Impliference is not a real word. I made it up, but it’s a real thing, and it's dangerous.
Have you ever found yourself in a difficult conversation and wondered, wow, how’d we get here? How did a seemingly innocuous interaction turn so hostile so fast? Do we even know what we’re arguing about?
...
Perhaps you've heard this story before. I’ll tell it in my own words, but it is by no means mine.
One day after a storm, a man walked along a beach. He stepped lightly around the thousands of sea creatures tossed onto the sand by the wind and waves, now stranded by the receding tide. Ahead, he sa...
We are an impatient lot. Our minds buzz with endless high-frequency scanning of ourselves and our environment for what’s wrong.
There are so many problems to be fixed, and not just the technical, lawn mower won’t start kind, but the messy, human kind.
There’s anxiety, stress, being late, being ea...
As I stepped out of my car, two maple trees in peak fall splendor glowed with almost palpable warmth in the rose-colored early morning sunlight. Shadows stretched long and dramatic against cloudless blue skies, adding depth and richness to the scene. My ego dissolved in the clean, cool air. Possi...
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”
Those are the words of Carl Rogers, who, along with other giants of psychology like Abraham Maslow and Rollo May, founded humanistic psychology.
Rogers' observation is an important one, but it is not a paradox. It...
You know the classic Peanuts cartoon: Lucy pulls the football away just as Charlie Brown is about to kick it, sending him flying head over heels. AAUGH!
Every. Single. Time.
Charlie Brown never learns. That bald head of his has only four hairs (weird?), and apparently, even fewer brains.
...
Culture is critical to your organization. As a leader creating a healthy culture should be your top priority. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” That last one is Peter Drucker, guru of all management gurus. If Drucker says it, it must be important.
Drucker was not wrong. Culture is important,...
Our final and most complex constructive-developmental stage is the Self-Transforming Mind. As we approach this lofty summit of our developmental mountain it is worth looking back to notice that this path is not a predictable series of evenly ascending stair steps, but rather a winding trail along...
In our journey through the stages of adult development, we've explored the Impulsive Mind, the Self-Sovereign Mind, and the Socialized Mind. Each stage has been a stepping stone—an important building block that lays the foundation for the next.
From the vantage point of Socialized Mind, we can un...
We humans take socialization seriously, and for good reason. In the wild, humans cannot survive outside our social groups. Socialization is the process of learning to live with other humans, and it is arguably the “goal” of childhood and adolescence. If our ancestors had not learned to live toget...
Presumably, you have no six-year-olds on your project team (although you might have colleagues who lead you to believe otherwise on occasion). So, as a leader in an organization, what value is there in learning about a stage of development that typically ends in first grade?
Jean Piaget characterized discrete stages of childhood cognitive development. Robert Kegan studies adult development, and has identified ongoing stages that can emerge throughout life (more on that here).
These different “forms of mind” are not about personality, general intelligence, belief syst...
and read our blog posts before they are published online. Conveniently delivered to your inbox once a week. We will never share your names or emails, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
