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Disclaimer Chris Argyris A Retrospective For 50 years, Chris Argyris has defined and vigorously advanced theories

and strategies for individual and organizational development. He has made

a significant contribution to the development of our appreciation oforganizational learning, and, almost in passing, deepened ourunderstanding of experiential learning and action research. This insighthas provided the underpinnings for theorists and practitioners to fosterlong-term effectiveness in organizations.

Chris Argyrisearly research explored the impact of formal organizationalstructures, control systems, and management on individuals (and how theyresponded and adapted to them). As early as the 1950s, Argyris championedthe belief that people can be self-directed and creative at work ifproperly motivated.

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Chris Argyris, compared bureaucratic / pyramidal values (theorganizational counterpart to Theory X assumptions about people) thatstill dominate most organizations with a more humanistic / democraticvalue system (the organizational counterpart to Theory Y assumptions about

people). Applying his Immaturity-Maturity Theory, he showed how formalized

structures, rigid channels of communication, and prescriptive job designoften causes organizational ineffectiveness. The fact that bureaucratic /pyramidal values still dominate most organizations, according to Argyris,has produced many of our current organizational problems.

He then shifted his focus to organizational change, in particularexploring the behavior of senior executives in organizations in the 1960s.

Drawing from his conclusions about the impact of organizational structureon individual behavior, Argyris (with Donald Schn) put forward theTheories of Action showing how individual and organizational learningtakes place. They found that there is a split between how individuals wanto think what they want to do (espoused theory) and how they actuallybehave in real life situations (theories-in-use). Argyris and Schnsuggest two responses to this mismatch, and these are can be seen in thenotion of single and double-loop learning. Argyris and Schn set up twomodels that describe features of theories-in-use that either inhibit orenhance double-loop learning. The belief is that all people utilize a

common theory-in-use in problematic situations. This they describe asModel I and it can be said to inhibit double-loop learning. Model II iswhere the governing values associated with theories-in-use enhancedouble-loop learning.

From there he moved onto a particularly fruitful inquiry into the role ofthe social scientist as both researcher and actor. Argyris helped todefine action research as a powerful approach to organizational change.This iterative process of data gathering and diagnosis, involvement ofemployees, and action planning and evaluation is a principal method inchange efforts today. Argyris examined the role of the social scientist as

a researcher and interventionist. His unique format and method of caseanalysis is still relevant in consultant-client interaction as well as

other situations involving human interaction. Anshuman Ghosh Student IIM Kozhikode

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