Actionable Knowledge: Design Causality in the Service of Consequential Theory

作者：Chris Argyris · 发表于：The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science · 年份：1996 · DOI：10.1177/0021886396324004 · 被引用次数：251 · 研究领域：Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge、Multi-Agent Systems and Negotiation、Semantic Web and Ontologies

Knowledge produced by empirical research can have external validity, which means it is relevant to the everyday world. Actionable knowledge is that knowledge required to implement the external validity (relevance) in that world. The claim is made that the concept of causality that underlies much rigorous empirical research makes it difficult to transform knowledge with high external validity into actionable knowledge. Moreover, this concept of causality can lead to knowledge that, if made actionable, could inhibit learning and, in some cases, produce undesirable unethical consequences. A different concept of causality is proposed that enhances actionability. Design causality is defined, and how it can be implemented is illustrated.