Collaborative Developmental Action Inquiry

The term Collaborative Developmental Action Inquiry (CDAI) refers to a school of action research that was developed by William R. Torbert and his colleagues beginning in the early 1970s. CDAI integrates from diverse theoretical traditions including adult developmental theory, various mindfulness and attention practices, Action Science as articulated by Chris Argyris and his colleagues and the political theories of justice developed by John Rawls and Amartya Sen, to name but a few. CDAI begins with the recognition that all social actions are also inquiries and vice versa. In the first case, actions may serve as inquiries by generating unexpected outcomes and novel information from the environment. In the second case, all inquiries are in some sense also actions in their framing, biases, omissions, modes of communication and impacts on the external world. The explicit linking of action and inquiry leads to a central organizing question at the heart of CDAI: How can we simultaneously enhance the validity of the information upon which we act and the effectiveness and timeliness of our actions and inquiries?

Paradoxically, if researchers try to practice maintaining an inquiring stance in the midst of action, they will quickly realize that they forget to do it. In fact, the more one tries to observe oneself in action, the more one may realize that one is not even clear where one's attention is directed most of the time. For this reason, [Page 125]CDAI treats attention and self-awareness as core skills that need to be developed through a process called first person research and practice (described below). This rigorous focus on attention and personal development is one of the central contributions of CDAI to the broader field of action research.

Drawing from the Action Science principles developed by Argyris and his colleagues, CDAI is a prescriptive theory that shares the goal of helping people moving from less effective Model I behaviours into more effective Model II behaviours. In CDAI, these two modes are renamed ‘Mystery/Mastery’ and ‘Collaborative Inquiry’, but they maintain the basic structure and functions of the Model I and Model II action logics of Action Science. As in the Model I action logic, the organizing principle behind Mystery/Mastery is keeping one's own goals and motives secret while trying to master the external world through unilateral uses of power. Collaborative inquiry shares the Model II organizing principle of developing shared goals through inquiry, collaboration and mutual uses of power.

One of the most important contributions of CDAI to the field of action research is its use of developmental theory. The integration of developmental theory helps address the central question of what kinds of people, groups, organizations or institutions can reliably practice collaborative inquiry. Because CDAI integrates attention practices (first person research), developmental theory and the basic principles of Action Science, it addresses questions that are not as well explored in other forms of action research. The unique contribution of CDAI to the broader field of action research can be found in its approach to answering three primary

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