Core Competencies Course

Core Competencies Course

Facilitators:
Peter Senge
Sara Schley

April 26-30, 2004

Location: Renaissance Hotel, Bedford MA

Capacity: 100 participants

Tuition:
$4000 for SoL Members
$5000 for Non-Members.
Contact us for non-profit rates, team rates, and scholarship information.

Tuition does not include hotel or food costs.

For registration and information, contact: 

Jackie Tabb
Tel. 617-300-9560
Fax 617-354-2093
E-mail jackie@solonline.org

Logistical Information

REGISTRATION

This course conveys the essence of SoL's mission by teaching new perspectives for individual and collective learning. It was first presented in March 1992, in conjunction with the MIT Center for Organizational Learning, and has since been attended by more than 2,000 managers and individuals from member and non-member companies.

Anticipated Learning
After attending the course, you will have an understanding of the core competencies required for building learning organizations and you will have the experience of participating in a learning community. You will have an enhanced ability to think systemically, communicate effectively, and lead honorably. You will be asked to clarify personal and professional visions, and then use those personal visions to create a shared vision that can guide an organization on its path to becoming a learning organization.

Audience
This course is designed as an intensive and comprehensive hands-on introduction to the concepts, methods and tools for building learning organizations. It is designed for teams interested in working together to apply organizational learning tools and methods to practical issues in the context of their organization. Participants need to be genuinely interested in attending, be open to a different experience, and be in positions to support further work in their organizations.

Detailed Course Description
This is not a typical management training course. This program emphasizes that knowledge is really the capacity for action and that learning is the development of that capacity. Although it will introduce you to new tools and methods, it is not primarily focused on tools and methods. It is based on a simple premise: that there is no better way to learn about learning organizations and how they can be brought about than to create such an organization. We endeavor to do so, insofar as that is possible in five days. The course invites you to think about your own aspirations, both in and out of the workplace. It focuses on the principles, concepts, methods and tools of organizational learning, and how to apply them in an organizational and personal context. This requires individuals with some first-hand knowledge in the "learning disciplines" of a learning organization:

Systems Thinking
Certain systemic patterns or "archetypes" are common to seemingly different personal, organizational, and social issues. Systems thinking teaches us to see these archetypes and find "leverage points" which allow us to act with maximum effectiveness and efficiency and to simplify the growing complexity of our environment.

Personal Mastery
Individuals committed to their own learning and to creating the results they truly want in their lives are the type of people who lead continually learning organizations. Personal mastery allows us to articulate personal visions and achieve them by transforming stress into creative tension.

Team Learning and Mental Models
True learning involves the suspension of our presuppositions and assumptions, our mental models. For teams to think together and communicate effectively they need to transcend the pre-conceived notions each member brings to the organization.

Shared Vision and the Learning Organization
The spirit of an organization determines its capacity to learn. Organizational spirit comes from the sharing of a vision. Only with a deep understanding and acceptance of this common goal are individuals able to transcend their personal visions and find meaning for their actions in the context of the organization.

Facilitator Biographies

Peter M. Senge is a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is founding chair of SoL. He is the author of the widely acclaimed book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization (1990) and, with colleagues Charlotte Roberts, Rick Ross, Bryan Smith and Art Kleiner, co-author of The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization (1994) and a fieldbook The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations (March, 1999), also co-authored by George Roth. In September 2000, a new fieldbook on education was published, the award winning Schools That Learn: A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education, co-authored with Nelda Cambron-McCabe, Timothy Lucas, Bryan Smith, Janis Dutton, and Art Kleiner. Dr. Senge has lectured extensively throughout the world, translating the abstract ideas of systems theory into tools for better understanding of economic and organizational change. His areas of special interest focus on decentralizing the role of leadership in organizations so as to enhance the capacity of all people to work productively toward common goals.

Sara Schley is a founding and senior partner at Seed Systems, a company dedicated to promoting sustainable development in business. Seed employs a cutting edge approach that views sustainability strategies and practices as key to competitive advantage for business. With partners Joe Laur and Peter Senge, Ms. Schley founded and leads the Sustainability Consortium at the Society for Organizational Learning (SoL). This is a group of industry leaders from BP, Shell, Nike, Ford, Worldbank and others who are actively engaged in projects and research in organizational learning and systems thinking for sustainable business. Ms. Schley is an elected member of the Council of Trustees for SoL. She has led numerous organizational learning and change initiatives at such companies as Nike, EDS, Shell and Philips Electronics Together with Mr. Laur she is co-author of "The Sustainability Challenge," published in The Systems Thinker and "Creating Sustainable Organizations." published in Pegasus Communications Innovations in Management Series. Ms. Schley has an MBA from the University of Massachusetts and a BA from Brown University. She lives with her husband and family in Western Massachusetts

To register or for more information, contact: 

Jackie Tabb
Tel. 617-300-9560
Fax 617-354-2093
E-mail jackie@solonline.org

SoL courses are one benefit of SoL membership. We also reserve a limited number of seats in these programs for potential members and others interested in this work.

Some organizational members have tuition-free spaces available. These slots are allocated by the liaison officer for each member organization. If you need help contacting your liaison officer for more details, Jackie Tabb will be happy to assist you.