104 EMERGENCE, 2(4), 104–112 Copyright © 2000, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Knowledge as Action, Organization as Theory: Reflections on Organizational Knowledge Haridimos Tsoukas If you desire to see, learn how to act Reality = community Heinz von Foerster (1984) G overnment officials in the UK recently conducted an inspection of the teaching methods and aims of Summerhill, an independent school well known for its libertarian philosophy. In their report, the inspectors charged the school with lack of discipline and clear structures, and were categorical that Summerhill’s modus operandi leaves its students inade- quately prepared for the rigors of life after school. Reacting to the report, several supporters of Summerhill claimed the reverse. The school’s libertarian philosophy, they said, gives students what conventional schools fail to give: freedom to explore themselves and find out what they are good at. This episode (and several others like it) is interesting because the same set of activities (teaching and school management) is assessed so dif- ferently by two different observers. What differentiates the observers is that they use different assessment criteria, derived from different domains of action. The inspectors do exactly what they are supposed to do: ensure that schools broadly conform to a set of criteria defined by the government. Summerhill supporters, on the contrary, subscribe to an