If you are one of ‘the well-educated, high-powered, high-commitment professionals who occupy key leadership positions in the modern corporation,’ it may come as a rude shock to hear Chris Argyris fault your learning.
“Most people define learning too narrowly as mere ‘problem solving,’ so they focus on identifying and correcting errors in the external environment,” he bemoans in Teaching Smart People How to Learn.
“Solving problems is important. But if learning is to persist, managers and employees must also look inward,” he instructs.
“They need to reflect critically on their own behaviour, identify the ways they often inadvertently contribute to the organisation’s problems, and then change how they act.”
Quite ironically, they may then learn “how the very way they go about defining and solving problems can be a source of problems in its own right.”
“Most people define learning too narrowly as mere ‘problem solving,’ so they focus on identifying and correcting errors in the external environment,” he bemoans in Teaching Smart People How to Learn.
“Solving problems is important. But if learning is to persist, managers and employees must also look inward,” he instructs.
“They need to reflect critically on their own behaviour, identify the ways they often inadvertently contribute to the organisation’s problems, and then change how they act.”
Quite ironically, they may then learn “how the very way they go about defining and solving problems can be a source of problems in its own right.”
-Recommended reading
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