Why Smart People Can’t Learn

I came across this interesting subject in my Leadership class, and I would love to share within my circle of friends and followers.

source

One of the most important skill for a leader is being able to learn and adapt. However, many leaders are not good at it. Leaders get paid to solve problems and are generally good at this, but many are lousy at determining what role they played in causing these problems.

Leaders are good at single-loop learning. This type of learning involves reviewing data and facts and identifying the underlying root causes from the information gathered. There is also a double-loop learning that determines what they as leaders need to do differently to avoid problems in the future.

Many leaders are not good at this, mostly because they did not experience real failure. Many people in positions of authority have enviable track records of success, so when things go badly they erroneously believe that it cannot be their fault because they have always been successful. They truly believe that something else must be the cause of the group’s poor performance, like difficult customers, market conditions, cutthroat competitors. Thus many leaders react to failure by laying the blame on circumstances or other people.

Although external factors can and do affect group performance, a leader’s actions or inactions can also be a major cause of team failure. Before leaders point at external factors they need to ask how their actions contributed to the problem. Unfortunately it appears that the more formal education one has, the less likely it is that one will engage in double-loop learning.

Intelligence alone will not help people extract the maximum value from their experiences; reflection also plays a key role in learning and adaptation.

Source: Adapted from C. Argyris, “Teaching Smart People How to Learn,” Harvard Business Review, May–June 1991, Reprint Number 91301.

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