Executive Summary of Chris Argyris’ Article, “Teaching Smart People How to Learn.”

Executive Summary

This memo is an executive summary of Chris Argyris’ article, “Teaching Smart People How to Learn.”

Most successful professionals are adept at solving problems and overcoming many organizational obstacles, but when they fail, they don't know how to learn from their mistakes. When it comes down to researching why there are hurdles and why they failed, they became very defensive and narrow-minded. This defensive behavior forces them not to own part in the problem, self- examine their faults, and not effectively move forward to find a solution.

This summary addresses (1) the two mistakes organizations make about effective learning, (2) what stops professionals from learning, (3) defensive behavior and “doom loop”, and finally, (4) productive reasoning in the workplace.

Two Mistakes Organizations Make About Effective Learning

The first problem is that people concentrate on blaming others for what has happened and refuse to point out their own contributions to the problem. Consequently, they build up a defensive behavior; they lack critical analysis skills, and use the same methods to address the problem; also known as “single-loop learning.” On the other hand, “double-loop learning" encourages managers and employees to reflect on their own behavior, identify how they contributed to the problem, recognize external errors, and be open-minded about finding solutions.

Secondly, companies make the mistake on believing that by implementing rewarding programs to motivate employees, will, encourage learning. In fact, when an employee demonstrates commitment and the correct attitude, learning inevitably happens, regardless of the additional motivation. Therefore, to inspire “double-loop learning” among managers and employees, companies have to effectively address defensive behavior, encourage team work and critical thinking, and build productive relationships with clients, customers, and coworkers.

What Stops Professionals from Learning...