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Please Watch YouTube Video we made on Unraveling the Triple Loop Mystery
What is CSI?
Conversational Storytelling Institute (CSI) is an innovative
methodology for exploring and analyzing Conversations
through co-inquiry dialogue and collaborative
storytelling. It emphasizes the co-creation of meaning through
conversational storytelling. More
Certificate Programs (see PowerPoint Slides of Triple-Loop Mystery).
Basic Certificate:
Includes four course modules in how to do CSI one-and-one and
CSI group and CSI team training. You can use this
certificate for having better relationships at home and at work.
It does not certify you to teach or train our CSI relationship
program. Online course and pricing at https://truestorytelling.org
All ODC Certificates must be earned and paid for in
sequence. No jumping levels.
Level One ODC: Certifies you to do internal or external organizational development and change (ODC) consulting in 1st Loop ODC - command and control hierarchies. Online course and pricing at https://truestorytelling.org
Level Two ODC: Certifies you to
do internal or external organizational development and change
(ODC) consulting in 1st and 2nd Loop ODC for organizations with
mix of command and control, and some open systems. Online course
and pricing at https://truestorytelling.org
Level Three ODC: Certifies you to
do internal or external organizaitonal development and change
(ODC) consulting in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Loop ODC for organizations
with mix of command and control, open systems, and
advanced socioeconomic transformations. We recommend you also
take classes in SEAM (Socioeconomic Approach to Management)
consulting, at Lyon France, or in the USA.
For example, CLICK
HERE for USA Seam Coaching and SEAM Certification is
available to you,
For example, CLICK
HERE for Europe SEAM application for Henri Savall Program.
We provide only parts of SEAM, and not their whole
package.
Our CSI socioeconomics work is based on this volume, as required
purchase for each person. Online course
Our Level Three ODC, Check pricing at https://truestorytelling.org
Read Sample
Chapter(s) Free of Charge
General
Introduction
Chapter
1: Presentation of SEAM and Opening Up on Storytelling
Approaches
This volume is part of a referee set of 5 volumes
Level Four ODC: Certifies you to
do internal or external organizational development and change
(ODC) consulting in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Loop ODC , plus Ensemble
Leadership development for organizations that intend to
harmonize and balance command and control, open systems,
socioeconomic transformation teams with Ensemble Leadership and
team networking. Online course and pricing at https://truestorytelling.org
All ODC Certificates must be earned and paid for in sequence. No jumping levels.
SUMMARY
Please Watch YouTube Video we
made on Unraveling the Triple Loop Mystery
The Triple Loop
Mystery - Unraveling a 60-Year Quest in Organization
Theory
By David Boje and Grace Ann
Rosile
Please click here to download 27-page PDF
or
Listen
to 22-minute Podcast
David Boje and Grace Ann
Rosile’s ‘Conversational Storytelling Inquiry’ (CSI) book
attempts a solution to a 60-plus year old mystery in
organization theory. The mystery is called ‘Quest for the
Triple Loop’ It begins with the work of Kenneth Boulding, who
in 1956 published his nine levels of systems. Boje and Rosile
take us on a 60-year-old mystery in organization theory, the
"Quest for the Triple Loop." David Boje and Grace Ann Rosile,
argue that "Triple Loop" learning involves moving beyond open
systems and into the realm of quantum physics. They propose a
new approach to organizational development and change called
"Conversational Storytelling Inquiry" (CSI), which combines
three loops of learning, with "Ensemble Leadership" as a
fourth layer. CSI emphasizes collective leadership, moving
away from traditional hierarchical structures and
incorporating indigenous perspectives to achieve socioeconomic
transformation.
The Triple Loop Mystery - Unraveling a
60-Year Quest in Organization Theory
We sill summarie the main themes and key
ideas from the essay "The Triple Loop Quest" by David Boje and
Grace Ann Rosile, focusing on their upcoming book
"Conversational Storytelling Inquiry" (CSI).
