The Laws of the Fifth Discipline
The Laws of the Fifth Discipline
Peter Senge’s 11 Laws of the Fifth Discipline are the following:
1. Today’s problems come from yesterday’s “solutions.”
2. The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back.
3. Behavior will grow worse before it grows better.
4. The easy way out usually leads back in.
5. The cure can be worse than the disease.
6. Faster is slower.
7. Cause and effect are not closely related in time and space.
8. Small changes can produce big results but the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious.
9. You can have your cake and eat it too – but not all at once.
10. Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants.
11. There is no blame.
The first law simply means that the problem you inherited today is likely the result of a series of solutions that seemed right at the time made by people that are probably no longer around. Simmons claims that your challenge is to learn to avoid sowing the seeds of tomorrow’s problems with today’s solutions. To do that, you are going to have to train your mind to identify and comprehend the complex chain of causal factors that led to the effects that now consume your time and threaten your operations. Systems thinking is a discipline that you can – must – develop over time (Simmons, 2010). This law is somehow similar to another saying which is “Do not let yesterday’s disappointments cast on tomorrow’s dreams.” I can relate well with this law because I see every challenge as an opportunity to learn and as a step closer to an improved life. The second law’s deeper meaning is that the system of the organization has been slow down because the people in the organization push too hard on it. So, it turns out to be the more effort you expend trying to improve matters, the more effort seems to be required. In my point of view, this law advices us to always have enough effort in something and never more than enough because it will only cause trouble. The third law
Peter Senge’s 11 Laws of the Fifth Discipline are the following:
1. Today’s problems come from yesterday’s “solutions.”
2. The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back.
3. Behavior will grow worse before it grows better.
4. The easy way out usually leads back in.
5. The cure can be worse than the disease.
6. Faster is slower.
7. Cause and effect are not closely related in time and space.
8. Small changes can produce big results but the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious.
9. You can have your cake and eat it too – but not all at once.
10. Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants.
11. There is no blame.
The first law simply means that the problem you inherited today is likely the result of a series of solutions that seemed right at the time made by people that are probably no longer around. Simmons claims that your challenge is to learn to avoid sowing the seeds of tomorrow’s problems with today’s solutions. To do that, you are going to have to train your mind to identify and comprehend the complex chain of causal factors that led to the effects that now consume your time and threaten your operations. Systems thinking is a discipline that you can – must – develop over time (Simmons, 2010). This law is somehow similar to another saying which is “Do not let yesterday’s disappointments cast on tomorrow’s dreams.” I can relate well with this law because I see every challenge as an opportunity to learn and as a step closer to an improved life. The second law’s deeper meaning is that the system of the organization has been slow down because the people in the organization push too hard on it. So, it turns out to be the more effort you expend trying to improve matters, the more effort seems to be required. In my point of view, this law advices us to always have enough effort in something and never more than enough because it will only cause trouble. The third law
References: (2011, 12). Fifth Discipline. StudyMode.com. Retrieved October 28, 2012 from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Fifth-Discipline-882144.html Gerard (n.d.). Learning Organizations. Retrieved October 28, 2012 from http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/MENG/MEAB/learning_organisation/people_behaviour.html Mullaney, A. (2008). The 11 Laws of the Fifth Discipline. Retrieved October 28, 2012 from http://guidance.tahanto.bbrsd.schoolfusion.us/modules/locker/files/get_group_file.phtml?gid=1388854&fid=5384889&sessionid=60c7e774e18264fb764b29ebd2416299 Santos, A. (n.d.). The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization. Retrieved October 28, 2012 from http://leeds-faculty.colorado.edu/larsenk/learnorg/senge.html Simmons, B. (2010). The Cure Is Worse Than The Disease. Retrieved October 28, 2012 from http://www.bretlsimmons.com/2010-04/the-cure-is-worse-than-the-disease/ Simmons, B. (2010). Today’s Problems Come From Yesterday’s Solutions. Retrieved October 28, 2012 from http://www.bretlsimmons.com/2010-03/todays-problems-come-from-yesterdays-solutions/