-readable, immensely practical, and extraordinarily comprehensive examination of "The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization." Although first published ten years ago, The Fifth Discipline is more relevant and more valuable today than ever before. Why? Because change is the only constant and it can occur in seconds rather than in years or even days. Because there is now so much more information to absorb, digest, and evaluate. Because organizations are (finally) beginning to recognize their under-utilization of their "human capital" and need immediate assistance. I give The Fifth Discipline the highest possible rating and conclude my review of it by quoting Derek Bok's response when parents of Harvard students complained about a tuition increase: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Those who share my high regard for this book are encouraged to read William Isaacs' Dialogue, also. Senge provides an excellent Introduction to it.
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Summary: This book changed the way I think.
Review: Systems thinking can help you understand how two rights can make a wrong, how we can unconsciously limit ourselves, and why the value of an organization lies in how we work together. You can use systems thinking to examine and transform your understanding of problems that have hung around for a long time (example: nature versus nurture--what is one without the other?).
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Summary: Combine your learning methods
Review: To read the 5thD straight and apply it immediately is daunting - I suggest combining the books on tape with the book itself. (No I don't work for the publisher) The auditory explanation of many of the examples gives the reader a good foundation for attacking and using the book effectively. Working in the software industry we have found many of the priciples important in overcoming communication problems across the different types of people in the organization. Good Luck & Have Fun.
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Summary: An in-depth look into systems thinking.
Review: This book isn't meant for light reading but for gaining a deeper knowledge and understanding of systems thinking. The section on mental models is fantastic...check out some of the mental models in your organization. Also, don't overlook the field manual that came after this book...take advantage of the ideas of those who have already been there.
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Summary: A Re-hash of old stuff
Review: Waldrop's book is part of a widespread phenomena in business writing. Authors take some well-known information, in this case on systems and learning, repackage it and are hailed as "path breakers." There are a number of good textbooks that cover the same material much more concisely.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading
Review: With more than 400 pages of pretty dense material, the Fifth Disciple is a tough read. Stay with it. If you do, you may find yourself wanting to be part of a "learning organization". The discussions on change and resistance are particularly good. Peter Senge is one of the best systems thinkers around.
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