Americans in the British School
The description of complex, intra-psychic processes in Quad One is not solely confined to the British school. The American interpersonal theorist, Chris Argyris, offers another important element with regard to the depth and complexity of Quad One. He suggests that both parties in an interpersonal interaction know something about (or at least suspect something about) the other person’s Quad Two and Three), but cannot discuss these matters. It isn’t what we know that creates our problems – it is what we don’t know and what we can’t discuss.
What is not obvious and what is hidden is more important than what is obvious and what is shared. Thus, the distinctions between Quad One and Quad Two and between Quad One and Quad Three are not always clear. It is the knowing that something is unknown and the not knowing what the other person knows that is pushed to Q2 and Q3. We must be willing to talk about our relationship and about why we are disclosing who we are and why we are giving feedback to one another. This is what distinguishes “real” from superficial openness. It leads to interpersonal learning and increased trust (all three kinds: competence, intentions, shared perspective). I will have much more to say about this process in a later essay.
