p.8 Generative learning [JLJ - a style of learning that incorporates existing knowledge with new ideas based
on experimentation and open-mindedness. This style of learning encourages individual and team creativity, resulting in a new
way of viewing old methods.] requires seeing the systems that control events. When we fail to grasp the systemic source
of problems, we are left to "push on" symptoms rather than eliminate underlying causes.
p.9 Creative tension comes from seeing clearly where we want to be, our "vision," and telling the
truth about where we are, our "current reality." The gap between the two generates a natural tension... Without vision
there is no creative tension... All the analysis in the world will never generate a vision... the
natural energy for changing reality comes from holding a picture of what might be that is more important to people than what
is.
p.9 The principle of creative tension teaches that an accurate picture of current reality is
just as important as a compelling picture of a desired future... With creative tension, the energy for change
comes from the vision, from what we want to create, juxtaposed with current reality.
p.11-12 Leader as teacher... is about helping everyone in the organization, oneself included, to gain more
insightful views of current reality... Leaders as teachers help people restructure their views of reality
to see beyond the superficial conditions and events into the underlying causes of problems and therefore
to see new possibilities for shaping the future.
p.15 In my experience, successful leaders often are "systems thinkers"
to a considerable extent. They focus less on day-to-day events and more on underlying trends and forces of change.
But they do this almost completely intuitively.
p.15 Dynamic complexity arises when cause and effect are distant
in time and space, and when the consequences over time of interventions are subtle and not obvious to many participants
in the system. The leverage in most management situations lies in understanding dynamic complexity, not detail complexity.
p.15 Some have called systems thinking the "new dismal science" because
it teaches that most obvious solutions don't work - at best, they improve matters in the short run, only to make things worse
in the long run. But there is another side to the story. Systems thinking also shows that small,
well-focused actions can produce significant, enduring improvements, if they are in the right place. Systems
thinkers refer to this idea as the principle of leverage. Tackling a difficult problem is often a matter of seeing where the
high leverage lies, where a change - with a minimum of effort - would lead to lasting, significant improvement.