Core Mystery: The Quest for Triple Loop
Learning
Our dives
into a 60-year-old mystery in organizational theory: defining
and identifying "Triple Loop Learning." The mystery originates
with Kenneth Boulding's 1956 nine-level hierarchical systems
theory. Subsequent attempts to define Triple Loop, often as a
progression from Argyris and Schon's Single- and Double-Loop
Learning models, failed to reach a consensus.
Key Points:
- Boulding's Challenge:
Boulding's theory presented a hierarchical framework of
systems, with each level incorporating the previous ones. He
challenged management science to move beyond the limitations
of "open systems" (Level 4) and explore higher levels of
complexity.
- Single-Loop Learning (Level 3 -
Cybernetic System): This involves correcting errors
without altering underlying values or policies. Analogy: a
thermostat adjusting temperature. Focus: Doing things right.
- Double-Loop Learning (Level 4 -
Open System): This involves correcting errors by
changing fundamental values and policies. Analogy: a
thermostat questioning its set temperature. Focus: Doing the
right things.
- Beyond Open Systems: Louis
Pondy, Boje's mentor, attempted to answer Boulding's
challenge but faced rejection from the academic community.
This highlighted the difficulty of conceptualizing systems
beyond the "open system."
Boje and Rosile's Solution:
Boje and Rosile propose a new
interpretation of Triple Loop learning, moving beyond a purely
hierarchical model and integrating insights from various
disciplines, including:
- Quantum Physics: Boje draws
parallels between the quest for a unified theory in physics
and the search for Triple Loop. He suggests that quantum
principles, with their emphasis on interconnectedness and
complexity, offer valuable insights.
- Indigenous Knowledge Systems:
Boje and Rosile incorporate indigenous perspectives,
particularly the concept of "Ensemble Leadership", to
emphasize collective, relational, and heterarchical
approaches to leadership and organizational change.
- Socio-Economic Approach to
Management (SEAM): They integrate SEAM, a scientific
method utilizing Diagnosis, Project Planning, Implementation
& Evaluation (D-PIE) teams to address dysfunctions and
optimize human potential for improved economic performance.
Boje and Rosile's Triple Loop Framework:
- First Loop (Cybernetic System):
Command-and-control hierarchy with top-down problem-solving.
- Second Loop (Open System):
Adaptive systems focused on both deviation-control and
deviation-amplifying innovation.
- Third Loop (Socio-Economic):
Transformation of both command-and-control and open systems
using cascading D-PIE teams to develop human potential and
improve socio-economic performance.
Ensemble Leadership:
Boje and Rosile introduce "Ensemble
Leadership" as an intervention to optimize the three loops. It
promotes:
- Heart of Care Discourse:
Networking and integrating the contributions of all three
loops.
- Collectively Co-created
Leadership: Shifting from hierarchical models to more
egalitarian and distributed approaches.
- Rhizomatic Structure:
Embracing dynamic and fluid leadership interactions within a
heterarchical system.
Key Quotes:
- Boulding (1956): "Perhaps
one of the most valuable uses of the above scheme is to
prevent us from accepting as final a level of theoretical
analysis which is below the level of the empirical world
which we are investigating."
- Rosile, Boje & Claw (2018):
"Ensemble leadership theory assumes a social structure,
which is decentered as well as multi-centered and
nonhuman-centric."
Conclusion:
Here are the Nuts and Bolts of the CSI ODC
approaches
CSI Offers You Three approaches CSI uses for
Organizational Development and Change (ODC), and a 4th for
'Ensemble Leadership Development'. We use a combination of 3
ODC loops, and if asked, add 'Heart of Care Ensemble
Leadership'.
First Loop
- Cybernetic System ODC of
command-and-control hierarchy (deviation-controlling)
with top-down CSI-ODC problem solving, but less
opportunity for human potential initiative.
