Teaching Smart People How to Learn

1. Teaching Smart PeopleHow to Learn • Instructor: Dr. A.N.M. Waheeduzzaman • Presenting: Group 1 • Diep Dinh • Hai Nguyen • QuynhPhung • MKTG 5320 – Spring 2012 Chris Argyris James Bryant Conant Professor Havard Business School

2. Introduction • Smart People: • Well-educated, high-powered, high-commitment professionals or top managers • Key leadership positions • Learning Dilemma: • Success increasingly depends on learning, butsmart people don't know how to learn. • Reason: 2 common mistakes: • Define learning too narrow • Defensive Reasoning

3. Mistake 1: Narrow Learning Definition Single Loop vs. Double Loop • Define learning too narrow as mere “problem solving” • 2 kinds of learning: • Single Loop: easily accept the system as what it is • Double Loop: questioning the system for more optimal alternative • Smart people: Good at Single Loop, but often bad at Double Loop Do not know how to learn from failure

4. Mistake 2: Defensive Reasoning • When Single Loop goes wrong: • blame on others, but themselves • become defensive • Defensive Reasoning: • barriers that block learning

5. Solving Learning Dilemma • Key Points to Succeed: • reason about their own behaviors • focusing on organizational learning • continuous improvement • Build up a “knowledge work” • More examples and explanations in next parts

6. How Professionals Avoid Learning • In-depth studies for 15 years of management consultants: • Highly-educated (MBAs from top 3 or 4 U.S. business schools) • Highly-committed and satisfied to their jobs • However, continuous improvement does not persist • What happens? • Feel embarrassed and guilty • React defensively • Blame on: unclear goals, insensitive and unfair leaders, stupid clients

7. How Professionals Avoid Learning- An Example Study - • A manager of a case team opened a meeting to examine the team’s performance on a recent consulting project. Facts: • Satisfied clients • Not enough value added • Frank, open and without-limit discussion • End up with unproductive conversation • Defensiveness becomes reflexive routine, causing learning dilemma.

8. Defensive Reasoning and Conflicts between 2 Theories • Defensive Reasoning, regarding professionals’ behaviors • Encourage individuals to keep private • “Espoused Theory” (Theory-of-action) vs. “Real Action” (Theory-in-use)

9. Defensive Reasoning:Basic Values of Theory-in-Use • To remain in unilateral control • To maximize ‘‘winning’’ and minimize ‘‘losing’’ • To suppress negative feelings • To be as ‘‘rational’’ as possible

10. Defensive Reasoning:“Doom Loop” and “Doom Zoom” • “Doom Loop” of despair: • If they do not perform perfectly; or, • If they do not receive adequate recognition • “Doom Zoom”: • Because professionals go in to despair very quickly • They do not ease into the doom loop, but zoom into it

11. Defensive Reasoning:Possible Consequences • “Brittle” personalities • Low level of further performance • Psychologically devastating • Formidable predisposition against learning

12. Learning How to Reason Productively • Teaching people how to recognize the reasoning they use when they design and implement their actions • They can identify the inconsistencies between their espoused and actual theories of action; • They can face up with the fact that they unconsciously and unintentionally design and implement actions; • They can learn how to identify what individuals and groups to do to create organizational defenses contribute to organizational problems

13. Learning How to Reason Productively • “Tough Reasoning”: The kind of reasoning used to reduce and overcome organizational defenses. It depends on: • Colleting and analyzing valid data • Testing the inferences drawn from data. • The toughest test are used for the conclusions; and • a good conclusion can withstand all kinds of critical questions.

14. Learning How to Reason Productively • Top to bottom changes: • 1st step: Top managers have to change their own theories-in-use • 2nd step: Top managers become aware of their defensive reasoning and its counterproductive consequences. • 3rd step: Top managers connect educational experience designed to teach them to reason productively with their real business problems.

15. Learning How to Reason Productively • Impact of the senior managers’ performance on the organization When a senior manager are trained in new reasoning skills, most employees will take his behavior as a sign that the company really acts on the values of the employees. This can make all members of an organization learn how to reason productively

16. Discussion Questions • What is Defensive Reasoning? How can it be overcome to provide more productive reasoning? • What is ‘Double Loop’ learning and why do professionals suppress it? • “Teaching Smart People How to Learn is a Difficult Undertaking.” Explain why.

17. Thank you!!!