Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures of images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action. Peter Senge More Quotes by Peter Senge More Quotes From Peter Senge Dialogue starts with the willingness to challenge our own thinking, to recognize that any certainty we have is, at best, a hypothesis about the world. Peter Senge challenges world thinking Most of us at one time or another have been part of a great 'team', a group of people who functioned together in an extraordinary way-who trusted one another, who complemented each other's strengths and compensated for each other's limitations, who had common goals that were larger than an individual's goals, and who produced extraordinary results ... the team that became great didn't start off great-it learned how to produce extraordinary results. Peter Senge team goal people Teams, not individuals, are the fundamental learning unit in modern organizations. This is where the "rubber stamp meets the road"; unless teams can learn, the organization cannot learn. Peter Senge educational organization teamwork Courage is simply doing whatever is needed in pursuit of the vision Peter Senge pursuit vision needed Business and human endeavors are systems...we tend to focus on snapshots of isolated parts of the system. And wonder why our deepest problems never get solved. Peter Senge engagement focus appreciation Learning cannot be disassociated from action. Peter Senge action It is a testament to our naïveté about culture that we think that we can change it by simply declaring new values. Such declarations usually produce only cynicism. Peter Senge vets culture thinking Consider prejudice. Once a person begins to accept a stereotype of a particular group, that "thought" becomes an active agent, "participating" in shaping how he or she interacts with another person who falls in that stereotyped class. In turn, the tone of their interaction influences the other person's behaviour. The prejudiced person can't see how his prejudice shapes what he "sees" and how he acts. In some sense, if he did, he would no longer be prejudiced. To operate, the "thought" of prejudice must remain hidden to its holder Peter Senge learning knowledge fall Most leadership strategies are doomed to failure from the outset. As people have been noting for years, the majority of strategic initiatives that are driven from the top are marginally effective - at best. Peter Senge majority people years In the Machine Age, the company itself became a machine - a machine for making money. Peter Senge making-money machines age Leadership is about creating new realities. Peter Senge creating reality Structures of which we are unaware hold us prisoner. Peter Senge prisoner independence structure The easy way out usually leads back in. Peter Senge risk management way Additional problems are the offspring of poor decisions. When inquiry and advocacy are combined, the goal is no longer 'to win the argument', but to find the best argument. Peter Senge poor-decisions goal winning If people don't have their own vision, all they can do is 'sign-up' for someone else's. Peter Senge vision can-do people In the absence of a great dream pettiness prevails. Shred visions foster risk taking, courage and innovation. Keeping the end in mind creates the confidence to make decisions even in moments of crisis. Peter Senge innovation decision dream Small changes can produce big results - but the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious. Peter Senge small-changes results bigs Mastery of creative tension brings out the capacity for perseverance and patience. Time is an ally. Peter Senge allies perseverance creative Scratch the surface of most cynics and you find a frustrated idealist — someone who made the mistake of converting his ideals into expectations. Peter Senge frustrated expectations mistake Businesses and other human endeavors are also systems. They, too, are bound by invisible fabrics of interrelated actions, which often take years to fully play out their effects on each other. Since we are part of that lacework ourselves, it's doubly hard to see the whole pattern of change. Instead we tend to focus on snapshots of isolated parts of the system, and wonder why our deepest problems never seem to get resolved. Peter Senge focus play years
