Inquiry


 * Formal and informal is essential aspect of deliberate organizational learning (Argyris & Schon, 1978).
 * Necessary tool for error detection and correction within an organization.
 * May occur at any level.
 * Possible outcomes of inquiry
 * Alternative solutions to problems
 * Reflecting on previously unquestioned assumptions
 * Experimenting
 * Scanning for salient information

Video
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This video clip is from the HBO series //Band of Brothers.// The clip shows video shorts of the men from Easy Company shortly before, during and after their discovery of a Nazi concentration camp. This clip was selected to reflect the nature of inquiry. Collinson and Cook, (2007) discuss how inquiry is an important part of organizational learning. According to Rait, (1995) theory inquiry "may lead to generating alternative solutions to problems, reflecting on previously unquestioned assumptions, experimenting, scanning the environment for salient information, or other activities that enable organizations members to restructure their organizational knowledge base." Inquiry as a means of learning is important to Wenger's (1998) theory that, "Practice is about meaning as an experience of everyday life" (p. 52). The men of Easy Company landed on the shores of Normandy during the D-Day invasion. They spent years fighting the Germans in Europe for what to them was a war to stop the spread of facisim in Europe. Most of the men were unaware of the genocide being committed at the time of the war. Although the men had been battle hardened to defending their own lives, finding the Jews in a camp forest outside an affluent German town had them questioning whether or not they were the ones that suffered and lost the most. The men's reaction to finding the camp was to set them free and provide food and water. It was not until medical help arrived that the men found out that by giving them this could cause more death. The men questioned the reasoning behind keeping the prisoners in the camp and why more had not been done to help them. The group learned the reason for their long fight was not purely about stopping the spread of a political ideology, but also about saving a race of people. This new knowledge gained through inquiry in their everyday operations helped the men of Easy Company understand the purpose of the war, and its importance on a global scale. Had they not been involved in the war for so long you could question whether or not they would have been emotionally prepared for such a discovery.

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