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LIT-739: Double Loop Learning in Organizations

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StatusUnavailable — registered 2026-10-05 from its publisher record, not read: no copy was used. The one open copy found is restricted to students enrolled in a course. Argyris's 2002 statement of the same theory (LIT-745) was read instead, from a copy his co-authors' practice posts, used on the owner's instruction. Filed because it is the article usually cited for double-loop learning. It stays Unavailable until a copy is supplied, not on merit.
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Chris Argyris (1977), “Double Loop Learning in Organizations”, Harvard Business Review, September–October 1977.

Key takeaways

Registered, not read. The distinction it is cited for is single-loop learning, which corrects an error within the norms that govern action, versus double-loop learning, which questions and changes those norms. That much is common knowledge of the literature, not a reading. Nothing beyond it is claimed here.

Standing in the record

Filed on 2026-10-05 at the owner’s request. The owner’s essay (§8.3) distinguishes procedures for changing ordinary policies from procedures for reconsidering “the standards through which policies acquire authority”. That is the single-loop and double-loop distinction, and the essay should cite it or say how it differs. The theory is read in Argyris’s 2002 article (LIT-745) and filed as THEORY-145.

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