This paper comes in two parts. Part One examines an apparent conflict between two
approaches to organizational transformation (OT) and the theories they reflect. It
examines the differences between these "Push" and "Grow" theories and the possibilities
for a new synthesis. While there is plenty of practical significance to this dispute in terms
of alternative approaches to change management, the controversy provides a strategic
way for students of organizational learning and change to gain insight into these
processes. This is a version of the action science argument: to understand a system, try to
change it. Part Two builds on the prior discussion to outline an organization theory, using
causal loop diagrams, that highlights the importance of the learning loops of
organizational learning. Thus we use the OT Push/Grow polarity as a gateway to further
insight into organizational learning and to a little progress in organization theory.