Growing the top management team : Supporting mental growth as a vehicle for promoting organizational learning

We outline a developmental view of OD, showing on empirical grounds that Argyris’ “theory in use” notion points to different levels of mental growth as underpinnings of “the program in brain/mind” that determines personal theories of organizational action. Employing the developmental structure/process tool (DSPT TM ), we explain the differences between two executives’ theory of action. We also analyze the dynamic of a six‐member team on developmental grounds. By way of close analysis, we show that theories of action are developmentally grounded, and are thus open both to maturation over the life span and to interventions like developmental coaching. We come to the conclusion that developmental assessment of executives and teams should become a vital part of in‐house development and of OD intervention.