Life-cycle of LO concept LO9021

John Paul Fullerton (jpf@mail.myriad.net)
Sat, 10 Aug 1996 14:13:34 +0000

Replying to LO8978 -- was: Values and Honesty

Keith said

> The real risk of the LO philosophy is that it will follow the normal
> course for management "fads" - it will gradually prove successful
> and the sponsoring CEOs will be publicized, then it will become
> fashionable and "everyone" will claim to be doing LO, then when it
> does not prove to be the magic elixir after 12 months, something new
> will be tried!

> What can we do to prevent this trend that has happened to everything
> from MBOs to Quality etc from happening to LO?

The following is directly related to the idea of "the learning
organization" as a fad.

I've mentioned the "Fifth Discipline" 1994 "Introduction to the Paperback
Edition" a few times because others may not have had occasion to see the
paperback version and it includes Peter Senge's view of "The Fifth
Discipline" about four years after its original publication.

Here is the beginning of the "Introduction".

"The vision that became "The Fifth Discipline" was born one morning
in the fall of 1987. During my meditation that morning, I suddenly
became aware that "the learning organization" would likely become a
new management fad. Having watched similar fads (such as "creating
shared visions") develop in the past, I knew that the work being done
at MIT, Innovation Associates, and by collegues elsewhere represented
a unique perspective and body of practical knowledge that could
contribute to organizational learning. I also realized that if we
were to influence the fad, we needed to "put a stake in the
ground"--to establish a position concerning what was possible, a
position that would become a point of reference as the fad cycle
developed."

"Being an incurable systems thinker, in my mind that morning I saw a
"pattern of behavior" graph over time that represented the inevitable
rise and fall of fads. I imagined that like all fads that catch on,
interest in learning organizations would grow rapidly. Then there
would be a leveling off, followed by a decline. While advocates of a
new fad typically do everything they can to accelerate the growth
period, in fact the most important questions concern the decline
phase. How precipitous will the decline be? How can it be influenced?
What will be left after the fad has passed? Pure fads are
characterized by a rapid decline, and a complete collapse in interest
as the fad fades into obscurity. Hula Hoops, Pet Rocks, and many of
the "new management" ideas of the 1980s (like quality circles) have
one thing in common--once they're gone, they're gone."

"But other new ideas do not fade into obscurity even after their
faddishness passes. It seemed to me that one way to influence the
long-term impact of "the learning organization" was to establish an
intellectually challenging base of ideas and tools early in the fad
cycle. The "stake" I wanted to put into the ground would establish
systems thinking, mental models, personal mastery, shared vision, and
team learning and dialogue as inescapable elements in building
learning organizations. If I had drawn the curve that morning, I
would have put an arrow at the very outset of the growth period. If
you are going to write a book that is part of a fad cycle, it had
better be published at the beginning of the cycle."

"While these realizations came literally in a matter of moments, the
eventual choice to pursue this understanding consumed the better part
of the ensuing two and a half years, resulting in the book you have
in your hands."

(From the "Introduction to the Paperback Edition" of "The Fifth
Discipline". 1994 edition.)

Have a nice day
John Paul Fullerton
jpf@myriad.net

-- 

"John Paul Fullerton" <jpf@mail.myriad.net>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>