Second Loop - Open System
ODC adapting by deviation-control (1st Loop) and
deviation-amplifying (2nd Loop) innovation projects, but
less opportunity to bring about scalability CSI- ODC for
socio-economic performance.
Argyris'
single-loop and double-loop systems are models that
describe how organizations learn and correct errors:
Single-loop learning: Involves making adjustments
to correct errors without changing the underlying values
or policies of an organization. For example, a
thermostat is a single-loop learner because it turns the
heat on or off based on the temperature of the room.
Single-loop learning focuses on doing things right.
Single-loop learning might observe causality, but it
usually doesn't address it. Single-loop learning
involves making small fixes and adjustments to resolve
issues.
Double-loop
learning: Involves making adjustments to correct
errors by changing the underlying values or policies of
an organization. For example, a thermostat would be a
double-loop learner if it questioned the temperature it
should measure. The double-loop learning focuses on
doing the right things. Double-loop learning
involves identifying and understanding causality.
Double-loop learning involves solving larger problems by
identifying root causes. Double-loop learning
involves questioning assumptions and beliefs, and
confronting existing belief systems.
We
call single-loop learning systems, command and control
systems using Pondy and Mitroff's model
. Command and
Control systems correct errors without changing values
or policies, in short making small fixes and adjustments
without going into root causes.
We
refer to double-loop systems, open systems, making
adaptive adjustments, and learning to solve problems by
identifying root causes.
Louis
Ralph Pondy, is one of the leading experts in 'Open
Systems' and systems that are beyond it.
Boje, D. M. and
Saylors, R. (2024). The Management Thought of Louis R.
Pondy: Reclaiming the Enthinkment Path. Taylor &
Francis.
Pondy, L. R. and Mitroff, I. I. (1979). “Beyond open system models of organization,” in B. Staw (ed.), Research in organizational behavior, Vol. 1 .
Pondy and Mitroff (1979) apply Kenneth
Boulding’s 9 levels of systems theory:
1.Framework, 2. Mechanistic, 3. Control (cybernetic
deviation-counteraction, e.g. command and control), 4. Open
systems (both deviation-counteracting &
deviation-amplifying), 5. Organic, 6. Image systems, 7.
Symbol systems, 8. Roles systems, 9 Transcendental systems.
The Organic, Image, Symbol, Roles, and Transcendental are
beyond Level 4 Open Systems, and Level 3 Control Systems. We
do not suggest that these are the meaning of triple-loop
systems.
Pondy and Mitroff defined an ;open system; as an
organization that interacts with its social-, economic-,
political- and other organizations-environment by exchanging
resources. Open systems ‘suck orderliness from its
environment, but can exhibit nor more variety than the
variety in its environment (Law of Limited Variety). Open
systems adapt their people skills, technology, and structure
in order to survive.
What are the systems beyond open systems. We suggest they are
complex systems with multiple centers.
Third Loop - Socio-Economic
ODC is transformation of both command and
control (single loop) and open systems (our rendition of
double-loop), and a third-loop of Henri Savall's
socioeconomic (S-E) approach to ODC by improving and
developing human potential and S-E development by
implementing cascading D-PIE teams (Diagnosis, Project
planning, Implementation, & Evaluation) vertically and
horizontally.
The Goal of Triple Loop is to change the spiral direction
from downward to upward economic performance of the
enterprise (see Rosile, Boje & Claw, 2018).
What a downward socioeconomic spiral of poor performance looks like.
There are four steps in
developing D-PIE teams to transform downward spiral of
economic performance into upward spiral of increasing
economic results.
CSI Socioeconomics of
Organizational Development and Change (ODC)
Heart of Care - Ensemble
Leadership ODC optimizes three loops into win-win
Together-Telling & Together-Listening, Co-leadership
implemented within and between organizations for optimal
3C's (cooperative-coordination-consultation).
Socioeconomics of ODC.
David Boje
and Grace Ann Rosile have a 20+ year project developing
'Business Storytelling of Socioeconomics.' between CSI and
SEAM (Socio-Economic Approach to Management) of ODC.
