Today, as a consumer choice on one side of the world affect the lives of people on the other side, and complex supply chains around the world, companies face a variety of "sustainability" issues - social and ecological imbalances created that globalization. Beginning in the late 1990s, the organizational members of the Society of organizational learning (SOL - including Shell, Harley-Davidson, HP, Xerox, Nike and others) began a series of initiatives aimed at jointly addressing various issues of sustainable development. The group's goals include the application of systems thinking, working with mental models, and the strengthening of personal and common vision to address the complex issues of sustainability. Through his work, SOL (two of which are the founders of the authors) has learned that successful joint efforts encompass three interrelated types of work - conceptual, relational, and action driven - which together build a healthy "learning environment" for systemic change. In this article, the authors offer examples of specific projects in which the training environment, provided an important basis for substantial progress, and they learn the lessons for companies and managers for each of the three types of work. Ultimately, the authors conclude that the conceptual, relational and action work should be managed systematically intertwined and that there is very little real precedent for this. They offer a few tips on how this can be achieved, emphasizing leadership and transactional networks. Finally, they are three questions that must be answered if the system solutions to be successful: (1) How can we go beyond the benchmark for the creation of learning communities? (2) What is the right balance between stating the purpose and creating a space for reflection and innovation? and (3) What is the right balance between private interests and public knowledge? "Hide
by Peter M. Senge, Benyamin B. Lichtenstein, Katrin Kaeufer, Hilary Bradbury, John S. Carroll source: MIT Sloan Management Review 12 pages. Publication Date: January 1, 2007. Prod. #: SMR234-PDF-ENG
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