Developed by Chris Argyris and Donald Schön (Theory in Practice, 1974).
Separates fixing actions within current assumptions (single loop) from questioning the assumptions and goals themselves (double loop), and builds the conditions for the second.
When to reach for it
The same problems keep recurring despite hard work and new tactics, and the goals or beliefs behind the work have never been questioned.
How it runs
- Name the assumptions and goals that govern current action.
- Look at the results actually produced, including side effects.
- Ask what could be adjusted within those assumptions.
- Ask whether the assumptions themselves are right.
- Name the topics nobody is allowed to raise.
- Hold conversations that test and revise the assumptions.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- Theory in Practice: Increasing Professional Effectiveness, 1974
- Teaching Smart People How to Learn, Harvard Business Review, 1991