Shared vision makes it possible for members of an organization to understand the future we want to create. Shared vision develops from within the organization and is meaningful to members who understand and contribute to it.
recent example "Seamless integration of print and electronic resources"...catalogers design a catalog so patrons can access both print and e-resources; reference providers look for ways to help patrons use both print and e-resources.
Personal Mastery
Personal mastery is the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively.
recent example: online chat reference service involves mastering the technology and understanding the mechanics of answering questions, as well as investigation into how online chat reference fits in with the entire array of reference services and how to best integrate chat with circulation and ILL. SD programs: independent learning, time mgmt., etc. Beginning in 1996--encouraged all staff to take time to learn something new each week.
Group Learning
Members of the group learn to suspend assumptions about how things are done, act as colleagues, surface individual defensiveness, and create an open environment for dialogue and discussion. Working together as a team produces more than the individual members can.
Workshops: Betsy Kosier training: 1998--Learning to Share Ideas: Building Effective Interaction, 2001--Fostering Interactions to Get the Job Done, 2003/04-- Internalizing Strategies for Effective Interaction.
Mental Models
Mental models refers to the assumptions and generalizations that influence how one understands and interprets the organization.
Example: Restructurings--number of departments, communication across departments, units, offices, etc.
Systems Thinking
Systems thinking is the ability to see the bigger picture, to see the interrelationships of a system, to move beyond a simple cause and effect approach, to seeing continuous process. In systems thinking we move from seeing the individual parts of a system to understanding that the sytem is the interraction of those parts.
