Category: Leadership Skills

Brady’s 20 Years of Double-Loop Learning

Learner - Strengths Finder Pin

As I reflected on this week’s devotions of “Double-Loop Learning,” it struck me that I’ve done a lot of that over the course of my career. According to Gallup’s “StrengthsFinder”, one of my key strengths is “Learner”—I love to learn!  And I love the learning process, so I often reflect on what I’ve learned from a situation or an experience. Over the past 20 years, I’ve kept the notes I prepared as part of my performance evaluation discussions with my supervisors. As a result, I’m able to see growth over time…

At NASA when someone is promoted to a key position, we often write a short bio of their past accomplishments and experiences. Invariably, we talk about them holding “progressively more responsible leadership roles.” I’ve been fortunate throughout my career to do just that…steadily progress from one position to the next in a way where I could be successful. I’ve seen other leaders skip levels of management—and unfortunately, they prove they aren’t ready for the role they have. Generally, I fault the organization—and not the individual leader—for such a failure.

To follow my 20 year journey of “Double-Loop Learning,” click here.

Learning from the Apostle Peter on Double-Loop Learning

Jesus and Peter Do you love me

Tomorrow marks week 39 of 2014, and the NIV Leadership Bible focuses the week’s devotions on the leadership skill of “double-loop learning.” This leadership theory for individuals and organizations was coined by Chris Argyris—an American business theorist, Professor Emeritus at Harvard Business School, and Thought Leader in the field of Organization Development.

Argyris used different terms for solving immediate problems (“single-loop learning”) and addressing root causes of problems (“double-loop learning”). He observes, “Many people define learning too narrowly as mere ‘problem solving,’ so they focus on identifying and correcting errors in the external environment. Solving problems is important, but if learning is to persist, managers and employees must look inward. They need to reflect critically on their own behavior, identify the ways they often inadvertently contribute to the organization’s problems, and then change how they act. In particular, they must learn how the very way they go about defining and solving problems can be a source of problems in its own right.”

Let’s see what we can learn from the example of the Apostle Peter and how Jesus helped him with “Double-Loop Learning.”

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