The Fifth Discipline: Don’t Miss Your Big Picture
A version of this post originally appeared on The Student Branding Blog, March 1, 2010. I’m reposting it here today because today is the last day of my first semester long course in personal branding for MBA students at UNR.
There is no book that I have recommended more than Peter Senge’s “The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.” It’s a bit abstract, however, abstract thinking is an important skill to develop and I would encourage you to struggle through it.
The fifth discipline is systems thinking. Systems thinking is the ability to “see the big picture,” to understand cause and effect, and to know how to take actions today that will produce significant and lasting results now and in the future. I firmly believe that anyone who masters the discipline of systems thinking will be a much better leader than someone who only sees their situations as snapshots.
My copy of Senge’s book was given to me in 1994 by my mentor, Mary A. Newman. Mary was one of the professors I met during my master’s degree studies. Not only did Mary turn me on to systems thinking, she was also the one that encouraged me to go on and get my Ph.D. – something I had never even considered doing before I met her.
I did not know it in 1994, but I see clearly now that Mary helped change the trajectory of my life. If I had never met Mary, I am certain that I would not be writing the blog post you are reading right now. Before I met Mary, I never considered that professors could be friends with their students. Now that I am a professor myself, I count several of my former students as good friends. Mary and I have been friends now for over 16 years.
We can only see how people changed our lives by looking in our rear-view mirrors. When it becomes clear to you that someone had a profound effect on your life, make sure to take the time to find them and thank them.
Always be aware of how things you do for others in the course of your life might seem small at the time but could end up having a huge impact. When you give yourself to others simply for the opportunity to help them in some small way, you become truly remarkable.
Don’t miss the big picture. If you want to have a remarkable brand a year from now, you have to give yourself permission to behave like a remarkable person today. Seeing your personal big picture is hard enough; assuming responsibility for changing it requires real courage and wisdom.
What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!
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The Primary Barriers To Success Are Self-Imposed
Excellence Is A Form Of Deviance
About the Author: Bret L. Simmons
Welcome to my blog! Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section of my posts. I publish all constructive, non-anonymous comments. 
A great post! The concept of being remarkable is something I think many struggle with each day. When does self-promotion become narcissism? More importantly, people must focus on the internal in order to help promote the best brand they can: themselves. Thanks for the reminder!
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
May 3rd, 2011 at 12:27 pm
Branding as I advocate it involves value, what you do well to help others. The focus is on others, but you have to do your part to make sure they can find you for the help you can provide! There are for sure a LOT of narcissistic folks active in social media, but just being active in social media does not make one narcissistic. I think that’s just another label the lazy try to put on us so they won’t have to work as hard as we do to improve and communicate our brands. Thanks! Bret
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One measure of a book’s worth is its shelf-life. I first read The Fifth Discipline in 1997, and have referred to it on many occasions. Indeed I somehow ended up with two copies on my book shelves. Yes, Bret, it is somewhat abstract, but again that’s one reason why it has stood the test of time: now just over two decades.
I find it interesting to hear people disparing Senge’s book, the inference being that it is outtdated or that there are more contemporary theories. This is a shame because in my view The Fifth Discipline is even more relevant today due to our increasingly complex and volatile world.
Thanks for bringing up this topic.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
May 4th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
I agree, Jim. I don’t get how systems thinking can ever be thought of as not relevant. Guess you just have to consider the source. Thanks! Bret
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Bret,
I totally agree with you on this! That’s why I decided to become a Junior Achievement volunteer. I just finished teaching a 5th grade class. What a blast! And, the kids wrote me letters at the end saying how much they enjoyed the class. I am sure that they will remember the business topics we discussed. It was just 5 hours of my time (over 5 weeks), but I expect that it will have a lifetime of benefit to those great kids.
PS…thanks for a great personal branding class. And, don’t worry… I am not a quitter.
Sharon
http://www.sharonmarkovsky.com
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
May 4th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
I get you are great in JA! Thanks for the kind words about the class. I was glad to have you back again. I know YOU are not a quitter! Bret
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Huge fan of this. My MBA Org Beh students hate it…until they “get it.”
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Just ordered a copy for a friend. Sounds like the perfect book to help expand perspective and strategic thinking.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
May 10th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Simple message that takes a lifetime of practice to master. Hope you love it as much as I have! Bret
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I first read the fifth discipline back in 2001. Being a Big Picture Thinker it resonated with me back then.
For those new to big picture thinking, start with a broad subject, then group the associated deatils of that subject into categories. Building up the categories create the big picture.
Another form of big picture thinking is to ask yourself some random unrelated questions and then find or work out the answers. The questions you ask will somehow relate to what you are doing, for all things are connected in some way.
For example: How do you keep improving?
I’m not going to give the answer though check out Carol Dwecks work, I certainly developed a better understanding of things once I read her work and book as a lot of connections fell into place.
Another trait of big picture thinking is endless curiosity.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
November 29th, 2011 at 9:37 am
Welcome, Robin. Great suggestions for getting started with big picture thinking. It’s a skill that has to be practiced and developed. Thanks for sharing! Bret
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