I hear via a lovely tribute from John Watters of Bill Torbert’s death this week. I was introduce to Bill’s work by Peter Cooper, specifically the brilliant Action Inquiry, to which John also refers – a central book for those interested in ‘human development’ in the broadest sense.

He was a hell of a character and absolutely lived life to the full, from his learning direct from Argyris and key collaborations in adult development, to his personal life which he was both incredibly open and interestingly reflective about.

Personally, I was lucky enough to join several webinars of his reflections on his (developmental) autobiography, and some working sessions on application to organisations as a whole. He was very generous with me when I had some questions via LinkedIn.

Bill published in cybernetics explicitly – this excellent piece https://stream.syscoi.com/2020/08/09/learning-for-timely-action-an-introduction-to-the-cybernetics-of-collaborative-developmental-action-inquiry-cdai-torbert-and-erfan-2019-cybernetics-human-knowing/ (see comments if main link doesn’t work). And he directed me to https://stream.syscoi.com/2022/01/21/learning-from-experience-toward-consciousness-torbert-1972-full-book/

As John said, his ethos could be summed up as ‘learning as if life depended on it’. If you want to hear him in action, and I recommend it, try

https://amielhandelsman.com/amiel-show-004-bill-torbert/ on power, framing, and action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVEbAlDaiq0 on ‘a fuller contact with reality’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QECUbokVLEE on the developmental action logics

Global Leadership Associates promise to share details soon about plans to honour Bill.