The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies for Building a Learning Organization

fundamental purpose: to marry the individual development of every person in the organization with superior economic performance.

begin talking about the problem; to plant stakes

“pattern-of-behavior” line-chart form, with “time” (the period of months, quarters, or years you care about) as the X-axis, and the key factor (variable) as the Y-axis. Don’t worry about getting exact numbers;

For every reinforcing process, there are probably ten or more balancing processes waiting to happen, but they are nearly all invisible. We don’t notice what keeps things stable; we notice only when things dramatically grow or decline.

Often, people are aware of the negative consequences of applying this quick fix. But they do it anyway, because the pain of not doing something right away is more urgent, and feels more powerful…

Read through examples of each archetype in action. Keep alert for the stories which seem to ring analogously to your own story, no matter how…

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Eventually, consumer products companies found themselves putting effort into promotions at the expense of new product development, while distributors concentrated on buying and storing…

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Rather than beginning a dozen simultaneous initiatives, we recommend focusing on three or four, always with an idea of what values you are trying to convey. You should always start with initiatives you care about deeply—which is why personal mastery is such a valuable discipline for senior leaders.

mental models techniques-Ladder of Inference, Left-Hand Column, and Balancing Inquiry and Advocacy-are very useful in these “introspective” discussions.