When Peter Senge wrote his book entitled The Fifth Discipline, he made both systems thinking and the organization of learning come to the fore (Smith, Peter Senge and the organization who learns, 2001). Through his studies, he showed how systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building a shared vision, and learning were all part of the learning organization (Smith, Peter Senge and the Learning Organization, 2001). Systems thinking versus a learning organization The difference between systems thinking one is the tree and the other is the forest. Systems thinking is the cornerstone of the learning organization and as such allows for a coherent body of theory and practice (Smith, The learning Organization: Principles, Theory and Practice, 2001). With systems thinking, you see the entire forest and can often overlook individual trees. When systems thinking and learning organizations blend together, this allows the body of theory and practice to come together dynamically (Caldwell, 2012). Systems thinking looks at the whole, rather than the individual parts (Caldwell, 2012). This can be compared to watching a football match. There are many players in the football team. When the team has a game day, they must come together as a system in order to defeat the other team. Whichever system works best on that particular day wins the game. Each game is a new game and the winner is based on a single game. However, at the end of the match there is a closed-loop feedback system, which in turn can help the team in the next match to improve the system. Systems thinking relies on receiving feedback through open or closed feedback loops (Cal...... middle of paper ....../url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved= 0CDQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F228030788_The_learning_organization_An_integrative_vision_for_HRD%2Ffile%2F504635194e95865fbc.pdf&ei=xjqmUqDmN-eBygHJloBA&usPersonal Mastery (20 ). Retrieved from the Society for Organizational Learning: http://www.solonline.org/ ?page=PersonalMasterySenge, PM (1991). Mckinsey Quarterly, 2, 82-93 Retrieved from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/ ?direct=true&db=bth&AN=9707250140&site=eds-live&scope=siteSmith, MK (2001 Peter Senge and the Learning Organization. Retrieved from infed: http://infed.org/mobi/peter-senge-and- -learning-organization/Smith, M.K. (2001). The learning organization: principles, theory and practice. Retrieved from infred: http://infed.org/mobi/the-learning-organization.