Many companies find learning difficult; and organizing to learn, more difficult still. But as Peter Senge notes in The Fifth Discipline, his provocative account of the key disciplines on which effective practice rests, "Learning disabilities are tragic in children, but they are fatal in organizations. Because of them, few corporations live even half as long as a person—most die before they reach the age of forty." This interview with Senge explores what "learning" really means in a corporate context and describes the tested approaches that managers can follow to build the necessary competence and orientation into their organizations. Shorter interviews—with Ray Stata, CEO of Analog Devices, and Craig Barrett, Executive Vice President of Intel—capture the first-hand experience of two top managers who have applied these learning disciplines in their own companies.

McKinsey: How do you define a learning organization?

Senge: First, you must realize that the very idea of a "learning organization" is a vision. Many years ago, Alan Kay led the research at Xerox PARC, which eventually led to the personal computer. All that Alan had at that time was a vision for what he called the "Dynabook"—an interactive computer that you could take around, like a book....