An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.
Jack Welch
Peter Senge’s 1990 book The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization presented a compelling frame for a collection of ideas and gave structure to a ‘new’ TLO concept. Senge explained that people need to conceive of the world as systems on which humans have imposed structures that both serve purposes and impose constraints. Senge explained TLO as a process of understanding and continually working to master five important disciplines. Each discipline has at its core a critical truth about a learning organization and adds to the total meaning of TLO. Senge’s rich book was highly successful and attracted enthusiasts. Yet now, twenty years later, many commentators are dismissing TLO as a fad. This chapter evaluates Senge’s TLO story and uses it to consider the contribution of fads and fashions to knowledge creation.
TLO is more than just a set of ideas promoted by a specific individual. Although TLO gained much impetus from its active champion, its emergence followed a latency period. Senge did not invent his concept of TLO out of nothing. He pulled together ideas that had originated separately in various places over several decades. Even the specific term ‘the learning organization’ had appeared in print earlier (Garratt, 1987; Korten, 1980). The success of Senge’s book was partly a result of its timing. Senge spotted a developing societal trend, identified some relevant concepts, placed these concepts into a frame, and made the concepts accessible by retelling familiar stories and presenting interesting examples. Sales of Senge’s books, public accolades, and formation of at least two societies testify that growing acceptance of TLO as valuable knowledge had widespread social support. Some consultants have promoted efforts to apply Senge’s prescriptions, and some organizations may have benefited from trying to apply them.
This chapter describes the history of TLO and Senge’s role in its emergence as a mainstream concept. This history suggests two questions. Why did Senge’s book become popular and retain this popularity through two editions and two decades? Was the popularity of this book a consequence of its inherent properties or of its societal context? The chapter addresses these questions by drawing upon research into fads and fashions in business techniques. This research suggests that suppliers of management techniques—academics, consultants—promote them as efficient means to effective ends and also as novel and improved. By framing reactions to TLO in terms of prior research about fads and fashions, the chapter also raises questions about the nature of knowledge and what ‘learning’ means.