The influence of Senge’s book The Fifth Discipline on an academic career: a research journey into the learning organization and some personal reflections

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper, the author explores his research journey into the learning organization and its impact on his academic career. This paper describes how Peter Senge’s book The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization (1990) was the spark that led to the author’s focus on empirical research in the field.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper provides author’s personal reflections on how this decision put him on a path to a variety of serendipitous experiences, exciting research areas and also enabled him to engage in productive collaborative research with many of his colleagues.

Findings

The findings conclude with a discussion on what the author see as new challenges and perspectives for advancing research into the learning organization.

Originality/value

This paper provides a unique perspective on how The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge has influenced an academic career. It presents a personal reflection of a research journey into the learning organization that spans over 30 years.

Citation

Goh, S.C. (2020), "The influence of Senge’s book The Fifth Discipline on an academic career: a research journey into the learning organization and some personal reflections", The Learning Organization, Vol. 27 No. 6, pp. 505-512. https://doi.org/10.1108/TLO-06-2020-0111