THE JOURNEY OF PERSONAL AND ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT – WITH SOME MAPS FOR THE TRIPIntroduction Most organisations and leaders are now facing higher levels of complexity, change, diversity, and uncertainty than ever before. In these times, how can we help develop organisations and leaders so that they are less likely to get “in over their heads”, as Robert Kegan aptly named his 1994 book. Kegan suggests that the demands of modern life are often mismatched with our order of consciousness or mental capacity. How can we develop and expand our individual and collective “agility”, where new challenges and opportunities can be met with elegance and effectiveness? Two OD “gurus” are challenging us to re-look at development. Bob Marshak, in “Is there a new OD?”, ponders what is different about OD in a postmodern world. What impact does a socially constructed world have on life in organisations? In the realm of leadership, Warren Bennis advocates for new models of leadership to be created, ones that better reflect the world we live in. New models would provide new methodologies and roadmaps for expanded capacity for future success. Developmental Psychology and Sensemaking Maps The field of developmental psychology offers some models of OD and leadership, with ideas on how to build their capacity in today’s environment. Kegan (1994) defines developmental psychology as a theory of the psychological evolution of meaning-making systems. Having a more evolved way of making sense of the world would increase a leader’s capacity to deal with higher levels of complexity, diversity, and uncertainty. This could add a valuable dimension to leadership and organisation development. 1 like climbing a mountain to get a better view.A more evolved sense-making system is a “vertical” journey. they can choose to consolidate within their current stage and/or to plan on how to begin their transition to a higher. with the intention that people will elevate to new heights. But what if we had a map of the ascent. and the map provides direction for possible future growth. there is little empirical evidence to support that his hierarchy reflected how adults actually develop. psychologists like Erik Erikson. Jean Piaget pioneered child development stages. and how they developed thinking abilities. They began to try to understand how some adults were able to develop to different levels of orienting themselves to their world and to their life. stage. While he did not include stages for adulthood. Later. Abraham Maslow introduced the idea of stages of adult development. perspectives for the world we live in? The field of developmental psychology offers a map of the territory. Once people are made aware of the map. or later. The further along a person is on the path. that are more effective in dealing with the complexities of life than the previous stages. Jane Loevinger. focussed on researching and offering different frameworks to better explain the stages of adult development. it was the good start to the understanding of how humans develop. Each of the researchers identified meaning-making systems. with his hierarchy of needs. by identifying stages that people pass through on their development. Lawrence Kohlberg. the more able they are to manage complexity and uncertainty. and others. in order to raise the possibility of more expansive Origins of Developmental Theory The early days of developmental theory focussed on children. These 2 . or stages. Most of the development in the world now is done on horizontal playing fields. While his theory is well-known throughout the world. Clare Graves. rising up to more expansive ways of seeing the world. Beck and Cowan’s Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values. They say that being mindful about following a development plan can increase leadership agility.researchers all found that the stages unfold in a specific sequence. Barrett’s Liberating the Corporate Soul: Building a Visionary Organization (1998). and a number of books by Ken Wilber. To name a few. Science and Spirituality (2001). A diligent practice of Action Inquiry can expand a person’s Action Logic. and how it relates to leadership and organisations. In the domain of Leadership Development. 