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Featured Article: Helping Managers Transition to Higher Levels of Accountability IN-HOUSE STRATEGIC THINKING WORKSHOPS starting June 2006 New Review of Measuring Hidden Dimensions, by Stephanie Brail Aix-en-Provence Keynote presented by Otto Laske New Courses, Summer/Fall 2006 Position Yourself As a Developmental Coach in Seven Easy Steps Actively Engage With Your Own Development Through Assessment and Coaching plus Gateway Begin Your Journey as an Independent Developmental Coach (Module D) Take Your Listening to the Next Level, including Listening to Yourself Step Through the Gateway

Helping Managers Transition to Higher Levels of Accountability

By Otto Laske

When looking at the career path of managers, whether in non- and for-profit organizations, we find that there is a transition point where managers’ priorities change from being focused on immediate task completion (“getting the work done”) to a more indirect way of working where listening becomes more important than telling, and understanding more than directing (see the Korn/Ferry study in Harvard Business Review in April of 2006). At that point, not only a new “decision style” is required, but a new kind of THINKING is needed. But, most managers moving ‘up’ are not prepared for a dramatic change in their thinking.

For this reason, IDM is introducing a StrategicThinking Workshop for Managers, to help them get over the hump indicated. What does it entail to manage in a more indirect, listening-based way, in contrast to following a more “hard-edged” and “decisive” mode of leadership? In particular, what does it entail to do so from a COGNITIVE point of view, as taught in Module B of Program One?

The easiest way to state what’s required of managers moving up is to say that they need to enlarge their conceptual field, or universe of discourse. How can process consultants help managers do so? Essentially, consultants and coaches must themselves begin to pay more attention to their own thinking, not so much to its content but to its STRUCTURE.

In terms of what Module B of Program One teaches you, “cognitive structure” derives from THOUGHT FORMS, or ways of focusing attention, people use. For instance, if you think about strategy in terms of ‘unceasing change,’ pointing to how things are continually changing state, that’s a Thought Form that can have many variants, and can be more or less complex. Working from a taxonomy of Thought Forms taught in Module B, the process consultant can use these forms as MIND OPENERS with his or her clients, steadily increasing subtlety and effectiveness of thinking. And since coaching tools are “cognitive” by nature, working from Thought Forms is a natural for process consultants.

More precisely, we can think of Thought Forms as ways of locating ABSENCES, or of illuminating what is not there, what is inconsistent, incomplete, a theory/practice discrepancy, -- essentially a lack that consulting practice can remove. From a cognitive perspective, consulting practice, and more broadly human practice, is all about doing away with, or remediating, absences.

To remediate absences, you first have to locate and illuminate them. We learn in Module B that this can be done in three ways, by using Thoughts Forms of type:

• Process (P)
• Context (C)
• Relationship (R).

Simply put, you can illuminate constraints, lack, or inconsistencies by critically pointing to the process from which something is emerging or in which it is embedded. Another way of illuminating absences is by pointing to, and making explicit, ‘the bigger picture’ (context) into which something is integrated, or else by pointing out the stratification – the layers – something is made up of.

Once absences, constraints, incompletenesses, etc. have been illuminated by Thought Forms, and only then, can they be done away with. We learn in Module B that illumination of absences through Thought Forms is best implemented by thinking systemically. That kind of thinking is schooled to point to the transformation that situations could be made to undergo, for the purpose of doing away with presently existing constraints and contradictions. Systemic Thought Forms are the fourth class of cognitive tools we’ll need to deal with what is not the way it should be. Such Thought Forms remediate absences.

To be concrete, let’s compare two managers in terms of the degree to which each of them is able to illuminate the absences they encounter in their work situation. Both managers describe a recent merger and its consequences for their company. By analyzing these managers’ report, we can more readily see how a process consultant might help managers broaden their conceptual field through ‘cognitive boosting.’

