"The Fifth Discipline : The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization" by Peter M. Senge
In terms of personal growth and seeing the world more accurately, "The Fifth Discipline" is one of the best books that I have ever read. It had a huge impact on me back in the early 1990's and although I cannot remember all five "disciplines", I did internalize a lot of it. :)
We did the beer game in school last year and it didn't seem to have the kind of impact on my classmates as it had on me the first time I played it. Even so, I have been looking through the book again and thinking that I should re-read it. There is just a ton of great stuff in there about communications, how to see and understand systems, and why people behave they way they do.
One criticism of the book was that it was too "deep". I have seen this issue raised with other books. I dont mean to be harsh but many people dont want to think; they just want someone to tell them what to do. The books sequel, "The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook", addressed this complaint with exercises to try but I never liked it as much as this first book. I imagine that has to do with learning styles and personalities.
Leave a comment
There are two ways to leave a comment:
One can create an account on this blog (Movable Type) or use authentication from several other sources, including OpenID, LiveJournal, Vox or TypeKey.