World Colleges Information

Peter Senge is a widely respected management guru; currently he is a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also Chairperson of the Society for Organizational Learning (SoL); this is a global community, which is dedicated to the "interdependent development of people and their institutions."

Senge is the author of key management books, The Fifth Discipline, The Dance of Change and Schools that Learn. Senge's works discuss key positions of human value in the workplace; this embraces issues like vision, purpose and systems of thinking that organizations need to delve into if they want to realize their full potential. Some of his key themes of research and interest include organization learning, leadership in organizations, the importance of empowering the employee, enhancement of productivity and systems and theories to understand economic and organizational change.

The Fifth Discipline, Senge's first book details Organization Learning, one of the most talked-about management concepts of recent times. The book covers issues like "personal mastery", "mental models", "shared vision" and "team learning". The fifth discipline is a system of thinking which gives a holistic view of the organization as a function of its environment.

In The Dance of Change he tells leaders and thinkers to work "more like gardeners and less like mechanics." He elaborates, "If leaders don't understand the forces that keep change from taking root and growing, all their entreaties, strategies, and change programs will produce more frustration than real results." In this book he outlines how companies can make Organization Learning work. He discusses how companies can overcome obstacles and turn them into opportunities. He presents an insiders' account of companies like GE, Harley-Davidson and the US Army. He explains, "We are seeking to understand how people nurture the reinforcing growth processes that naturally enable an organization to evolve and change and how they to the limiting processes that can impede or stop that growth."

Senge is a much-respected consultant in many fields including business, education, health care and the government. The Journal of Business Strategy (September/October 1999) named him as one of the 24 people who had the greatest influence on business strategy over the last 100 years.