Peter Senge Quotes

Source: Schools That Learn (updated and revised second edition): A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education

“Leadership is about creating new realities.”

Reality Creating

Author:Peter Senge

“Structures of which we are unaware hold us prisoner.”

Independence Structure Prisoner

Author:Peter Senge

“Commitment to the truth...means a relentless willingness to root out the ways we limit or deceive ourselves from seeing what is, and to continually challenge our theories of why things are the way they are. It means continually broadening our awareness. It also means continually deepening our understanding of the structures underlying current events.”

Way Mean Understanding Challenges Seeing Awareness Events Theory Limits Commitment Roots Structure Currents Insight Willingness Deceiving Relentless Current Events

Author:Peter Senge

“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.”

Thinking Values Culture Produce Cynicism Testament Declaration Declaring Vets

Author:Peter Senge

“When executives lead as teachers, stewards, and designers, they fill roles that are much more subtle and long-term than those of power-wielding hierarchical leaders.”

Long Term Leader Roles Teacher Long Term Designer Subtle Executives Stewards

Author:Peter Senge

“I think the terminology I would use is 'a continuous process of reflection'. I've always thought of only two questions that have mattered to me personally. One is what is really needed in the world and the second is what's really important to me and how these two intersect. It's always been a reflective process - spiraling around these two poles.”

Thinking World Two Important Use Process Needed Reflection Terminology

Author:Peter Senge

“Trusting people to be creative and constructive when given more freedom does not imply an overly optimistic belief in the perfectibility of human nature. It is, rather, belief that the inevitable errors and sins of the human condition are far better overcome by individuals working together in an environment of trust and freedom and mutual respect than by individuals working under a multitude of rules, regulations, and restraints imposed upon them by another group of imperfect individuals.”

“In dialogue, individuals gain insights that simply could not be achieved individually.”

Individual Gains Insight Dialogue

Book:The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization: First edition

Source: The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization: First edition

“By using the systems archetypes we can learn how to “structure” the details into a coherent picture of the forces at play.”

Play Force Structure Details Archetype

Author:Peter Senge

“Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures of images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action.”

World Action Influence Models Assumption Generalization

Author:Peter Senge

“The company-as-a-machine model fits how people think about and operate conventional companies. And, of course, it fits how people think about changing conventional companies: You have a broken company, and you need to change it, to fix it.”

People Thinking Needs Courses Company Broken Fit Models Machines Conventional Need A Change You Need To Change

Author:Peter Senge

“The Industrial Age is not sustainable. Its not sustainable in ecological terms, and its not sustainable in human terms.”

Humans Age Term Ecological

Author:Peter Senge

“Governments, especially democratic ones, are short-term and nationalistic.”

Government Term Democratic Short Term Nationalistic

Author:Peter Senge

“Innovation requires resources to invest, and you can see many companies pulling back and going into an intense protective mode in a major extended period of financial distress.”

Company Periods Majors Resources Innovation Financial Intense Pulling Distress Protective

Author:Peter Senge

“In the Machine Age, the company itself became a machine - a machine for making money.”

Age Company Machines Making Money

Author:Peter Senge

“Theres a lot of American kids think their food comes from the grocery store and the concept of seasonality has no meaning to them whatsoever.”

Thinking Kids Concepts Stores Groceries Grocery Stores

Author: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.”

Thinking World Challenges Dialogue Certainty Willingness Hypothesis

Author:Peter Senge

“We tend to think that, in a traditional organisation, people are producing results because management wants results, but the essence of a high-quality organisation is people producing results because they want the results. It's puzzling we find that hard to understand, that if people are really enjoying, they'll innovate, they'll take risks, they'll have trust with one another because they are really committed to what they're doing and it's fun”

People Ifs Thinking Want Hard Fun Enjoy Results Quality Risk Essence Management Strategy Committed Traditional Organisation High Quality Puzzling Producing Results

Author:Peter Senge

“Willpower is so common among highly successful people that many see its characteristics as synonymous with success.”

People Common Successful Characteristics Successful People Willpower

Author:Peter Senge

“The problems with willpower are many, but they may hardly be noticed by the person focused narrowly on success. First, there is little economy of means; in systems thinking terms, we act without leverage. We attain our goals, but the effort is enormous and we may find ourselves exhausted and wondering if it was worth it when we have succeeded. Ironically, people hooked on willpower may actually look for obstacles to overcome, dragons to slay, and enemies to vanquish--to remind themselves and others of their own prowess.”

“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.”

People Way Has Beens Together Individual Goal Results Common Groups Team Produce Extraordinary Limitation One Time Trusted Great Team Common Goal

Author:Peter Senge

“Leadership exists when people are no longer victims of circumstances but participate in creating new circumstances. Leadership is about creating a domain in which human beings continually deepen their understanding of reality and become more capable of participating in the unfolding of the world. Ultimately, leadership is about creating new realities.”

