control is the capacity to maintain internal balances critical to stability
and to growth. In the human body, temperature is controlled, as is
blood pressure, heartbeat, oxygen levels, physical balance, and the
spread of diseases through myriad control processes.
Many writers on organizational theory have used the metaphor of
"organization as organism" to suggest an entirely different image for
organizational control from that of the traditional authoritarian
hierarchy.6 It is the image of local control—countless local decisionmaking
processes that continually respond to changes, so as to maintain
healthy conditions for stability and growth.7
For implementing in organizations this type of control that is found in
nature, the learning disciplines are invaluable. The essence of the
discipline of shared vision, for example, lies in bringing individual
visions into harmony with a larger vision. If the organization's vision is
imposed on local units, it will, at best, result in compliance not
commitment. If there is an ongoing "visioning" process, local visions
and organizational visions will continually interact with and enrich one
another. The combination of mission, vision, and values creates the
common identity that can connect thousands of people within a large
organization. One of the chief tasks of leaders, at both the corporate
and local level, is fostering this common identity. An observer of
Johnson & Johnson's Burke cited "his greatest strength . . . [is his]
day-to-day, layer-by-layer involvement in recognizing, prioritizing, and
articulating Johnson & Johnson's ethical values."8
The discipline of managing mental models has already been shown to
be vital for managing a locally controlled organization. Royal
Dutch/Shell is one of the most localized large corporations in the
world, with more than one hundred individual operating companies
run highly autonomously. Shell evolved its "planning as learning" and
emphasis on mental models precisely because it needed a way of
assisting and coordinating this far-reaching network of businesses
without infringing on their local autonomy. "Strategies are the product
of a world view," said former Shell planner Pierre Wack. "When the
world changes, managers need to share some common view of the
new world. Otherwise, decentralized strategic decisions will result in
management anarchy.9
The disciplines of team learning and personal mastery are also
important. Team learning skills help, both within local management
teams and in the interactions between local and corporate management,
which is also a "team," albeit usually an unofficial team. At
both levels, the capacity to blend dialogue and discussion and to deal