The Business Book

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Argyris joined forces with MIT
professor Donald Schön to write
the highly influential book
Organizational Learning: A Theory
of Action Perspective, which
explored theories such as double-
loop learning.
Going further back, the first
scientific studies of learning within
an organization were conducted in
the mid-20th century. Two theories

in particular emerged to dominate

thinking in this area. The first, from

Yale professor Charles Lindblom in

1959, was that action taken in

organizations is based on historical

precedent rather than on

anticipating the future. The second

was set out by Richard Cyert and

James March, who in 1963

published their observation that

behavior in organizations is based

WORKING WITH A VISION

on routines: the procedures,

conventions, or technologies

through which companies operate.

These perceived negatives became

the focus of scholars such as

Argyris and Senge. Interest in the

concept of the learning

organization grew in the 1990s, as

business conditions became more

uncertain and companies more

dependent on technology.

In 1993 management innovation

expert Mark Dodgson, then senior

fellow at the Science Policy Unit of

the University of Sussex, UK, linked

economic uncertainty and rapid

technological change to an

increased need for learning at all

levels in a company, citing the view

of psychologists that learning is the

highest form of adaptation.

Dodgson, like other scholars, made

a distinction between

“organizational learning”—when

organizations learn a lesson from a

particular event—and “the learning

organization,” which embraces a

continual process of education and

implements strategies to initiate

that process. In Senge’s opinion,

organizations focused on continued

learning will gain a competitive

advantage in the marketplace. ■

Organizational learning involves both single-loop
learning, where errors are identified and corrected, and
double-loop learning, in which the assumptions that
underlie specific actions are questioned and improved.

Peter Senge A world-renowned expert on

management and organizational

learning, Peter Senge was born in

Stanford, CA, in 1947 and studied

aerospace engineering at Stanford

University. He went on to obtain

an MA in social systems and a

PhD in management at MIT, and

is now a senior lecturer at MIT’s

Sloan School of Management. He

is also the founding chair of the

global Society for Organizational

Learning (SoL).

Senge pioneered the concept of

“the learning organization”—an

organization structured in a way

that is conducive to new ideas,

reflection, and engaging its

employees. As he said on one

occasion, a learning organization

“is continually expanding its

capacity to create its future.”

In 1999, the Journal of

Business Strategy named Peter

Senge a “Strategist of the

Century”—one of the 24 people

who had had the greatest

influence on business strategy

in the 20th century.

Key works

1990 The Fifth Discipline

1999 The Dance of Change

Single-loop learning

Results show what needs

to be fixed or improved.

BELIEFS

ACTIVITIES

OR TASKS RESULTS

Double-loop learning

Results also reveal the bigger picture: the

culture of the organization—the values

and assumptions that govern behavior.