Theory v. Practice: bridging the gap

Abstract

It was Kurt Lewin, pre‐war pioneer of applied psychology, and inventor of the term group dynamics, who reputedly said: There is nothing so practical as a good theory. How right he was. In these days when action learning is all the rage, such a saying is a timely reminder both of the need for and the value of theories in the execution of practice. For we all have theories; we use them constantly, and managers are no exception. Consciously or unconsciously we employ them to guide our actions: theories about the world and the way it works, about men, money, machines and materials, about management, and the different ways of “handling” people and things.

Citation

Hughes, J.M. (1981), "Theory v. Practice: bridging the gap", Education + Training, Vol. 23 No. 7, pp. 198-202. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb016832