In their extraordinary book, Presence, Peter Senge and his four colleagues discuss newer
dimensions of learning as they freely waft from the mundane world of management
to the philosophy of the Bhagawadgeeta, the religion of the bible and theosophy
of Buddhism. They provide a new perspective to leadership with their concept of
deep learning. Senge had earlier discussed about reflective learning and
generative learning in his Fifth
Discipline. In Presence, Senge et al take us through the third
dimension of learning, learning through the inner self. Reading Presence is not only a journey in the
realm of concepts but also into the deeper world of philosophy and even
spirituality to create a new idea of leadership.
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| Leadership Needs Deeper Learning |
How important is learning for leadership when
technology takes quantum jumps almost every day? Learning is more important
today than ever to organizations.
.
Peter Senge et
al[1]
say, "All learning integrates thinking and doing . All learning is about
how we interact in the world and the types of capacities that develop from our
interactions. What differs is the depth of the awareness and the consequent
source of action".
Traditionally learning is a reactive process governed
by established mental models and action is dictated by established habits.
Edmund Burke thought that past was the basis of future innovation. No more.
Today's leadership wonder's, like P.G.Wodehouse, how to be prepared for the
unexpected. Senge et al say,
"From John Dewey on, theorists have argued that we learn from the past
through cycles of action and reflection that leads to new actions....Learning
based on the past suffices when the past is a good guide to the future. But it
leaves us blind to profound shifts when
whole new forces shaping changes arise." When paradigm shifts take place
the past is no more a guide to the future. Traditional reactive learning fails
to shed light on what the future would be like.
Hence, what Senge et al prescribe is deeper learning which enables leadership to see
the future by looking back from the
future to the present. In place of fragmented view of the world based on our
mental model, we have to create the "increasing awareness" of the
larger whole, the entire system, not only as it is now but also as it evolves.
Deeper learning, thus, enables us to create the future rather than merely plan
for the future. The key to creating the future is the "capacity to
suspend", that is the ability to stop our habitual ways of thinking and
perceiving. We suspend our usual ways of thinking; we reserve decisions on what
we perceive: we step back and allow ourselves to "see our own
seeing". Looking at ourselves as a third person in our mind's eye and
seeing ourselves as that third person provides a new and different perspective
to our perception. It enables us to look at us more objectively. For leadership
this means the need to look at itself from a distance.
The second part of deep learning is seeing the
organization from within. Senge et al
concede that "Seeing from the 'whole' in an organization may seem
difficult, but learning to be more attentive and genuinely curious about the
cultures we live in and enact is the first step". From this ecological
worldview, we have to move inward. They call this Theory U. The future is far
removed from the conventional mass
manufacturing system of today. For today's leadership making decisions
based on past experience will be more and more difficult in this uncertain
'casino of technology' of future. Knee jerk responses like "oh, they have
an inventory problem" will have to yield room to deeper kind of responses
like "what really is the problem here?" The former operates from our
conscious mind; but the latter is more fundamental and is at the 'deeper level
of knowing'.
Theory U operates in three steps:
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| Leadership Learning |
Step two: Retreat and reflect: At the base of the
U, in this step we allow the knowing to emerge. We become aware of knowing.
PRESENCING. We see beyond the external reality. Presencing is seeing from the
vantage point of the source from within. Like the vision, we see the future
whole emerging as if we are peering back at the present from the future. We can
picture it like taking to H.G.Wells' time machine, take a trip to the future
and from there look back at the present!
Step three: Action. One acts swiftly with the natural flow. REALISING. Moving up on the right side arm of U. Unlike conventional model of learning, action in this case comes from a source deeper than the rational mind. It comes from the understanding in the inner self.
Senge et al
put it succinctly thus, " At its essence, the theory U poses a question -
What does it mean to act in the world and not on the world?"
Conventionally the leadership is
separate from what it seeks to change. Look at leaders who want to change their
organizations. Action in theory U emanates from the unity of our self with
nature, the higher self.
As conceded by the authors, theory U is not easy
to practice. But leaders are exceptional men and women. Exceptional men and
women, indeed, will find theory U at least as guide post for action in their
organizations..
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| Leadership Learning |
The Bhagavad Geeta: "All actions are wrought
by the qualities of nature only. The self, deluded by egoism, thinketh: I am
the doer."
Jesus: "It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of the needle than for a rich man (or a lofty leader!) to enter the kingdom of God".(Italics
mine.)
Buddhist theory of unity of mind and world is
alien to Western World. "If you follow your nature enough, if you follow
your nature as it moves, if you follow so far that you really let go, then you
find that you are actually the original being, the original way of being...the
original being knows things and acts, does things in its own way. It actually
has a great intention to be itself, and it will do so if you just let it".
By V.K.Talithaya
vktalithaya@managementmasala.com
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