The Mason and Argyris readings reflect common themes of ongoing, flexible and critical evaluation regarding works-in-progress. These kinds of ideas are becoming central to modernist conceptions of organisational theory and encapsulate the idea of the ‘Knowledge Worker’, a fluid and adaptable individual ready to meet any challenge that is put to them. However, actors can be constrained by workplace and market pressures, timidity, lack of ability or any host of reasons that create disparity between the espoused, ‘what is said’ and the actual,’what is done’. In any case, the main point that Argyris makes is that instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, by being aware of our own biases and ways of doing, we might be better equipped to find more creative solutions to problems. Mason refers to a kind of active participation in observing and doing that in theory, will assist ‘experiential learning’. This is an ideal, to apply measured and dispassionate assessment to problems in order to find best-practice solutions, but as Argyris alludes to, knowing something and doing it, can be hard to reconcile.

Argyris has formulated the idea of “Single Loop” and “Double Loop” problem solving. ‘SLL’ involves trying to solve a problem using the existing rules. ‘DLL’ refers to a more thorough process of attempting to redefine success from the ground up. I don’t know if there is a better example of the pitfalls of “Single-Loop Learning”n and lack of attention to ‘experiential’ problem solving than our current approach to traffic, which is now manifesting in Melbourne as the East-West link – a project founded on the false idea that building more roads will ease congestion. In our imaginary, ideal and experiential world, we would simply apply “Double-Loop Learning” by modifying our underlying assumption (more roads = less traffic) and build a vibrant and affordable public-transport system.