In the early 1970's, I aided one of the Long Island school districts in its development and implementation of administrative educational systems - i.e. student scheduling, payroll, fed/state/local admin reporting, etc. 
A Computer Club (CC) had just been formed at the time, in one of the two high schools in this wealthy school district.  The teacher-mentor who organized the CC asked the director of the school district's IT Department if the (8) students could visit the Data Center twice a month for two hours. 
The reaction from the IT Director was immediate - absolutely not.  No way was this director, who was responsible for the accuracy and timliness of the schools information systems, going to let a "bunch of kids run around loose in the computer room."   Clearly, this incident remained impressed in my pedagogical psyche.  There was something perverse about it - an uncomfortable "irritant."  It was years later that I articulated this "irritant." 
Senge, Gardner, et al speak of respecting the learner.  It should be an underlying principle throughout the school district, adopted in every department, by every employee that what is best for the children is the first priority.  It is ironic that the IT department, one of many support groups in the school system (custodians for the children), when faced with a choice of direct educational support of the children (educational facilitator) or indirect educational support (administrative facilitator), did not see the "big picture"  of the school system.  They did not see their own role relative to the goals of the organization.
Senge writes about this within the context of a school system's staff development program.  But it is true about any system and it's constituents.  Participants in any organization, in any system, need to step back and see their role and others' roles in that organization from a wider perspective than their own. 
This was the element missing in the director of the IT Department of this wealthy Long Island school district, resulting in narrow-minded judgements.  The IT department should be congradulated for its reliable delivery of information in support of the school district's administration, but their job definition was not set out clearly enough to stress the guiding principle to do "what is best for the children."