Barriers to learning: on organizational defenses and vicious circles in technological adaptation

On the basis of an interpretive case study, the authors explore the learning implications of introducing First Class in a social services department. The investigated case illustrates how learning efforts easily result in “vicious circles”; the more learning is sought after, the more solid are the barriers to learning. In this case, the existence of certain organizational virtues — the learning organization and the notion of the professional social worker — were observed to have negative learning implications. Paradoxically, at the espoused level, these two virtues can be understood as healthy signs, although their existence as only virtues makes them basically opposed to learning. The results of this study contribute to existing theory about discontinuity in technological adaptation.