The 2024 World Scientific Encyclopedia of Business
Storytelling is edited by David Boje. Volume 5 is edited by
Amandine Savall. CSI interventions is compatible with
Socio-Economic (SE) approach to ODC. The process of
cascading multiple 'CSI-SE' focus groups throughout a
business (university, government agency, non-profit
enterprise, etc.) is an intervention for ODC. D-PIE is
a spiral that expands, rather than a repeating same old
thing again and again. The D-PIE ODC expands in three
dimensions: Time, Breadth & Potential, and Chang to Game
Roles of the organizations.
D-PIE teams are initiated
within and between functional departments, divisions, and
between levels of hierarchy, creates groundwork for S-E 3C's
(cooperative-coordination-consultation) together-listening
and together-telling co-inquiry D-PIE (diagnosis for project
planning, implementation, & evaluation). The result is
cascading many D-PIE teams throughout a complex organization
for purpose of ODC and continuing innovation. At
the Transorganization Development, scale, CSI
cascading D-PIE teams interface 3C's between a client
organization and suppliers, customer focus groups,
between sets of organizations pursuing S-E sector innovation
in a particular technology and/or environmental
sustainability initiative. Organizational and
Transorganizational Development has three levels of steering
(H. Savall, Zardet, Bonnet, & A. Savall, 2024: 20):
"simulation, orchestration (or synchronization), and
cleaning-up what is deteriorating over time." CSI's use of
Abduction-Induction-Deduction (AID) tool within and across
D-PIE teams of a cascading ODC transformations. Henri
Savall's socioeconomic approach is a scientific method,
utilizing D-PIES to resolve dysfunctions and use untapped
human potential to turn hidden costs into positive economic
performance.
The result is an organizational command-and-control (single
loop) culture of cybernetic (deviation-correction) into an
open system of both deviation-correction and innovative
deviation-amplification (the double loop. Then, there
is scalability to Socio-Economic (SE) ODC called
Triple Loop. But notice the D-PIE teams are separate,
not coordinating, not networking.
Finally, instead of the three loops becoming win-lose with one another, a Heart of Care supports what's the best contribution of each loop, with an intervention, we call "Ensemble Leadership." This is where the Cascading D-PIE teams are networking together, and the three loops of ODC are optimizing by networking together, in acts of self-organizing by the 3C's.
Rosile, G. A., M Boje, D., &
Claw, C. M. (2018). Ensemble leadership theory:
Collectivist, relational, and heterarchical roots from
indigenous contexts. Leadership, 14(3), 307-328.Click
here to download a PDF..
CSI Horsesense-Assertiveness is used to Implement Ensemble
Leadership to optimize win-win within and betwee 1st, 2nd, and
3rd ODC initiatives.
We will provide a brief review of the Triple
Loop literature in ODC, then show how our approach ‘Ensemble
Leadership Theory) resolves several shortcomings.
The term ‘Triple Loop’ is often said to go beyond
Argyris and Schön’s (1974) and be equivalent to
Deutero-Learning (1978, 1996), however, as Tosey et al. (2012)
argue, this is not how Argyris and Schön see it. For
them Deutero-Learning is akin to Double Loop.
“Whilst ‘triple-loop learning’ has been inspired by Argyris
and Schön, we establish that the term does not arise in their
published work” (Tosey, Visser, & Saunders, 2012: 291).
Tosey et al. (2012) review finds little consensus among how a
number of authors have conceived of a further type of
organizational learning, for which the most prominent term is
‘triple-loop’ learning (Flood and Romm, 1996; Isaacs, 1993;
Romme and Van Witteloostuijn, 1999; Snell and Chak, 1998;
Swieringa and Wierdsma, 1992; Yuthas et al., 2004). For
example, according to Tosey et al. (2012), Roper and Pettit
(2002) observe that the discussion of triple-loop learning is
often normative, simply encouraging organizations to aspire
beyond single- and double-loop learning.
