The Fifth Discipline
February 23rd, 2006
The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge
Why We Like This Book:
A classic book that will probably never be implemented anywhere. Senge’s principles are brilliant, and most professional managers need to know the basics of this book, which is well read among senior executives. You need to understand systems thinking. It will make you a better thinker of complex issues. But it’s unlikely to change your behavior, which is one of our watchwords here.
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June 27th, 2006 at 5:40 pm
I am reading this book right now and i am blown away by some of the insights and chapters. I cannot cannot believe systems thinking is not as part of everyday management lingo and that this book is still a tad bit obsure. ooohhhh the ignominy that ‘Blink’ and ‘Freakonomics’ are part of the mainstream and this is not so. and they ARE good books and yet don’t hold a fishin candle to this tome. Agreed some of it (esp the chapter on personal mastery) is a bit touchy-feely but Chapter 2 on Systemic thinking should be in some hall of fame on genius writing. Someone give this man the pultizer please.
hail senge!
June 28th, 2006 at 1:38 am
Shiva-
Mike agrees with you! He loves systems thinking. I just have never seen it implemented. Human interactions are too complex to be modeled, in my experience (or I’m not smart enough).
Mark
November 4th, 2006 at 2:22 am
Mike and Mark,
My Director loves this book and is what we are going to start using in my current unit for learning organizations. Haven’t started to read it, but she says it’s well worth it. Glad to have found it in your recommendations!
Todd
November 4th, 2006 at 4:02 pm
Todd-
We love the book…but good luck implementing it. Systems thinking is devilishly hard. And in a hospital…wow.
April 29th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I’m currently finishing my Masters degree in Conflict Resolution and this title is one of the books we are using for a course: Conflict in the Workplace. I’ve loved it. One trick I’ve used when it seems to be getting a little dry is to listen to it on audio. There are some excellent insights we have discussed at length.
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:27 pm
I tried and failed to finish this book. I like the overall concept of systems thinking. But, the book is written very dry and more like a PhD dissertation than a management book. I got very bored between bursts of insight. To me what would be more helpful would be to take the whole concept of those neat diagrams and turn that into a useful tool. Really dig in on how to draw them, figure out what boxes to use, how to figure out where the friction is. It wouldn’t have to be as deep as this book. That would be one hell of a book and probably more implementable than this tome.
Tom
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:31 am
Tom-
You’re not alone.
Mark
June 25th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
I finally made it on my third try. It was dry.
I’ve been told in the past that I am predisposed to systems thinking and am struggling mightily to encourage it in increasingly large circles begin with my own desk.
In my opinion, expecting systems thinking from individuals within an organization is almost an oxymoron. In large part organizations are built to allow for specialization. As specialization increases knowledge, visibility and understanding of the entire system decreases.
This reminds me, I’m do for a review of the topics in this book.
June 11th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Mike and Mark ,
I happen to be the founder of what is called THE DEMING FORUM ( INDIA ) . I have been a great follower of Dr. Deming’s works . I believe Peter Senge is too . I don’t see Dr. Deming’s books on your list of books you like .
Any particular reasons ? Just a harmless enquiry !!
June 11th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Ahh, the book list. I could have a podcast every week just on books, and we haven’t done a good job keeping up with our recommendations. We regret having left off Dr Deming, and will correct the oversight with deliberate speed.
Mark
June 12th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I agree the book is a bit dry. It came to life for me when I discovered Robert Fritz’s work, The Path of Least Resistance. Robert and Peter are friends and former colleagues. Robert is a genuine original thinker and brings a practicality to systems thinking from the arts. He contends systems thinking and structural thinking are distinctly different - but complementary works.
Thinking structurally is a bit painful at first - such a shift. Managers, in particular, will be required to think differently as the world changes. Robert’s work is genuinely on the edge and is a breath of fresh air in contrast to most “me-too” business books.
As an aside, I love Demming’s work and read his original work every so often just to stay grounded.
Dave Mather