Like it or not, unsticking "stuck" cultures is what stands between executives who ultimately deliver versus those who merely ride the gravy-train for the first 2 years of a 5 year contract before getting fired. So listen up: with Knowledge Workers the "soft stuff" IS the meat & potatoes!

Also, Argyris is also essential reading for anyone who is considering the use of the 360-Feedback tool. In my book, 360 is a powerful tool that is *dangerous* in the wrong hands; particularly if it's used in an unhealthy culture. The effective manager for the Information Age has to have atleast "some" competence in organizational psychology --in addition to having an external O.D. (Org Development) professional on retainer to get the org initially "unstuck" and keep it that way until things are back on track.

Argyris is an Industrial / Organizational Psychologist (I/O P) and OD guru with heavily sociological and cognitive psychology leanings. Argyris is the "OD person's OD person"; his career goes back to the 1950's. Argyris has devoted his life to these 2 key goals: (1)understanding what is required to integrate the individual into the collective (highly relevant in the era of the Knowledge Worker) and (2)how to monitor & measure progress in this regard in a way that produces "ACTIONABLE knowledge" for continuously improving this integration process. With Argyris -- the rubber meets the road and traction is imminent.

Argyris' later work can be grouped into a "quartet" of books. However the reader should be cautioned because Argyris writes under 2 potentially frustrating assumptions: (1)that the reader is atleast a Master's Degree level person in I/O P; (2)that the reader has read his previous books and is thus ready to tackle the new material at hand. However, I'm delighted to point out that -- with the proper reading approach -- a non-OD everyday-manager-type can read and understand The Argyris Way without too much difficulty. The secret is to read atleast 2 of Argyris' books in the proper order. I prescribe 2 approaches to tackling Argyris: 1 for non-OD people (managers & executives) and 1 for OD people (the propeller-heads who actually know this stuff). Here they are:

(BOOK 1) Argyris "Overcoming Organizational Defenses" c1990. This is a McDonald's drive thru version of the much more involved 1985 release cited as book # 4 below. This is the starting point for everyday managers & executives who are thinking about engaging an OD person for their organizations but do not plan on being I/O P people themselves. The price to understand the Argyris way will be paid here -- and it is a price very much worth paying. If you're new to I/O P, plan on 5 full evenings of reading to get thru this 1st book -- and in the process you will have read the book thru twice. Don't have that kind of time you say? Either MAKE the time or The Law of Darwin will soon be awarding your job to someone else!

(BOOK 2) Martin Seligman's "Learned Optimism 2ed" c1998. Get a high-level understanding of the difference between cognitive versus behavioral psychology. Otherwise, to not read this book in tandem with the Argyris work will leave the reader open to error by assuming outdated behaviorist psychology norms (which is the error that presently pervades Human Resources' thinking in the areas of performance management and compensation). This book can be read in 2 nights.

(BOOK 3) Argyris "Knowledge for Action" c1993. This takes the reader through a complete, comprehensive real-life diagnosis and intervention process using the tenets presented in book #1 above. This book can be read in a couple of afternoons assuming that the price has already been paid by reading book #1. Non-OD people can stop their reading here.

(BOOK 4) Argyris "Action Science" c1985. This is the full scholar's version of his I/O P approach and will take 2 weeks of evenings to get through. For an OD, I recommend reading this 1st before Argyris "Overcoming".

(BOOK 5) Argyris "On Organizational Learning, 2ed" c1998. Note that this is a different book from "On Org Learning 2: Theory, Method & Practice" c1995. Strictly for OD people, this is a comprehensive survey & critique of present literature and approaches in the OD field. Of particular value is his treatise of Edgar Schein's work and re-emphasizing the value of sociology in the science of psychology.

I'll close by paraphrasing the Argyris model here as a teaser. There are 2 states of Human reasoning:
Model 1 = intra-personal BEFORE inter-personal (defensive / independent)
Model 2 = intra-personal .AND. inter-personal (productive / synergistic)

I'll also add in a 3rd state as my own corollary:
Model 3 = intra-personal AFTER inter-personal ( "Divine" )

Model 3 is beyond man's capability, Model 2 would be Stephen Covey's 7 Habits in action at rung 6 on the effectiveness ladder, and Model 1 is the actual/default "selfish" pattern of most people today -- thanks to the psychological conditioning of countless centuries prior to the Information Age.

Borrowing from Seligman, the younger Baby-Boomers and later generations are the 1st in the history of the world to "have the choice" to be knowledge workers. This throws people together into complex social systems that require a new level of communication ability that's new to man as a species and is currently not taught in schools. As a survival mechanism, mankind's default behavior is Model 1 -- even though he will verbally claim Model 2 or even Model 3. Overcoming defensive Model 1 behavior is an effort that requires years of committed work -- BUT IS THE VERY GATEWAY to functioning in the more mature organizational structures that lay beyond command-and-control (such as empowered workgroups); and that offer so much promise to knowledge-intense organizations.

A final caution: moving the organization from Model 1 to Model 2 is a project that should be treated with the seriousness of any other project -- as a set of value-based deliverables that are defined ahead of time and whose ultimate realization is preceeded by the conscientious commitment of resources. And because of the emotional aspects of the project early-on -- for the 1st 1 to 2 years the OD interventionist should be a person completely external to the organization -- or else the project is guaranteed to fail. Executive sponsorship alone will not be enough.