This model for change was developed by Chris Argyris and Robert Putman in 1986.

We can learn and change at three main levels.

1. Most often we learn new information and skills and thereby changing our behaviour and performing tasks more effectively (1st level). This is sometimes called ‘single loop learning’.

2. Less often we learn at the thoughtful level, seeing things from a different angle, reframing and changing our perspective (2nd level). This kind of change in our mental framework may be called ‘double loop learning’.

3. What's more, transformational or ‘triple loop learning’ is even more profound, affecting not just our behaviour and thinking but our identity: it’s when we shift in the way we see ourselves and the world (3rd level).

Many ancient traditions and modern management processes relate to these three levels of learning or consciousness. In the Kabbalistic tree of life for example, "malchut" represents the physical or BODY level (behavioural), "yasod" refers to self-awareness or LANGUAGE level (thoughtful) and "tifereth" the inner energy or MOOD level (transformational). These three states of consciousness can be found replicated as "orders of learning" sometimes referred to as "loops". All three states of consciousness are required to create a coherent "Way of Being".

The top-down, bottom-up features of my own Dynamic Change Model recognizes the hierarchy that extends from divine or collective will at the top reflecting spiritual connections (3rd level), down to the psychological or thinking level (2nd level) with the material world reflected at the bottom dominated by biological and physical interactions (1st level).

We can easily get "locked-in" to our preferred ways of thinking (our psychology) that forces us into a rut. To achieve higher levels of consciousness and achievement our goals must be more than just an extension of the same old story, that challenge limiting beliefs and tap the emotional energy needed to let go and dream of new possibilities. These higher virtues belong to the spiritual world, not unlike the "pure form" world of the Buddhist or the ideas world of Plato.

First Level Change (or single loop learning)
First order change and learning takes place within accepted boundaries; it is adaptive learning that leaves basic values unexamined and unchanged… the stress is on information. It's a mystery how managers can live in a state of consciousness that allows them to live in a world where nothing is fixed, yet perceive the world as fixed and predictable.

First order learning is about changing our actions, which includes changing the way we speak and behave. This results in a traditional approach to problem-solving that relies on cause and effect thinking, known as survival or adaptive learning. If things fall apart we tend to try harder.

This level requires Behavioural Coaching or Performance Coaching, and is the most popular form of coaching for managing change in organisations. Mentoring falls into this category too.

If our actions are working for us there is no incentive to learn new skills or change our behaviour. However, if we don't produce the results wanted there are three main options:

1. We stop doing it.
2. We modify our actions to do the same things better
3. We do something different

Second Level Change (or double loop learning)
By contrast, second order change and learning involves critically reflective learning, when we examine the assumptions and values of the observer that influence first order learning; this is sometimes called ‘learning about learning’ or ‘thinking about our thinking’.

We look to extract the patterns, principles or rules that will deliver different outcomes. This helps to induce new ways of thinking. Second order learning requires a new observer with different views or the same observer adopting a different way of looking at things. This may require a different way of listening and interpreting experiences. NLP refers to this process as "reframing", a mechanism for changing what we pay attention, how we perceive things or what motivates us.

This often referred to as Personal or Professional Coaching as it promotes new thinking and action to achieve a goal or aspiration.

Managers who arrive at such personal and professional transformation points need to build a critical mass of ‘fellow travellers’ to avoid becoming burnt out or frustrated by the complexities of trying to coach colleagues or change the system. They need to build alliances in order to devise effective strategies for engaging others in transformative or third level change..

Third Level Change (or triple loop learning)
At a deeper level still, when third order learning happens we are intervening in who people are being, transforming the way they see things to achieve the seemingly impossible. It requires a reinvention of identity or a different "way of being" that produces outstanding results. It's not about changing behaviour our thinking, but coming intuitively to adopt a another state of consciousness.

This is often referred to as Ontological, Integral or Transformational Coaching for leaders of change and people who are seeking a new direction in their life.

The thinking is more strategic as it reflects a multi-dimensional perspective. It is creative, and involves a deep awareness of alternative world-views and ways of doing things. It is, as Einstein suggests, a shift of consciousness. It is this transformative or strategic learning, both at individual and collective levels, that can generate a radical move towards the sustainable change that's required.

At each level it is possible to see more possibilities for taking effective action. Where you stand matters. To understand how you look at things you need to become a more conscious observer of the way you observe and make distinctions. It takes more courage to think about how you look at things than it does to just try new actions (2nd level). It's even harder to reflect on how you are being and in what ways you need to reinvent yourself (3rd level). This is where so many personal and cultural change programmes fail. They stimulate and measure activity, but not the inner change that will deliver the transformational change in the whole person that's needed. The result is little or no sustainable change. To do what you have always done will only deliver what you always got before. Real change requires you to become conscious at all three levels - body, thought (language) and mood.

Robert Greenleaf (Servant Leadership) invites people to consider a domain of leadership grounded in a state of being, not doing. It's not an action (1st level), it's not something that you think about (2nd leve), it's an expressin of who you are (3rd level). The choice is to serve others or realise your goals through others. We are what we know and know only what we do. So, problems, possibilities and solutions do not exist "out there" they exist within the minds of people. What is a problem for one person goes unnoticed by others. It is the different moods, concerns, distinctions, intentions and interests of different observers that creates problems, possibilities and solutions. We cannot know everything so we will always be blind to something. Looking "out there" for someone to blame is futile when the answer lies within ourselves. This is a difficult, sometimes frightening idea for some people to accept that they may be wrong or their model of the world is only partial and full of assumptions.

"We make the assumption that everyone sees life the way that we do. We assume that others thing the way we think, feel the way we feel, judge the way we judge. This is the biggest assumption that humans make."
Don Miguel Ruiz in the The Four Agreements 1997

Peter Senge, the guru of organisational learning says that learning requires a change in the underlying mental model that we use to make sense of the world. He refers to this as fundamental change as transcendence or "metanoia

"Mental models are the images, assumptions and stories which we carry in our minds of ourselves, other people, institutions and every aspect of the world. Like a pain of glass framing and subtly distorting our vision, mental models determine what we see. Human beings cannot navigate through the complex environments of our world without these 'mental maps'; and all of these maps, by definition, are flawed in some way."
Peter Senge in The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook 1994

However, context is important. It triggers our thinking, influences our perceptions and colours or experience. It is often the context that we need to see differently and respond to with a positive and optimistic mindset. We know what works for us so we tend to stick with it and not push the boundaries of our capability, unless it is important to us. Leadership is about creating new realities.

From a Change Coaching perspective, it is important to be clear about the level and intention of your intervention. This is why choosing an appropriate diagnostic technique can determine where people are, what they need and precisely what they want from their coach. It makes no sense to engage in 3rd level diagnostics and questions if they are not ready for that kind of development.

Synchronicity
It is at this third level that we experience synchronicity, where a state of being that is grounded in deep commitment it draws in other people. Just being able to be there for others and to listen to them is one of tyhe most important capacities a Change Coach has. It calls forth the best in people as they discover real purpose and want to do the inner, reflective work that brings about transformational change.

More info at: http://www.ideodynamic.com/enneagram-monthly/2000/EM_0012_a2.htm
Read: Language and the Pursuit of Happiness by Chalmers Brothers. New Possibilities Press (USA) 2005
Masterful Coaching by Robert Hargrove. Jossey-Bass 2003
Coaching to the Human Soul by Alan Sieler 2003

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