Category: Articles

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Transforming a Command-and-Control Culture

Introducing learning organization principles to a company is difficult and fraught with uncertainty. How do you lead without taking the reins? How do you…

TQM and Systems Thinking as Theory-Building Tools

Our brains are pattern-making systems — they organize our perceptions of the world into patterns that enable us to function effectively. For example, when…

Stewardship: A New Employment Covenant

The latest casualty of the changes sweeping through corporate America is the lifetime employment contract — the implicit agreement that provided employees with economic…

Organizational Learning and Leadership Development at EDS

Evaluating a program on “learning how to learn” is difficult using traditional quantitative criteria. Fritjof Capra, author of The Turning Point, offers these guidelines…

Lessons in Systems Thinking: A Tale from the Land of Middle Health

Microtown, a small community deep within the Land of Middle Health, isn’t much different from other towns. Its citizens are young and old, rich…

Charting a Corporate Learning Strategy

Managers in many companies slay are struggling with one basic question: How do you actually create a learning organization? While the five disciplines described…

Shifting the Burden Revisited: Turtles All the Way Down

There is an old story about a student who asked his master, “Teacher, what holds up the world?” The teacher paused for a moment…

Clarifying Variables: Actual, Perceived, and Desired

One of the primary benefits of modeling with systems tools—whether causal loops or computer simulations—is the intense discussion it can generate around important variables…

ABC: Initiating Large-Scale Change at Chrysler

When Chrysler adopted activity-based costing (ABC) in 1991, the decision rep; resented more than a simple accounting change. The shift to ABC challenged many…

Cultivating Tomorrow’s Leaders: Should You Teach, Coach, or Mentor?

You need good people in your department to make your organization shine. Capable deputies allow you to stretch to new goals, and a thriving…