The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization

In the long run, the only sustainable source of competitive advantage is your organisation's ability to learn faster than its competitors.

Draws on science, spiritual values, psychology, the cutting edge of management thought with leading companies which employ Fifth Discipline methods. This edition contains more than 100 pages of material about how companies are actually using and benefiting from Fifth Discipline practices.

The million-copy business classic that revolutionised how we think about leadership & learning, updated with a foreword from Amy Edmondson, author of Right Kind of Wrong.

"The book that put “learning organisations” into the lexicon of modern management . . . An idiosyncratic blend of psychology, systems dynamics and Zen-inspired philosophy." - Financial Times

"One of the seminal management books of the past seventy-five years." - Harvard Business Review

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Why do some organisations continually adapt, innovate and thrive, while others remain trapped in old ways of thinking?

In The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge challenges the idea that organisations are machines and employees are no more than cogs within them. Instead, he shows how to build a ‘learning organisation’: one where people think creatively, challenge assumptions, learn from one another and work towards a shared purpose.

At the heart of his groundbreaking approach is systems thinking – the ‘fifth discipline’ that helps us see beyond individual problems to understand how every part of an organisation connects. By mastering Senge’s five disciplines, you will learn how to:

• Break free from limiting assumptions and see problems in entirely new ways
• Turn teamwork into genuine collective creativity, harnessing the intelligence of the whole organisation
• Create a culture of continuous learning, where curiosity and new ideas can flourish
• Understand the systems shaping your organisation and make smarter, more lasting change

Drawing on science, psychology, philosophy and lessons from organisations including Apple, Harley-Davidson and Shell, The Fifth Discipline is an enduring guide to building organisations that are more innovative, adaptable and effective.