People World Humans Reality Understanding Human Beings Circumstances Creating Capable Victim Domain Unfolding Participating Victims Of Circumstance

Author:Peter Senge

“If there is genuine potential for growth, build capacity in advance of demand, as a strategy for creating demand. Hold the vision, especially as regards assessing key performance and evaluating whether capacity to meet potential demand is adequate.”

Ifs Growth Vision Keys Demand Creating Capacity Performances Regard Strategy Genuine Adequate Assessing

Author:Peter Senge

“In a sluggish system, aggressiveness produces instability. Either be patient or make the system more responsive.”

Produce Patient Be Patient Instability Sluggish Aggressiveness

Book:The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization: First edition

Source: The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization: First edition

“Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants.”

Doe Two Half Produce Elephants Dividing

Author:Peter Senge

“The discipline of personal mastery...starts with clarifying the things that really matter to us (and) living our lives in the service of our highest aspirations.”

Matter Our Lives Discipline Highest Aspiration Mastery Clarifying Personal Mastery

Author:Peter Senge

“Over the long run, superior performance depends on superior learning.”

Long Running Depends Performances Superiors Long Runs Superior Performance

Author:Peter Senge

“The difference between a healthy group or organization and an unhealthy one lies in its members' awareness and ability to acknowledge their felt needs to conform.”

Needs Lying Felt Differences Ability Groups Awareness Healthy Members Organization Acknowledge Conform Unhealthy

Book:Presence: Exploring Profound Change in People, Organizations and Society

Source: Presence: Exploring Profound Change in People, Organizations and Society

“An accurate, insightful view of current reality is as important as a clear vision.”

Important Reality Views Vision Clear Currents Insightful Accurate Clear Vision

Book:The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization: First edition

Source: The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization: First edition

“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.”

Years Humans Hard Play Whole Problem Seems Action Wonder Focus Effects Bounds Patterns Invisible Endeavor Isolated Fabric Snapshots

Author:Peter Senge

“The key to success isn't just thinking about what we are doing but doing something about what we are thinking.”

Thinking Keys Key To Success

Author:Peter Senge

“If you want real, significant, sustainable change, you need talented, committed local line leaders. If the line manager is not innovating, then innovation is not going to occur.”

Ifs Want Needs Real Lines Leader Innovation Committed Significant Locals Managers

Author:Peter Senge

“Many in positions of authority lack the capabilities to truly lead. They are not credible. They do not command genuine respect. They are not committed to serve. They are not continually learning and growing. They are not wise.”

Wise Growing Position Authority Committed Genuine Command Capability Credible Learning And Growing Continually Learning

Book:Leading Consciously

Source: Leading Consciously

“I often say that leadership is deeply personal and inherently collective. That's a paradox that effective leaders have to embrace.”

Leader Embrace Collectives Paradox

Author:Peter Senge

“Mastery of creative tension brings out the capacity for perseverance and patience. Time is an ally.”

Creative Capacity Perseverance Tension Allies Mastery Creative Tension

Author:Peter Senge

“When I look at efforts to create change in big companies over the past 10 years, I have to say that there's enough evidence of success to say that change is possible - and enough evidence of failure to say that it isn't likely. Both of those lessons are important.”

Years Looks Important Enough Bigs Past Effort Company Lessons Evidence Over The Past Big Companies

Author:Peter Senge

“You cannot have a learning organisation without a shared vision...A shared vision provides a compass to keep learning on course when stress develops.”

Courses Vision Stress Compass Organisation Keep Learning Shared Vision

Author:Peter Senge

“The gap between vision and current reality is also a source of energy. If there were no gap, there would be no need for any action to move towards the vision. We call this gap creative tension.”

Ifs Needs Reality Would Be Action Moving Energy Vision Creative Source Currents Tension Gaps Creative Tension

Author:Peter Senge

“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.”

Mind Ends Moments Dream Decision Vision Risk Innovation Crisis Absence Risk-taking Pettiness

Author:Peter Senge

“In some ways clarifying a vision is easy. A more difficult challenge comes in facing current reality.”

Way Reality Easy Difficult Challenges Vision Currents Difficult Challenges Clarifying

Author:Peter Senge

“It takes courage and skill to be unambiguous and clear.”

Vision Clear Skills

Book:Schools That Learn (updated and revised second edition): A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education

Source: Schools That Learn (updated and revised second edition): A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education

“A shared vision is not an idea...it is rather, a force in people's hearts...at its simplest level, a shared vision is the answer to the question 'What do we want to create?”

People Want Heart Ideas Force Answers Levels Vision Simplest Shared Vision

Author:Peter Senge

“Team learning is the Process of aligning and developing the capacity of a team to create the results its members desire. It builds on the discipline of developing a shared vision. It also builds on personal mastery, for talented teams are made up of talented individuals.”

Made Desire Individual Process Results Vision Team Discipline Members Capacity Educational Developing Teamwork Mastery Inspirational Teamwork Shared Vision Personal Mastery

Author:Peter Senge

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