Organizations (actually, the individuals who comprise them) are always learning. At least, they are if they want to be successful.

But there are different kinds of learning.

In general, when people are learning they are keeping their eyes open to what is going on around them, they are willing to question things, they see relationships emerge and understand how different concepts fit together, and they figure out how to implement the stuff worth applying. That last piece is important; it is the difference between “lessons learned” and “lessons observed.”

For many companies, learning how to do business better is enough. They study things like Lean Six Sigma, they evaluate their business practices and benchmark them against other firms, they try to increase efficiency by increasing productivity and cutting costs…all of this is important. We call this “single-loop learning,” because it’s pretty much self-contained within the company and looks at improving existing ideas. Employees and leaders look at how to do what they do better, and that can go a long way toward increasing profits and remaining competitive.

But while it can help you do what you do better, it does not answer the question of whether you should even be doing it at all. To do that, you need to expand into “double-loop learning.”

In double-loop learning you still look at your internal operations and learn how to do them better. Then you step outside your firm and learn about the environment around you and your firm’s place in it; this is the second loop.

That second loop is difficult, because it is not just about looking at the world around you; you also have to take a look at your firm and be willing to ask some hard questions. Rather than just asking how you can provide your product better, you need to ask if you are providing the right product. You need to question your company’s mission to decide if it is still valid in this business environment. This is the time to challenge all those assumptions you made in your strategic planning; do they still hold true?

Want an obvious example? Look at Apple. In the 1980s they were a computer maker. They could have continued to improve at that, or they could look at market demands and consider how they could branch into something new. The result, of course, is that 30 years later they are more of a “lifestyle” company, selling music and books along with phones and devices to change the way people watch TV…and of course, still designing and selling computers.

You do not have to be Apple, of course, to see the need for double-loop learning. Any industry being challenged by new types of competitors needs to consider how the world is changing, and how they might evolve their company’s offerings to meet emerging demands in the face of this competition. Banks, hotels, taxi services…all are seeing challenges either from digital tools or the broader sharing economy, so they need to do more than just look at how they improve their day-to-day work; they need to consider if that day-to-day work is even still relevant. Maybe you change the way you offer your core products and services, or maybe you change what you mean by “core,” but you cannot do any of that without double-loop learning.

This is not easy, even though it might seem simple at first glance. If people have been doing things a certain way for a long time, they may feel their position and their future advancement are being put at risk. There is concern that a transformed company may not have a place for them. The stronger your organizational culture — and a strong culture is a good thing — the harder it may be to challenge the very basis for that culture. This is especially true if things are going well now. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a truism for many people. The trick, though, is to spot trends leading to your organization being “broke” in the future before it is too late to fix it. If you wait until it is too late, the change you need will take too long and it might not be an option anymore.

So how do you avoid the cultural problems that prevent double-loop learning? The answer is to incorporate that learning style into your culture so it becomes the norm rather than the exception. Get your employees to provide their input to decision making. Have brownbag discussions to discuss changes in your industry. Set aside “20% time,” where employees can work on projects of their own choosing. Make professional education and training opportunities available. Buy subscriptions to magazines dealing with your field.

These might seem like little things, but introducing a sense of open-mindedness into your company can pay off big time. Double-loop learning can help you see possibilities and encourage you to pursue them, and be pretty successful when you do. A culture of learning and a willingness to question if what you are doing is still the best thing can help you see all the possibilities that your competitors won’t.

Whoever gets there first wins the race, but first you need to be sure you understand what the race is all about.