Some attempt to equate Bateson’s (1973) Learning III framework
as grasping the elusive Triple-Loop. But the problem is
Bateson’s Level III challenges the assumption that higher
orders of learning are desirably because that level entails
risks for transformational learning in organizations.
Triple-loop learning equated with Bateson’s Learning III has
been applied to climate change (BUpta, 2016).:
“Triple-loop learning is required when problems are super
wicked and unstructured and the deep underlying causes and
context have to be taken into account in redefining,
relearning, and unlearning what we have all learnt before”
(Gupta, 2016: 193).
Another example of Bateson’s Level III (equated to elusive
Triple-llop) is Fahrenbach and Kragulj (2022).
Their focus is on personality changes of leaders, in
a “profound redefinition of the self” (Bateson,
1972, pp. 300-303), as cited in Fahrenbach and Kragulj,
IBID.).
“Interventions that change how organizations respond to events
and that change the routines within an organization may be
suitable to facilitate triple-loop learning in terms of
changing organizational identity over time” (Fahrenbach &
Kragulj, 2022: 597).
Triple-loop learning is often described as a change of the
“underlying purposes, principles or paradigms” (Tosey et al.,
2012, p. 294) of an organization, which lacks sufficient
theoretical roots and empirical support” (Fahrenbach &
Kragulj, 2022: 598).
How does CSI approach Triple-Loop.
1. We do not assume that it is fulfillment of Argyris and
Schön approach to Single and Double loop, nor it is
Deutero-Learning (which as reviewed is about the same as
Double-loop.
2. We do not equate CSI-Triple Loop with Gregory Bateson’s
Learning III.
3. Rather, our approach invokes Rosile, Boje, & Claw’s
(2018) Ensemble Leadership.
“We see ensemble leadership theory as starting from a
different origin: the indigenous world-view. It provides an
emphasis in the leadership context, which is largely missing
in traditional leadership literature. First, the ensemble
leadership theory casts leadership as a collective phenomenon,
and privileges the collective rather than the individual. This
moves away from the “hero” leadership views and instead,
connects with the recent “relationality” and “shared” views of
leadership, breaking new ground in collective
leadership” … “ensemble leadership theory assumes a
social structure, which is decentered as well as
multi-centered and nonhuman-centric. Fourth, the combination
of dynamism and multi-centeredness yields a structure which
storytelling scholars call “rhizomatic” and archeologists term
“heterarchical” (Rosile, Boje, & Claw, 2018: 307).
The anthropological term ‘heterarchy’ in Ensemble
Leadership Theory (ELT) includes (1) collectively co-created,
(2) dynamic and fluid, (3) more egalitarian than
dispersed (within the person), distributed (shared among
persons), or relational (co-created in the
relationships) approaches to leadership.
Ensemble Leadership Theory (ELT) is not the repeating
(cybernetic-control system doing error-correction) patterns of
dispersed leadership, not the linear beginning-middle-end
narrative emplotment( or cause-effect) of distributed
leadership, nor the cyclical or spiral of change of the
relational leadership framework.
Rather, Ensemble Leadership Theory (ELT) focus is between
moving form downward to upward spiral economic performance,
and navigating rhizomatic. Ensemble leadership means every
follower is a potential leader.
ELT acknowledges not one hierarchy but many hierarchies, in a
decentered system of heterarchies. Boje and Rosile’s CSI uses
a ‘heart of care’ discourse as a way of networking together
single-loop (command and control), double-loop (open systems,
which is akin to Argyris & Schön double-loop). However,
for triple-loop we focus on a socioeconomic approach to
management (Savall & Zardet, 2008; Savall, Péron, &
Zardet, 2015).
We develop the socioeconomic approach to ODC, then follow up
with our approach to ELT.
