Other KM Events

Details:

Source: SoL, Society of Learning Organization

Chris Argyris (1923 –2013)

On November 16th, Chris Argyris died peacefully, surrounded by his family after living a full and meaningful life. During his 90 years, Chris served in World War II, produced over 30 books and 150 articles, taught at Yale’s School of Management and at Harvard’s Business School and Graduate School of Education, served on the Boards of the Monitor Group and Greenwich Research Associates, and earned 14 honorary doctorates. He leaves behind a body of work and a community of inquiry that will forever shape how we think about leaders, organizations, theory-building, research, and practice.

As the father of organizational learning, Chris exemplified what he taught: the curiosity and courage it takes to sustain learning, even in the face of threat; the hope and humility it takes to create a better world; and the unbounded generativity and generosity it takes not just to create new ideas, but to forge collaborations across disciplines and to mentor a wide range of scholars and practitioners.

But it was Chris’s unique ability to empathize with people’s experiences and circumstances—while still holding them accountable for changing them—that affected me most. This was his ticket into the hearts and minds of thousands of people around the world—government and corporate leaders, students, professors, and colleagues alike.

It certainly was for me. Thirty-five years ago, while looking at a catalogue for the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where Chris was teaching at the time, my father noticed Chris’s name.

"Chris Argyris? Chris Argyris?” he asked excitedly. "He teaches there?”

"It looks that way,” I said, unaware of the name and surprised by the reaction.

"Well, you have to take his course. He was one of only three consultants who came through IBM that I had the greatest respect for. He’s absolutely brilliant.”

That coming from my father was exceptionally high praise. As a member of IBM’s Management Committee in the 1960s, he had the highest standards when it came to rigor, thought, and excellence.

Curious, I asked: "So who are the other two?”

"Jay Forrester and Herb Simon.”

Over the next three decades, I came to fully appreciate why my Dad reacted the way he did, and in what fine company he had placed Chris.

I like to think of Chris now in that kind of company, along with his most generative collaborator, Don Schön, with whom he wrote the seminal books, Theory in Practice (1974) and Organizational Learning (1978). I can just see him—a broad smile lighting his face, eyes full of curiosity—asking the unexpected question, listening for a toehold to advance learning, and not stopping until something new comes of it.

Chris leaves behind his beloved wife of 63 years, Renee, and his talented and devoted children, Dianne and Phil, two apples who did not fall far from the tree (read their tribute).

SoL, Society for Organizational Learning