3 . Bill Torbert brought developmental theory into leadership and organisation development with his 1987 book “The Corporate Dream”. the more effective they are in managing complexity. as a disciplined leadership practice that increases effectiveness” (2004. So the later and more developed a person’s Action Logic. including A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business. Since 1987. He calls the process Action Inquiry. and Change(1996). make a difference in the world. Regardless of positional power. and help leaders enjoy the person they become in the process. and that each stage transcends and includes the previous stages. Kegan’s In Over Our Heads (1994) includes a chapter on management. which is described as a person’s strategies and schemas for reflecting on and making sense of their life experiences. p1). He writes that Action Inquiry is “a way of simultaneously conducting action and inquiry. anyone can practice action inquiry. Action Inquiry and Action Logics – Stages of Development in Personal and Organisation Development. Leadership. a number of authors have written about stages of making sense of the world. Politics. Bill Joiner and Steven Josephs built on the work of Torbert with what they call Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change (2007). Rooke. Investments. you may be curious to see some distinctions between the stages. and Ironist. Individualist. The terms they use for the Action Logics. Aspirational questions like “What would a Strategist or Alchemist do?” or “How would a Foundational Community of Inquiry look at this?” can help expand our thinking and actions to new levels. we can gain an extra view of our motivations. Social Network. and how we make decisions. Individuals and Organisations do not operate at just one stage. Their work is being elaborated on here because of their focus on both personal and organizational shifts. These Personal and Organisational stages (“action logics”) provide us another way of looking at how we orient ourselves to our work and our business. communications. Strategist. Opportunist. Diplomat. as these are the ones written up in the HBR (April.” 4 . Collaborative Inquiry. their “Action Logic”. The seven listed are the most common of the nine mentioned above. are Impulsive. and Torbert. from the earlier to the later stage. Expert. so the framework allows for meaningful reflection for how much of our thinking and action is in the various action logics. within the context of organisations. in determining effectiveness in times of uncertainty. Systematic Productivity.The book “Personal and Organization Transformations” (Fisher. and the stages are named Conception. Incorporation. At this point. With this developmental perspective. and Liberating Disciplines. 2003) speaks to our profession’s passion for supporting development and transformation. with the later stages placed at the top of the table. Achiever. but along a spectrum. Experiments. Brief explanations of the seven of the stages are included in Table 1. Alchemist. Torbert and David Rooke (2005) believe that leadership philosophy or styles are not as important as a leader’s stage of development. Foundation Community of Inquiry. They have also identified a parallel track for organisational development. 2005) article “Seven Transformations of Leadership. They also have done research that points to organizations needing someone with at least a “strategist” action-logic on the team in order to transform itself. task and roles delineated Investments Commitment to creating organisation and connect with future stakeholders and peer networks. Rooke and Torbert (2003) 5 . Parallels between Personal and Organisational Stages of Development Source: Fisher. 6 5 4 3 2 1 Table 1. strong value on maintaining distinctive traditions and being financially viable Systematic Productivity Focus on viability and marketability of products or services. rejects feedback Organisational Stage Foundational Community of Inquiry Manage different paradigms/frames within the organisation and between the organisation and the wider environment. process AND goal oriented Individualist Self-curious. open to feedback. appreciates complexity Expert Interested in problem solving. blends opposites. avoids inner and outer conflict. standards. technology. and marketing strategies to find the Incorporation Products and services produced. aware that how one sees the world impacts how they experience the world Achiever Longer term goals. goals and staff chosen. shared reflection about organisation mission.Stag e 7 Personal Stage Alchemist Disintegration of ego-identity. after the Conception stage. seeks continuous improvement Diplomat Observes protocol. humble. vulnerable practice of timely action inquiry Collaborative Inquiry Open. creative solutions to paradoxes and values differences Social Network Strategic or mission-focussed alliances. financial. conforms to group norms Opportunist Short-term focus. and roles seen as way to get results Experiments Tries out different administrative. reward. can be manipulative. production. structures. creates “positive-sum” games Strategist Aware of paradox and contradiction. Sentence completion forms are commonly used by psychologists. Jane Loevinger developed the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT). which involve intensive interviews by a psychologist. One is that it can be considered as elitist. it is possible. The WUSCT has since been updated by Harthill Consulting and Suzanne Cook-Greuter. Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey developed Subject-Object Interviews. The content of the messages in the interview are analysed in order to determine the stage of a person’s development. and renamed the Leadership Development Profile. while operating at a later developmental stage is helpful in some contexts. Loevinger developed the WUSCT to measure stage of what she called “ego development”. just that they have a more sophisticated sense-making system. Creating valid and reliable ways of measuring a person’s current stage of development can be a challenge. Being at a later stage does not mean a person is a better human being. because later stages are considered “better”. on the developmental scale that Kegan developed. However. Both of these methods are labour-intensive. to determine a person’s “order of consciousness”. and what follows Criticisms of Developmental Theory There are two main criticisms of developmental theory.Assessing Stages of Development Measuring someone’s complexity of thinking is in itself a complex process. to measure various aspects of personality. However. there are many more competencies that go into being an effective organisation and leader. And effective leaders are only required to operate at a stage that matches the complexity of 6 . are two reliable and valid methods. and require highly trained professionals to conduct. a sentence completion form. and this can create people being judgemental. even if they are imperfect and even if a person is not 100% sure of where they are. and they may get lost. a workshop will be held exploring this developmental adventure.” I have facilitated many workshops where there is no assessment of the participant’s stages. He can be reached at [email protected] 7 . If you are at the AODN 2010 Summit in October in Manila (hope you are attending what will surely be a fabulous learning and community event). If this is true. we can decrease the chances of the leaders getting caught “in over their head” and increase the possibilities they can manage a world on increasing complexity. so later stages may not always be necessary. view of the terrain of development. and uncertainty. Or to adapt an old saying “Tell someone to keep moving ahead. and they at least know where they are going. and the impact has still been transformational. There is a “pull factor” that seems to get activated when people understand this fairly new Conclusion Albert Einstein said “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them”. Give a person a map of the territory. - Douglas OLoughlin is a Consultant. maps can be useful. However. then purposefully transforming ourselves to later action logics (or using any other model of developmental psychology) will be useful for being effective in the future. By presenting a developmental roadmap as part of leadership and organization development. Hope to see you there. diversity.the environment they are working in. A second criticism is the difficulty and/or expense of assessing someone’s stage of development. Author and Student. Lecturer. Penguin Press. Kegan.H. 17 (6): 634-653. McCauley. Mass. A. Fisher. Politics. pp. Gallos (Ed. B. Torbert.) Organization Development: A Jossey-Bass Reader. Berger.References Barrett. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. And Josephs. Harvard University Press. C. W. V. Cook-Greuter. Joiner. (2003). Leadership. American Psychologist. Beck. (2007) Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change.(ed. A. J. D. Oxford. Drath. Jossey-Bass. and Grant. Berrett-Kohler. Mass. Rooke. (1982) The Evolving Self: Problem and Process in Human Development. K. R. Harvard Business Review.. Wiley. (1996) Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values. Oxford. and Torbert. R. Science and Spirituality. San Francisco. B. R. Harvard. D. Bennis. The Leadership Quarterly. (1994) In Over our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life. O’Connor. 37 (7): 275-281. Maslow. and Change.. B. R. (1971) The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. S. Personal and Organisational Transformations. (2004) ‘Making the Case for a Developmental Perspective’. and Cowan. W. D. Industrial and Commercial Training. Boston. and Baker. Butterworth-Heinemann. and Torbert. (2006) ‘The use of constructive-developmental theory to advance the understanding of leadership’. San Francisco. P. New Jersey.. Marshak. 27 (3): 66-76. (1998) Liberating the Corporate Soul: Building a Visionary Organization. C. (2006) “Emerging Directions: Is There a New OD?” In J.. 833-841. Rooke.G. D. Cambridge. 8 . D. J. Wilber. Paulus. S. (2006) Adult Development Theory: An Executive Coaching Practice in Stober. Boston. Edge/Work Press. Shambhala. B. W. (2007) ‘The Challenges of Leadership in the Modern World’.) Evidence Based Coaching Handbook (77-102). Cambridge. 62 (1): 2-5. (2004) Action Inquiry: The Secret of Timely and Transforming Leadership. New York. (2005) ‘Seven Transformations of Leadership’. (2001) A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business. C.. Blackwell. Kegan.
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