The Tone or Color of the Discussion.
There has been a notable shift in the tone, or color, of the discussion about organizational learning, The earliest works showed a keen awareness of the way politics distorts learning, and authors like Cyert and March (1963) have always expressed a certain skepticism about claims that learning is purely and simply good for all involved. However, most of the publications in the subsequent decades treated learning as a politically neutral process with a positive, rosy outcome for organizations and their members. Articles in the leading business journals have tended to enthusiastically encourage readers to develop and find learning organizations in which to work. Exceptions were Levitt and March (1988), who catalogued numerous learning problems that result in un- desirable behavior or incorrect knowledge, and Argyris (1985) introduced the concept of defensive routines to recognize the role of fear and defensiveness that individuals may experience when having to challenge their mental models.