Senge Fifth Discipline — Learning Organization
Peter Senge's framework for building learning organizations as published in 'The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization' (1990, revised 2006). The core premise is that an organization's competitive advantage comes from its capacity to learn faster than competitors. Introduces five interrelated disciplines and eleven laws of systems thinking.
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Framework Domains (3)
Laws of the Fifth Discipline
Eleven principles capturing key insights of systems thinking and common systemic patterns in organizational life.
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| SENGE-L01 | Today's problems come from yesterday's solutions |
| SENGE-L02 | The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back |
| SENGE-L03 | Behavior grows better before it grows worse |
| SENGE-L04 | The easy way out usually leads back in |
| SENGE-L05 | The cure can be worse than the disease |
| SENGE-L06 | Faster is slower — systems have an optimal rate of growth |
| SENGE-L07 | Cause and effect are not closely related in time and space |
| SENGE-L08 | Small changes can produce big results but leverage areas are not obvious |
| SENGE-L09 | You can have your cake and eat it too — but not at once |
| SENGE-L10 | Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants |
| SENGE-L11 | There is no blame — systems thinking shows no outside |
Systems Archetypes
Generic systemic structures recurring across diverse organizational settings, helping leaders identify leverage points and avoid common traps.
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| SENGE-A01 | Fixes That Fail — quick fix works short-term but worsens the original problem over time |
| SENGE-A02 | Shifting the Burden — symptomatic solutions erode capacity for fundamental solutions |
| SENGE-A03 | Limits to Growth — reinforcing growth encounters balancing constraints |
| SENGE-A04 | Escalation — two parties in mutually reinforcing aggressive reactions |
| SENGE-A05 | Success to the Successful — competing activities where winner takes more resources |
| SENGE-A06 | Tragedy of the Commons — shared resource degraded by individual overuse |
| SENGE-A07 | Growth and Underinvestment — growth limited by failure to invest in capacity |
| SENGE-A08 | Eroding Goals — lowering standards rather than investing in achieving them |
The Five Disciplines
Five component disciplines that converge to build learning organizations. Systems Thinking is the fifth and integrating discipline.
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| SENGE-MM | Mental Models — surfacing, testing, and improving internal pictures of how the world works |
| SENGE-PM | Personal Mastery — continually clarifying personal vision, focusing energies, developing patience |
| SENGE-ST | Systems Thinking — the fifth discipline, seeing interrelationships and patterns rather than events and parts |
| SENGE-SV | Building Shared Vision — unearthing shared pictures of the future fostering commitment not compliance |
| SENGE-TL | Team Learning — aligning team capacity through dialogue and skillful discussion |
Maps to 27 other frameworks
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Senge Fifth Discipline — Learning Organization?
Senge Fifth Discipline — Learning Organization is a compliance framework from International with 3 domains and 24 controls. Peter Senge's framework for building learning organizations as published in 'The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization' (1990, revised 2006). The core premise is that an organization's competitive advantage comes from its capacity to learn faster than competitors. Introduces five interrelated disciplines and eleven laws of systems thinking. It is used by organisations to establish and maintain compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements.
How many controls does Senge Fifth Discipline — Learning Organization have?
Senge Fifth Discipline — Learning Organization has 24 controls organised across 3 domains. The largest domains are Laws of the Fifth Discipline (11 controls), Systems Archetypes (8 controls), The Five Disciplines (5 controls). Each control defines specific requirements that organisations must implement to achieve compliance.
What frameworks does Senge Fifth Discipline — Learning Organization map to?
Senge Fifth Discipline — Learning Organization maps to 27 other compliance frameworks. The top mapping partners are LEADS in a Caring Environment (33% coverage), Goleman Emotional Intelligence Leadership Framework (25% coverage), ISO 37000:2021 (21% coverage). Use our comparison tool to explore control-level mappings between frameworks.
How do I get started with Senge Fifth Discipline — Learning Organization compliance?
Start your Senge Fifth Discipline — Learning Organization compliance journey by running a self-assessment on our platform to identify your current compliance posture. Our AI advisory can answer specific questions about Senge Fifth Discipline — Learning Organization requirements, and cross-framework mapping helps you leverage existing controls from other frameworks you may already comply with. Create a free account to access all 24 controls and track your progress.
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