Chris Argyris distinguished 'single-loop' from 'double-loop' learning. Single-loop learning adjusts actions to achieve existing goals—a thermostat lowering temperature to reach a set point. Double-loop learning questions the goals themselves—should this room be this temperature? Organizations often excel at single-loop learning while resisting double-loop learning, which threatens established assumptions. Yet adapting to changing environments may require questioning not just how but why.
It can be inferred from the text that
organizational adaptation to change may require capacities that organizations tend to resist developing
single-loop and double-loop learning are identical processes
organizations readily embrace challenges to their fundamental assumptions
questioning goals is never necessary for effective organizational performance
Correct Answer: A
Choice A is the best answer. The passage shows a tension between what's needed and what's resisted.
- Context clues: Adapting "may require questioning...why" (double-loop); organizations "resist double-loop learning."
- Meaning: Needing what is resisted creates a paradox for organizational adaptation.
- Verify: The structure shows double-loop learning is both necessary and resisted.
💡 Strategy: When a passage shows something is both needed and avoided, the inference addresses this tension.
Choice B is incorrect because they're explicitly distinguished with different functions. Choice C is incorrect because organizations "resist" double-loop learning. Choice D is incorrect because "adapting to changing environments may require questioning...why."