Chris Argyris is an American business theorist, a professor emeritus at Harvard Business School, and a thought leader at Monitor Group. He is best known for his work on learning theories in the area of learning organizations.
Argyris conducted a series of research studies in action science, which studies how humans design and decide on their actions under difficult or stressful situations. Argyris believed that human actions are controlled by environmental variables, which determine the key differences between single-loop and double-loop learning.
Single-Loop Learning
In single-loop learning, entities (such as individuals, groups, or organizations) modify their actions according to the difference between expected and obtained outcomes. This essentially means that learning is through experience and direct reflection on outcomes, where the ends are justifying the means and dictating the fulcrum of the discussion and learning outcomes.
In many ways, this is a more reactionary approach. Individuals are tasked with identifying successes and failures, pursuing formulas for the former and minimizing the latter. While this type of learning, and this broader type of behavior, is extremely common in the real world, it is not the ideal method to learn and adapt from a broader organizational level. It tends to be simple and short-term, which is not always conducive to sustainability.
Double-Loop Learning
In double-loop learning, the entities question the values, assumptions, and policies that led to the actions in the first place; if they are able to view and modify those values, then second-order or double-loop learning has taken place. This is a more integrative, process-oriented, and collaborative approach. It is also much more complex, difficult, and sensitive, as the core values and strategies in place must be analyzed, questioned, and defended (or discarded).
The simple truth is that people fear change, actively avoid conflict, and generally preserve the status quo. Double-loop learning requires the bravery to challenge what is established organizationally, identify broader systemic issues, and fix problems at the source.
Single- and double-loop learning
Argyris wrote about the theories of single- and double-loop learning, which determine how people make decisions in difficult situations.
For example, a company that is facing a problem with its management strategy may decide to focus on how to improve or implement the strategy in different ways. In this situation, the company uses single-loop learning because management is focused on making changes without reconsidering the fundamental standard or strategy itself. However, if the company were to entirely reconsider the problematic strategy and start from scratch, this would constitute double-loop learning. Double-loop learning may lead to a change in the original strategy or goals that the company had in the first place.
Argyris's theory of single- and double-loop learning has been applied to management theory in order to suggest the best way for employees to learn and think about new goals and strategies for an organization.