Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL

are divided by our ignorance and misunderstandings. Thus common knowledge may be seen as a
key factor for synergy.
When members of an organization share their knowledge by explaining to others what they
understand, and find agreement in their reaction (because experiences coincide) – then everyone
multiples their own knowledge, and the collective knowledge base expands. When members of an
organization share their mistakes, and deal with gaps in understanding (because experiences or
misinterpretations of experiences rarely coincide) – then they are able to identify and fix them. This
way the total number of errors and the probability of related misunderstandings diminish. The
integration of mental maps and their mutual correction in this process is always useful for each
individual and for the organization as a whole; it produces a strong synergy effect.
Relations between members of an organization may prevent them from joining their separate
mental maps in a common field of organizational knowledge. When the structure and culture of an
organization is such that everyone has a desire and possibility to share with others his
understanding of the world (not defending his ‘point of view’ at any price, but making it more
accurate through feedback from others), when individuals free themselves from the niche of
individual delusion, and enter the wider field of common perception and understanding of reality –
the speed of learning in an organization increases many times over – thus improving the chances
for success. In this way a learning organization emerges.
The term ‘learning organization’ was defined in 1990 by one of the best-known authors on the
subject Peter Senge. It is an organization where “people continually expand their capacity to
create the results they truly desire, where new and extensive patterns of thinking are nurtured,
where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn
together.” According to Senge, “the core of work for a learning organization is based upon five
‘learning disciplines’ - lifelong programs of study and practice:
• Personal Mastery – learning to expand our personal capacity to create the results we most
desire, and creating an organizational environment, which encourages all its members to
develop themselves toward the goals and purposes, they choose.
• Mental Models – reflecting upon, continually clarifying, and improving our internal pictures
of the world, and seeing how they shape our actions and decisions.
• Shared Vision – building a sense of commitment in a group, by developing shared images
of the future we seek to create, and the principles and guiding practices by which we hope
to get there.
• Team Learning – transforming conversational and collective thinking skills, so that groups
of people can reliably develop intelligence and ability greater than the sum of individual
members’ talents.
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