Today is December 10 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is "How often do you engage in double-loop learning?"
One way that organizations and people navigate the chaos is to engage in double-loop learning.
First detailed through research conducted by Harvard Business School professor Chris Argyris during the 1970s double-loop learning is a valuable cognitive approach people and organizations can use in order to identify solutions to problems.
When organizations engage in a process of detecting and correcting error most rely on single loop learning. There are three common characteristics of single loop learning: it is an insular mental process, people consider possible external or technical reasons for obstacles, and current policies or objectives continue unchallenged.
Single loop learning can be compared with a thermostat that learns when it is too hot or too cold and then turns the heat on or off. The thermostat is able to perform this task because it can receive information (the temperature of the room) and therefore take corrective action.
Although less commonly used, double loop-learning is a far more effective cognitive approach that involves questioning every aspect of the approach, methodology, biases and deeply held assumptions related to a specific situation. This approach also relies on a heightened level of self-awareness, which many people and organizations are hesitant to pursue.
This more psychologically nuanced self-examination requires that people honestly challenge their beliefs and summon the courage to act on that information, which may lead to fresh ways of thinking about our lives and our goals.
Sticking with our analogy of the thermostat: If the thermostat could question itself about whether it should be set at 68 degrees, it would be capable not only of detecting error but of questioning the underlying policies and goals as well as its own program.
In the business world executives and marketing professionals often involve themselves with attempting to correct error in order to manufacture Product X.
That type of engagement is single loop learning. When executives and marketing professionals question whether Product X should even be manufactured, then they are utilizing double loop learning.
There are three common characteristics of double loop learning: it is broad minded, people challenge underlying objectives, and current policies are subject to change.
When you are assessing a situation, do you find yourself, or your organization, engaging in single loop or double loop learning more often?
Voltaire once noted “Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”
Organizations that question the underlying assumptions involved with a process engage in double-loop learning and can navigate the chaos more effectively than those that only use a single-loop learning process.
How often do you engage in double-loop learning?