Double-loop learning

and then explore whether or not some other temperature might more economically achieve the goal of heating the room would be engaged in double-loop learningDouble-loop learning is used when it is necessary to change the mental model on which a decision depends.

[3] It is required if the problem or mismatch that starts the organizational learning process cannot be addressed by small adjustments because it involves the organization's governing variables.

[4] Organizational learning in such cases occurs when the diagnosis and intervention produce changes in the underlying policies, assumptions, and goals.

It changes rules in response to longer-run feedback according to more general rules, and so on.In a 2019 article, Geoffrey Sloan said that the double-loop learning framework can be used to understand how the Western Approaches Tactical Unit (WATU) of the Royal Navy during WW2 solved a critical tactical problem by changing the organization's basic standards, policies, and goals.

[9] WATU was able to develop and update anti-submarine tactical doctrine between 1942 and 1945 as new technology and assets became available, enabling the Royal Navy to "replicate a learning organization that successfully could challenge existing norms, objectives, and policies pertaining to trade defense even when applied to geographically diverse theaters of operation".