The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook

This book follows upon the author’s renowned work, The Fifth Discipline. Supported by examples drawn from daily experience, it offers a great deal of pragmatic and smart advice on how to implement the concepts of the learning organization developed in the first book. An entire section of this handbook – chapters 33 to 43 – is devoted to mental models. Here you will find a detailed explanation of different techniques to help you think outside the framework of your existing mental models. For example, the “inference ladder” will help you distinguish your assumptions from objective facts and become aware of the subjective nature of your conclusions. You will also learn to analyze a conversation by retracing the dialogue, while noting in the “left column” what you were thinking as you talked. This is an effective way to reveal your mental models. The book also offers advice on conducting good conversations in which you effectively support your own ideas while actively listening to others. Finally, you will find ideas on how to reason from multiple perspectives, by borrowing the points of view of different people and developing scenarios.
This guide is very useful to get “into the saddle” after you have integrated the basic concepts.