'Learning Organization' Author To Release New Guide

In Peter Senge's 1990 book, The Fifth Discipline, he described the art and practice of creating "learning organizations," organizations that deliberately try to improve their people's collective capabilities. In Senge's new book, to be released Apr. 1, he and his coauthors describe how to make change stick. In The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations, Senge and his coauthors offer a series of essays that describe the stages of organizational change and the restraints that leaders at all levels might encounter. Interspersed in the book, published by New York-based Doubleday, are individual and team exercises that are supported by in-depth accounts on sustaining learning initiatives. Included are examples from companies such as Shell Oil, Du Pont, Ford, and General Electric. "Shared commitment to change develops only when people discover and commit to their personal aspirations and develop collective capability to build shared aspirations," says Senge.