A Book Review “The Fifth Discipline” by Peter Siege

The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Siege is a book that explains why businesses should incorporate learning as a tool to advance their strategic initiatives and doing so will place the human element as a priority. By doing so businesses will consider the larger picture and become more pragmatic as opposed to being polarized by fixing problems as they surface. The reason I choose to review this book is that it can make a person more aware of the type of company that they are working for or that they want to work for. It does happen too frequently that our careers are not headed in the direction we desire, planned, or hoped and with that, we become frustrated blaming the company that we work for. So, at least understanding the construct of a business and how it can or does behave may provide some insight to individuals which may assist in career development.  In essence, if we understand and are aware of the personality of a company that we work for or want to work for we may have a clearer idea of how our careers will develop within a certain organization.

A shared vision is something that is overlooked as pointed out by the author. We all have been led to believe that the higher-ups (senior management) are the only ones that create the vision for a company and while this may be relevant it should be able to touch everyone in a personal way. In essence, a vision is personal and in joining an organization the vision should be able to mirror to some degree or more preferably entirely a person’s vision. Therefore, we should think about our own lives and what we want to accomplish and does the company that we work for or want to work for shares the same ideas.

A good indication of this is by looking at a business and the people within the organization, are they compliant or committed?  Compliant is when people are doing something because they need a job, I need to pay a cheque or I have a lot of time invested here and I may lose my pension if I move on. Typically, this type of complacency is the root of resentment most of the time, but not all the time. This also can lead to self-serving motivations which can lead to low morale and frustration, and above all will inhibit productive team building.  On the other side of the spectrum Committed is when people genuinely believe in what a company is doing. And an organization that is composed of dedicated individuals typically will prosper. More importantly, as individuals, when we share a personal vision that contributes to something larger where we know we are making a difference is more fulfilling and is something that we all strive for, this is natural. In my interview with Chandler Cook, this is discussed in great detail when he worked at Tesla and Apple. Furthermore, this seems to be a trend that millennials seem to be heading toward as Chandler points out as well.  https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/working-and-living-in-silicon-valley-part-2.

 There are some good suggestions and tips to help people build their careers. How to learn and understand a problem would be one. We all do this and we go into a discussion or meeting that leads to an argument. We make inquiries with a bias to our point and even when we present our point, we do not reveal the weak segments. Doing so would reveal that we are vulnerable but it is this openness that can lead to finding a good solution. In my interview with Paul McNeil, he points out that respecting others is vital. Being open-minded and letting information come to you and then deciphering it helped him in conducting research for his doctorate in Paleontology as he explains. https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/a-passion-for-dinosaurs-working-as-a-paleontologist

Team building in organizations at least in my experience always involved an afternoon playing paintball, treasure hunts, or some other leisure activity. There is relevance to this as it can produce an environment where ideas can be shared and problems can be solved. However genuine and sincere teambuilding where all members can speak openly and not only be listened to but heard and considered as well is the root of the culture in a business.  In essence, to have all parties suspend all their beliefs that they are certain, be willing to share their thinking, and be able to reflect and challenge their ideas in all areas to create something new with meaning takes years and the discipline to minimize old fashion hierarchy is where true team building can start.

Building on this then, what is the role of managers if more people or teams are left to make their own decisions?  How will an organization look and behave? A good point is larger organizations with many segments are complex so having people make individual decisions based on what they think is important can be disastrous. So, a key thing that is pointed out in regards to decisions and how are they made is something to consider as well. A good example of this is if you are an engineer and you are approached by a customer who states if you had functions x, y, and z in your product it would be helpful. Then in presenting this to management how would they handle it? Would they let this engineer take the lead on it? How much autonomy is an organization willing to give to its employees?  This is a delicate but important topic to consider when working for a business more so now than ever before.

In conclusion in this brief blog, I just introduced and explained some of the basic concepts of the book “The Fifth Discipline” that I thought were very important based on my experiences. To recap, mastery of oneself understanding our vision and what is important to us based on our values and what we would like to accomplish in our careers should be first then searching for a company to work for that supports the same idealism will make a job search simpler, easier and at the end more likely more successful.  Mental models of how a business goes about conveying ideas. Is it true to team building? Is there a hierarchy or is everyone on the same plane or playing field? This then goes into team learning, is it encouraged or not and what does this mean? Are teams encouraged to push the boundaries and in doing so how do they handle mistakes?

In all this is a good and uplifting read and I would even go as far as to say that some of the concepts are revolutionary. Introducing more of the human element into how businesses make decisions, especially in this advanced age of technology is something to consider. Furthermore, the author puts out that as opposed to looking at situations in the conventional linear way as traditional businesses do, this refers to old-school hierarchy ways.  To assess things in a more 3-dimensional way and that is understanding when decisions are made and how it affects all parties involved. This is why he encourages all parties to be involved in decisions as things may be presented by some that could be overlooked by others. In addition, it is a learning process and there will be mistakes made. It is acknowledging them by stepping back and assessing them, and then rectifying the situation. In essence, it is a learning process and that is what is meant by the title of the book “The Fifth Discipline” I hope that this blog helped, and thanks for reading it.