Rating: 
Summary: Unsure This Emperor Wears Clothes
Review: I wonder if this book often is held in high regard because it is supposed to be; because it sounds serious and informed; because it seems to be addressing a subject with gravity; because Senge must be saying something important because he's from MIT. I know no one who has remembered any of its lessons, much less applied them, , except its discussion of systems thinking---about which Senge says nothing new and takes pages to say it. This seems one of "important books" which, like the Emperor, lacks clothes. Granted, Fifth Discipline does looks impressive on my office bookshelf. But does anyone believe it has any other value?
Rating: 
Summary: A GOOD BASIC BUSINESS BOOK
Review: THIS IS A GOOD BASIC BUSINESS BOOK. WE ARE A MID SIZED DISTRIBUTION COMPANY AND FOUND THAT WE COULD LEARN SOME GOOD BASIC IDEAS FROM THIS BOOK. YOU CAN APPLY TO YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE BOTH IN AND OUT OF THE OFFICE. ANOTHER MUST READ IS THE 2000 PERCENT SOLOUTION, WHICH CAN TAKE YOU TO THE NEXT LEVEL AND HELP YOU PLOW EVEN FURTHER EVERYDAY TO REACH YOUR GOALS.. GET THEM BOTH AND YOU'LL KEEP THEM ON YOUR DESK TO REFER TO.
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Summary: This book is the backbone of the changing organization.
Review: The five disciplines of the learning organization bring together the individual, the team and the systems in which we live and work to allow learning and then progress to occur. This book is about adapting to change through continuous learning. The focus is on "change", encouraged by experimentation. In simple form, this is a book that everyone can understand. The Fifth Discipline should be "required reading" for today's executives, and is a pivotal work in the era of the knowledge movement.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Introducing Systems Thinking to Business People
Review: Thinking about how one thing affects another either comes naturally to you or it doesn't. For most people it is the latter. For these people, The Fifth Discipline is a wonderful gift. Our emotions tell us to do one thing, and that one thing is usually not in our own best interest. I had heard clients of mine talk about the beer game, and I was delighted to see it described in this book. For the average reader, this book will make you expert enough in systems thinking to be much more successful with your decisions. If you feel that you would like more help in this area, please read The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook. It is a very helpful companion book that will give you practical advice for implementing what you learn in this book. If you have colleagues or friends who often make decisions that do not turn out well, it may be because they do not understand how to think about business as a system. Give them this book, and you will have done the person a great favor. Follow-up by discussing what they have learned, and help them with an exercise or two from the Fieldbook. You'll be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: A new kind of Totalitarism applied to human affairs
Review: This is definitely an excellent work about organizations and its evolution based on David' s Bohm holistic view of the universe. One of its main drawbacks is that when applied to human affairs takes us to a new kind of totalitarism, more subtle but at last totalitarism, in which the role and leadership of the individual is replaced by the work of the team. As "the universe is basically an indivisible whole", the concept of hierarchy disapears completely, so the natural consequence when applied to organizations is to flatten them. The role of the "real leader", is replaced by a "facilitator", because we are all equal. Even though the intention of the whole work is to make evolution to go on, the concept of a facilitator, of the role of the team, and even the idea that "thought is to a large degree collective", will take us far from a "creative organization" as contraposed to a "learning organization". If the team is the main player in organization who is going to do the real work ? No, definitively we need not just a minimum of hierarchy, but some sort of a fundamental principle in which the opposites become complementary, some sort of basic unit, in which the opposites are immersed in a comprehensive whole. This in an emerging new concept that has been applied succesfully in: the Object Oriented Methodology in which one of the fundamental principle is the concept of hierarchy; which can be also be found in works as the Seven Habits of highly effective People; The Corporate Mistic of Gay Hendricks; but also in the ancient wisdom book, The I Ching.
Rating:
Summary: Poor common sense translation of systems science
Review: Beneath the shiny coating of words, the bottom line of the author is a poor translation of some of the fundamentals of systems science. The models presented in the book are none other than a banal reinterpretation of behavioural structures that have been studied by systems science for more than 30 years. Admitting this starting point and cutting a lot of the blah-blah about learning would have helped in making this a better book. If you want to read something on learning and change, read Watzlawicz's "Change".
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Summary: An inspirational book
Review: Add this to 7 Habits for helping to change the way organisations think. A must for anyone determined to get the best out of their organisations
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Summary: Fundamental Tools: A LANGUAGE ON BIOLOGICAL LEARN!
Review: Learning is a Biological Live Process that require Pratice, Commitment, Ritual, InterACTION ...
P. Senge capture all this subjects in very simple and clear style.
If you understand a TOOL as an extension of your possibilities YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!
A Management book for the next Century.
A LeaderShip book for our days.
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Summary: Difference between "The Fifth Discipline" & other books
Review: PROBING QUESTIONS :
What is the difference between "TheFifth Discipline" and other management books?
Why most popular Management fads cannot create enduring change?
FOCUS:
Enduring change in oneself. Personal calling.
Learning Individual & Learning Organisation
OBSERVATIONS:
There is a variety of reaction and acceptance of different management approaches from consultants or management guru.
Investment in new management approach generally due to a) good or new ideas b) logical recipe-like program / activities for easy implementation.
Management commitment to new approach is expressed as resources and investment rendered.
There are two distinct "dis-connects" in above so called "committed" approach. a) "Dis-connect" from Current Reality or Actual Business Practices with objective and statistical evidence, b) "Dis-connect" from one owns' belief, core-value of the policy, decision makers or change agents.
WHAT CAUSES :
The psychology and good feeling in doing something tangible (like following a recipe-like program) and getting some quick fixes fit well with fire-fight (action - reaction) instinct of most human nature.
Deep probing into Actual Business Practices with objective and statistical evidence only exposes more weaknesses of policy and decision makers.
THE DIFFERENCE:
Most enduring change to really satisfy a worthy goal of an entity does not come about by performing activities, program or system implementation, but deep soul searching on the part of the policy and decision makers on their own belief, core-values, principles, knowledge, techniques and skills.
Since "The Fifth Discipline" does not offer quick fix or recipe-like program, it is not the most popular management approach to practice the said disciplines based on theories. But for persons who are ready for personal transformation to take place, e.g. in reshaping their own mental model, vision etc. (not introducing or organising program for organisation), the much researched theories and disciplines as per "The Fifth Discipline" can be a powerful guide for enduring change to take place in the said persons and simultaneously in the organisation.
There must be a shift of focus from "activities / program that expects others to perform" TO "personal transformation through own PRACTICES". For additional info please visit http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5621
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Summary: Breakthrough in Leadership
Review: Together with the "Seven Habits" by Stephen Covey and the "Corporate Mystic" by Gay Handriks, those three books are givine you an outline of how to generate leaders as well as generate new levels of thinking, new levels of managing, new levels of personal and inter-personal integrity that will enable you to master your future both as a contributer and as a leader!
Read them all !!! There's a lot to be accomplished !!! Ronen Ben-Naphtali, Israel
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