Chris Argyris

Chris Argyris (born July 16 1923 in Newark, New Jersey, USA) is an American business theorist, Professor Emeritus at Harvard Business School, and a Thought Leader at Monitor Group. He is commonly known for seminal work in the area of "Learning Organizations".

Action Science, one of Argyris' collaborative works with Robert Putnam and Diana McLain Smith, developed together with Donald Schön as well, advocates an approach to research that focuses on generating knowledge that is useful in solving practical problems. Other key concepts developed by Argyris include Ladder of Inference, Double-Loop Learning, Theory of Action/Espoused Theory/Theory-in-use, High Advocacy/High Inquiry dialogue and Actionable Knowledge.

Chris Argyris’ early research explored the impact of formal organizational structures, control systems and management on individuals and how they responded and adapted to them. This research resulted in the books Personality and Organization, 1957 and Integrating the Individual and the Organization, 1964. He then shifted his focus to organizational change, in particular exploring the behaviour of senior executives in organizations (Interpersonal Competence and Organizational Effectiveness, 1962; Organization and Innovation, 1965).

From there he moved onto an inquiry into the role of the social scientist as both researcher and actor (Intervention Theory and Method, 1970; Inner Contradictions of Rigorous Research, 1980 and Action Science, 1985 - with Robert Putnam and Diana McLain Smith). His fourth major area of research and theorizing – in significant part undertaken with Donald Schön – was in individual and organizational learning and the extent to which human reasoning, not just behavior, can become the basis for diagnosis and action (Theory in Practice, 1974 ; Organizational Learning, 1978; Organizational Learning II, 1996 – all with Donald Schön). He has also developed this thinking in Overcoming Organizational Defenses, 1990 and Knowledge for Action, 1993.

Action Science

Argyris' concept of Action Science begins with the study of how human beings design their actions in difficult situations. Human actions are designed to achieve intended consequences and governed by a set of environment variables. How those governing variables are treated in designing actions are the key differences between single loop learning and double loop learning. When actions are designed to achieve the intended consequences and to suppress conflict about the governing variables, a single loop learning cycle usually ensues. On the other hand, when actions are taken, not only to achieve the intended consequences, but also to openly inquire about conflict and to possibly transform the governing variables, both single loop and double loop learning cycles usually ensue. (Argyris applies single loop and double loop learning concepts not only to personal behaviors but also to organizational behaviors in his models.)

Model 1 illustrates how single loop learning affect human actions. Model 2 describes how double loop learning affects human actions. The following Model 1 and Model 2 tables introduce these ideas (tables are from Argyris, Putnam & Smith, 1985, Action Science, Ch. 3.) Other key books conveying Argyris’ approach include Argyris & Schon, 1974 and Argyris, 1970, 1980, 1994).

Table 1 Model 1 Theory-In-Use

Governing Variables	Action Strategies	Consequences for the Behavioral World	Consequences for Learning	Effectiveness
Define goals and try to achieve them	Design and manage the environment unilaterally (be persuasive, appeal to larger goals)	Actor seen as defensive, inconsistent, incongruent, competitive, controlling, fearful of being vulnerable, manipulative, withholding of feelings, overly concerned about self and others or under concerned about others	Self-sealing	Decreased effectiveness
Maximize winning and minimize losing	Own and control the task (claim ownership of the task, be guardian of definition and execution of task)	Defensive interpersonal and group relationship (dependence upon actor, little additivity, little helping of others)	Single-loop learning
Minimize generating or expressing negative feelings	Unilaterally protect yourself (speak with inferred categories accompanied by little or no directly observable behavior, be blind to impact on others and to the incongruity between rhetoric and behavior, reduce incongruity by defensive actions such as blaming, stereotyping, suppressing feelings, intellectualizing)	Defensive norms (mistrust, lack of risk taking, conformitment, emphasis on diplomacy, power-centered competition, and rivalry)	Little testing of theories publicly, much testing of theories privately
Be rational	Unilaterally protect others from being hurt (withhold information, create rules to censor information and behavior, hold private meetings)	Little freedom of choice, internal commitment, or risk taking

Table 2 Model 2 Theory-In-Use

Governing Variables	Action Strategies	Consequences for the Behavioral World	Consequences for Learning	Consequences for Quality of Life	Effectiveness
Valid information	Design situations or environments where participants can be origins and can experience high personal causation (psychological success, confirmation, essentiality)	Actor experienced as minimally defensive (facilitator, collaborator, choice creator)	Disconfirmable processes	Quality of life will be more positive than negative (high authenticity and high freedom of choice)
Free and informed choice	tasks are controlled jointly	Minimally defensive interpersonal relations and group dynamics	Double-loop learning	effectiveness of problem solving and decision making will be great, especially for difficult problems	Increase long-run effectiveness
Internal commitment to the choice and constant monitoring of its implementation	Protection of self is a joint enterprise and oriented toward growth (speck in directly observable categoies, seek to reduce blindness about own inconsistency and incongruity)	Learning-oriented norms (trust, individuality, open confrontation on difficult issues)	Public testing of theories
	Bilateral protection of others

Honorary degree

Chris Argyris received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Toronto in 2006.

References

Argyris, C., Putnam, R. and Smith, D. M. (1985) Action Science: Concepts, Methods and Skills for Research and Intervention. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 0875896650

Bibliography

• Chris Argyris: Personality and Organization, 1957
• Chris Argyris: Some Limitations of the Case Method: Experiences in a Management Development Program.” Academy of Management Review 5(2): 291-298, 1980
• Chris Argyris: Education for Leading-Learning. Organizational Dynamics, 21(3): 5-17, 1993
• Chris Argyris: Knowledge for Action. A Guide to Overcoming Barriers to Organizational Change, Jossey-Bass Wiley, 1993, ISBN 1-55542-519-4
• Chris Argyris, Donald A. Schön: Organizational Learning II, Addison-Wesley, 1996, ISBN 0-201-62983-6
• Chris Argyris: Wissen in Aktion. Eine Fallstudie zur lernenden Organisation., Klett-Cotta 1997, ISBN 3-608-91838-8
• Chris Argyris, Donald A. Schön: Die lernende Organisation, 2. Auflage, Klett-Cotta 2002, ISBN 3-608-91890-6
• Argyris, C. 1970. Intervention Theory and Method. Reading MA: Addison-Wesley.
• Argyris, C. 1980. Inner Contradictions of Rigorous Research. San Diego CA: Academic Press.
• Argyris, C. 1994. Knowledge for Action. San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Reason & Bradbury, Handbook of Action Research. London: Sage, 2001.
• Reason & Bradbury, Handbook of Action Research. London: Sage, 2006.

External links

• Chris Argyris: theories of action, double-loop learning and organizational learning