System thinking is a conceptual framework, a body of knowledge and tools to make the full patterns clearer, and to help us see how to change them effectively.

System thinking is a discipline of seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static "snapshots." Today, system thinking is needed more than ever because we are becoming overwhelmed by complexity.

Mastery means a special level of proficiency. People with a high level of personal mastery are able to consistently realize the results that matter most deeply to them - in effect, they approach their life as an artist would approach a work of art. They do that by becoming committed to their own lifelong learning.

Personal mastery goes beyond competence and skills, though it is grounded in competence and skills. It goes beyond spiritual unfolding or opening, although it requires spiritual growth. It means approaching one's life as a creative work, living life from a creative as opposed to reactive viewpoint.

When personal mastery becomes discipline - an activity we integrate into our lives - it embodies two underlying movements. The first is continually clarifying what is important to us. The second is continually learning how to see current reality more clearly.

"Mental models" are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures or images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action.

Why are mental models so powerful in affecting what we do? In part, because they affect what we see. Two people with different mental models can observe the same event and describe it differently, because they have looked at different details.

Just as "linear thinking" dominates most mental models used for critical decisions today, the learning organizations of the future will make key decisions based on shared understandings of interrelationships and patterns of change.

Shared vision is a vision that many people are truly committed to, because it reflects their own personal vision. If any one idea about leadership has inspired organizations for thousands of years, it's the capacity to hold a shared picture of the future we seek to create. Shared vision is vital for the learning organization because it provides focus and energy for learning.

Shared vision fosters risk taking and experimentation. Visions spread because of a reinforcing process of increasing clarity, enthusiasm, communication and commitment. As people talk, the vision grows clearer. As it gets clearer, enthusiasm for its benefits builds. Diversity of visions will grow until it exceeds the organization's capacity to "harmonize" diversity.

The discipline of team learning start with "dialogue," the capacity of members of a team to suspend assumptions and enter into a genuine "thinking together." The discipline of team learning involves mastering the principles of dialogue and discussion. Team learning has three critical dimensions. First, there is the need to think insightfully about complex issues. Second, there is the need for innovative, coordinated action. Third, there is the role of team members on other teams.

When a team becomes more aligned, a commonality of direction emerges, and individuals' energies harmonize. There is less wasted energy. In fact, a resonance or synergy develops, like the "coherent" light of a laser rather than the incoherent and scattered light of a light bulb.