DOUBLE LOOP LEARNING

Double loop learning is as powerful a concept as it is a neglected one.
When we analyse an event in terms of what went wrong and consider the whole thing in terms of behaviour of the people involved, the learning that accrues from it is single loop learning. Usually, it results in fixing the blame on the final actor. For double loop learning, however, we need to focus not on behaviours of persons but the systems as such, which make people behave the way they do. The real question is not'what went wrong' but 'why did it go wrong'. That forces you to unravel the root cause of all that is going wrong.
Indian response to the Mumbai terror ( 26/11 ) is a classic case of single loop learning. On the surface, what went wrong? The hotel security was lax, the NSG move was delayed due to non availability of own aircraft, the police was ineffective and the lack of coordination between the navy and coast guard allowed the boat of the terrorists to go through them. So immediate action has been taken to make the hotel security strong, give the NSG its own aircraft, allot a few crores for police upgradation and declare the navy as incharge of maritime security.
But will this help till there is second loop learning?
Why do we not question why the existing security personnel do not take their responsibility seriously, why the powers that be never realized that a fast response national team without an aircraft if of no use, why the policemen do not even use their existing weaponry effectively and why there is no coordination between the navy and the coast guard. Even the existing hotel security could have given at least a reasonable warning, the NSG could still have been effective within minutes of arrival, the policemen could still have shot down the terrorists who were openly roaming around the railway platform for as much as an hour and even one conscientious patrol craft ( navy or coast guard ) could have stopped the terrorist boat to check their credentials.
Why did this not happen? If we do not fix this, we shall be wasting the money we spend on new acquisitions. We shall be putting a band aid on a festering wound. The same problems will recur with the new system, maybe in a new form though.
Why did the actors of this episode behave in such an irresponsible manner? Simply because the negligence and acts of omission by their predecessors too were never questioned. There is a national and cultural precedent of unaccountability. From the 'Guilty men of 62', through the Sikh genocide and the Gujarat massacre up to the attack on Indian parliament, we have never held anyone responsible. We are nice guys who do not ask difficult questions to our people. In the last 60 or so years, the only one person penalized for any omission of duties at all, was the army Brigadier in command of the Kargil brigade. Other than that one person, ours seems to be a nation of angels though having one catastrophe after another
So, you see, double loop learning can be as painful as it is important. Making an organisation a learning organisation is not a matter of tools & techniques but one of genuine intent to do so.
Actually, we did not do even single loop learning because we did not hold even the final actors accountable. What we did could be termed 'no loop learning' or simply, 'no learning'.