A question I would like you to ponder today is “Are we learning?”

Effective agile coaches bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and skills; however, every team and coaching situation is unique and cookie cutter solutions seldom if ever work. Agile is not about solving what we know; it’s about knowing what we solve. To know what we need to solve, we’ve got some figuring out to do.

By their very nature, the environments where we apply agile are full of unknowns. Our teams are not just simply cranking out yet another widget.  They are creating innovative solutions in dynamic and changing environments. To succeed in an environment full of unknowns, our teams have to embark on a journey of learning.

Reacting quickly and pivoting when appropriate is not enough, our teams must be smarter and better informed today than they were yesterday. So how does a team get smarter and better informed? They activate learning loops. And not just any kind of learning loop — they activate double-loop learning.

Coined by Chris Argyris in the 1970s, double loop learning describes a learning approach that challenges mental models and assumptions. In contrast to single loop learning where inputs and processes result in reliable outputs, double loop learning goes further with an additional check to see if the output created results in the desired outcome.

An example of single loop learning is a light switch. Flip the switch one way and the lights go on; flip it the other and the lights go off. The output of flipping the light switch is either lights on or lights off.

A quick test can validate the proper functioning of the switch. If the test fails, we work to correct the defective switch until it functions properly.  This build-test-fail / build-test-pass is the single loop in single loop learning.

In double loop learning, once we have a working light switch, we can go further. For example, with the light switched to on, we might ask people in the room where the light switch is installed if the brightness and other qualities of light that result from flipping the switch to the “on” position is satisfactory to their needs. The feedback that results from this double loop results in learning that challenges the assumption that a simple on/off switch design is adequate to meet the users’ needs.  By asking for feedback on fit for purpose, we can learn about the users’ desire for things like light intensity, temperature, color and so forth; much of which is informed by what the user wishes to do in the lighted room.

If the team had simply taken direction to “make an on/off light switch” they might succeed in creating a light switch, but completely fail to meet the customers’ actual need. This shift in focus from output to outcome — the double loop learning — enables the team to iteratively evolve the light switch to be a better fit for the customers’ actual need. 

An agile coach engaging with their team faces a similar situation. Coaches help teams get better. “Better” describes some future state. Since we can’t know the future, any hypothesis of what is better is not proven until tested. 

For example, a team might set a goal to achieve competency in an agile practice such as continuous integration, but until the team develops and effectively applies their new competency, they lack evidence that the output of having an effective continuous integration process results in the desired outcome. 

A customer probably doesn’t care much about a team’s ability to continuously integrate. They may care more about getting the product they need when they need it — which likely requires that the team develop competencies in many more practices that supports this outcome than just continuous integration by itself.

The coach helps the team activate learning loops, both single and double. After all, you can’t activate the double loop without first successfully mastering the single loop.

The team’s learning journey is punctuated with a series of interconnected and interrelated learning loops. Along the way, the team learns about the product, their process, themselves; and informing and guiding all of the learning loops: the centric learning loops around the customer and the customer’s emergent needs.