BMA5557: Theories for Action Class

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BMA5557 Theories for Action (Class 2)

• Fall, 2007

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Web sites

• www.bolman.com/bma5557.htm
• (or) Blackboard

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Goals

• Syllabus check
• Explore dynamics of micro-leadership leading
  in interpersonal and small group situations
• Understand theories for action and how they
  influence (a) effectiveness and (b) ability to
  learn from experience

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Agenda

• Syllabus
• Whats not clear?
• Concerns?
• Introduction to case how effective was Sandy?
  Why?
• How could we be helpful to Sandy?
• Learning and effective action
• Theories for action
• Ladder of inference

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Syllabus check

• Whats not clear
• What concerns?

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What grade would you give Sandy?

• A outstanding performance
• B good, but not outstanding
• C Fair, some things good, some not so good
• D Mediocre, Sandy did more things wrong than
  right
• F Very poor, Sandy basically flubbed the entire
  assignment

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(No Transcript)
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There is nothing so practical as a good theory.
--Kurt Lewin
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Theories for action

• Espoused theory the account an individual
  provides to describe, explain or predict her/his
  own behavior
• Theory-in-use the program (set of decision
  rules) that would produce an individuals behavior

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Model I Made Simple Everyones Theory-in-Use
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Ladder of inference
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Ladder of influence thinking processs

• We tacitly register some data and ignore other
  data.
• We make interpretations based on the data we
  select, and draw conclusions from them.
• Most of this occurs quickly, automatically and
  tacitly, outside of awareness.
• Hence,  our conclusions feel so obvious to us
  that we see no need to retrace the steps we took
  from the data to the conclusions we reached.

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Our skill at reasoning is essential -- and gets
us in trouble

• If we thought about each inference we made, life
  would pass us by.
• But people can and do reach different
  conclusions.  When they view their conclusions as
  obvious, they see no need to say how they reached
  them.
• When people disagree, they often hurl conclusions
  at each other from the tops of their respective
  ladders.
• This makes it hard to resolve differences and to
  learn from one another.

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Model II (adapted from Argyris and Schön)
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Advocacy and Inquiry
High
Advocacy
Low
High
Low
Inquiry
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An example effective feedback
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Effective feedback
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Effective feedback
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Effective feedback
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Effective feedback