In a sluggish system, aggressiveness produces instability. Either be patient or make the system more responsive.

Many in positions of authority lack the capabilities to truly lead. They are not credible. They do not command genuine respect. They are not committed to serve. They are not continually learning and growing. They are not wise.

New insights fail to get put into practice because they conflict with deeply held internal images of how the world works...images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting. That is why the discipline of managing mental models - surfacing, testing, and improving our internal pictures of how the world works - promises to be a major breakthrough for learning organizations.

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

By using the systems archetypes we can learn how to “structure” the details into a coherent picture of the forces at play.

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

Learning cannot be disassociated from action.