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These "action science" devices are designed to build skills of "reflection
and inquiry:" ways of holding conversations that lead to greater
understanding
of both process and content. The tools are simple exercises and metaphors
that help people unlearn their own defensive, counter-productive
conversational
habits. For example, in many work situations it's more effective to
systematically inquire into why other people feel the way they do, instead
of trying to hammer your own point home as dramatically as possible.
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The "ladder of inference" -- a term coined by
Professor Chris
Argyris -- is a metaphor that shows how rapidly we can leap to
knee-jerk conclusions with little data and no intermediate thought process,
as if rapidly climbing up a ladder in our minds. You start at the bottom with
the observable data, which is so self-evident that it would show up on a
videotape recorder (Larry has yawned at a meeting), and within the space of
a few seconds, leap up to assumptions (Larry is bored), to more generic
conclusions (Larry doesn't care about this project). Since most of these
conclusions are never discussed openly, there is no way to check them.
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Thus, incorporating the "ladder" into everyday
conversation has proven to be a pivotal component
of learning organization work. It gives people a safe way to raise and check
their varied interpretations of events.
In the left-hand column exercise, people select a difficult situation and
reconstruct a pivotal conversation. In the right-hand column, they write
down what was said. In the left, they articulate what they were thinking
and feeling, but not saying. The case becomes an artifact through which
people can examine their own thinking, as well as the systemic problems
which underlie the impasse.
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The ladder of inference is described in Chris Argyris,
Overcoming Organizational Defenses, (1990, Prentice Hall, p. 88-89);
Argyris, Putnam, and Diana McLain Smith, Action Science , (1985,
Jossey-Bass, pp. 57-58). Also see The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook,
page 242.
The "left-hand column" exercise is based upon the two-column method
developed by Chris Argyris and Donald A. Schon. The research method was
first presented in their book Theory in Practice (1974,
Jossey-Bass).
Also see The Fifth Discipline, page 195, and The Fifth Discipline
Fieldbook, page 246.
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