It's common to say that trees come from seeds. But how can a tiny seed create a huge tree? Seeds do not contain the resources need to grow a tree. These must come from the medium or environment within which the tree grows. But the seed does provide something that is crucial : a place where the whole of the tree starts to form. As resources such as water and nutrients are drawn in, the seed organizes the process that generates growth. In a sense, the seed is a gateway through which the future possibility of the living tree emerges.

You cannot have a learning organisation without a shared vision...A shared vision provides a compass to keep learning on course when stress develops.

An accurate, insightful view of current reality is as important as a clear vision.

When there is genuine vision(as opposed to the all-too-familiar vision statement), people excel and learn, not because they are told to, but because they want to.

The systems perspective tells us that we must look beyond individual mistakes or bad luck to understand important problems.

The gap between vision and current reality is also a source of energy. If there were no gap, there would be no need for any action to move towards the vision. We call this gap creative tension.

Through learning we re-create ourselves. Through learning we become able to do something we were never able to do.