We (Rosile et al., 2021) have done field work to validate ELT
on supply chains of some of the top US corporations. The
Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) successfully combated
modern-day slavery by transforming the ways that over a dozen
major brands, including Taco Bell, Subway, and Wal-Mart,
manage their supply chains with greater corporate social
responsibility.
“The CIW history demonstrates that traditional bureaucratic
hierarchical systems may be less effective than flatter, more
diverse “heterarchical” systems. We term those dynamic
heterarchical systems “Ensemble” (Rosile et al., 2018)”
(Rosile et al., 2021: 378). This is the list of corporations
doing this approach.
Yum! Brands (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC) McDonald
Burger
King
Whole Foods Market
Subway
Bon Appétit Management Co. Compass
Group
Aramark
Sodexo
Trader Joe’s
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Wal-Mart
The Fresh Market
USA Hold (Giant, Stop & Shop)
Ben & Jerry’s
“This ensemble approach employs storytelling processes, and it
allows the CIW to animate a cross-field range of actors into a
collective movement resulting in large-scale change” (Rosile
et al., 2021: 377).
In sum, ELT is not at all the same is prior attempts to theorize Triple-Loop, nor is it Bateson's Learning III. Rather we develop an indigenous approach to ELT. We deploy socioeconomic as an ODC approach, with cascading D-PIE teams. Rather than moving the entire organizationn from Single-loop to Douple-Loop, to Triple Loop and on to Ensemble, we have an approach that is multi-centered, respecting the three loops of leadership, then networking them together for coordination, communication and cooperation with ELT.
References
Argyris, C. (2003), “A life full of learning”, Organization
Studies, Vol. 24 No. 7, pp. 1178-1192.
Argyris, C. and Schön, D.A. (1978), Organizational Learning:
A Theory of Action Perspective, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
Bateson, G. (1972), Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected
Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution and
Epistemology, Jason Aronson, Northvale, NJ.
Fahrenbach, F., & Kragulj, F. (2022). The ever-changing
personality: revisiting the concept of triple-loop learning.
The Learning Organization, 29(6), 597-610. Click
Here.
Gupta, J. (2016). Climate change governance: history, future,
and triple‐loop learning?. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews:
Climate Change, 7(2), 192-210. Click
Here.
Ricart, S., Gandolfi, C., & Castelletti, A. (2023).
Climate change awareness, perceived impacts, and adaptation
from farmers’ experience and behavior: a triple-loop review.
Regional Environmental Change, 23(3), 82. Click
Here.
Rosile, G. A., M Boje, D., & Claw, C. M. (2018). Ensemble
leadership theory: Collectivist, relational, and heterarchical
roots from indigenous contexts. Leadership, 14(3),
307-328. Click
Here.
Rosile, G. A., Boje, D. M., Herder, R. A., & Sanchez, M.
(2021). The Coalition of Immokalee Workers uses ensemble
storytelling processes to overcome enslavement in corporate
supply chains. Business & Society, 60(2), 376-414.
Click
Here.
Savall, H., Péron, M., & Zardet, V. (2015, September).
Human potential at the core of socio-economic theory (SEAM).
In Decoding the Socio? Economic Approach to Management:
Results of the Second SEAM Conference in the United States (p.
1). IAP.
Savall, H., & Zardet, V. (Eds.). (2008). Mastering hidden
costs and socio-economic performance. IAP.
Tosey, P., Visser, M., & Saunders, M. N. (2012). The
origins and conceptualizations of ‘triple-loop’ learning: A
critical review. Management learning, 43(3), 291-307. Click
Here.
MENU: What is CSI? | Assertive_CSI | Contact CSI | Podcasts | Videos | Publications | Corporate Conversational Storytelling Seminar Description | Corporate Conversational Storytelling Seminar Enrollment | Interpersonal Relations at Home and Work Seminar | ENROLL & PAY NOW Limited Seats for Seminars | Socioeconomic_CSI - ODC | ANTEnaarrative & True Storytelling | Return CSI home