Manager A says:

When we bought Acme, it was clear that if we didn’t build efficiency into the combined network, we’d fail. Efficiency means reduced overall costs, more revenue from our customer base, and less work overlap. Now we can price our products more competitively, knowing we can continue to build our revenue stream through service contracts. Providing that service will keep us close to our customers for equipment lifecycle planning and utilization analyses. If we can keep our eyes focused on managing costs and delivering quality, the results will be there.”

You’ll probably agree that this manager is not very astute when it comes to seeing absences. No process is ever detailed, no relationship made explicit, not bigger picture (context) ever elaborated. Everything is stated in the positive, with no cracks showing. Abstract nouns are used – such as ‘efficiency’ – whose meaning is never explained, and chains of logical reasoning are built on them that essentially portray the world as hunky dory, with nothing negative in sight. From a cognitive point of view, this is very flat thinking, of the kind that may get your client through the day managing immediate task completion, but even that only with difficulty.

Now listen to Manager B:

"When we bought Acme’s service business, it was clear that one of the immediate advantages would be in building a more efficient network. By integrating product and service sales, we become a more complete operation, and customers will see us in a new light. However, we also become more vulnerable to a lack of integration until we can define that new business model, and manage re-training and re-directing our sales force. Even then, perhaps customers may feel we’re not as focused on our huge new service operation as was Acme. And Engineering is committed to reducing maintenance and Manufacturing to driving up quality; that may mean we’ll have to branch out to include servicing competitors' products to justify the new service infrastructure and manage the overhead. Would customers see that as a dilution of our commitment to our own products? We’re juggling many more things than before, and risk over-extending ourselves. How we balance customer perceptions, cost efficiencies, and product development will be a challenge, but we can succeed if we plan carefully and give it our best shot."

I would say that through speech, Manager B is building contexts more than being able to illuminate processes or relationships, not to mention systems. His constructive thinking is better than his critical thinking (in terms of change and relationships). However, he manages to think in terms of “even then,” thereby pointing to (missing) knowledge about how customers would view the merger. Manager B has some inkling of the big picture, can hint at processes, and is really weak only when it comes to illuminating relationships. Also, B can think “in parallel,” or in terms of coordination, going back and forth between the company and customers. That’s an indication that he can illuminate potential conflicts, contradictions, etc., in short, absences.

Clearly, a process consultant who has been through Module B, and a Manager who has been through IDM’s Strategic Thinking Workshop, would be better off. He would be able to spot strengths and weaknesses in a client’s or report’s thinking, and “coach” them to think more systemically, strategically, or both. Of course, working with Manager A would be less pleasurable than working with Manager B who is more highly developed cognitively (as is shown in volume 2 of Measuring Hidden Dimensions, now in progress).

THIS, THEN, IS THE GOAL OF THE IDM STRATEGICAL THINKING WORKSHOP FOR MANAGERS: to make them aware of their use -- or lack of use -- of process, context, and relationship Thought Forms through exercises, case studies, role play, and “action learning.” The cognitive coaching approach is most effective when both individual and group modalities are applied, since in the latter, managers’ social-emotional maturity is put to the test as well.

Strategic Thinking WORKSHOPS 2006

Starting June 1, 2006, IDM presents in-house Strategic Thinking Workshops for Managers, at a time and place convenient for the particular client. The workshops are delivered by Otto Laske together with Leslie Hilton, PhD MCC.

The Strategical Thinking Workshop introduces Managers to new ways of thinking about their work, its preconditions and consequences. The Workshop is preceded by a cognitive assessment focusing on the manager’s present tasks and roles, as well as view of the organization. Feedback is given to workshop participants during and after the workshop, with subsequent coaching. Two different workshops are available:

Executive Managers are introduced to a practice-oriented version of IDM Module B, for the purpose of making them aware of their present thinking “patterns” and “predilections.” They are taught to listen to themselves and others “dialectically,” by making explicit the processes, contexts, and relationships that are involved and/or implied in their strategic deliberations, prior to and after making decisions. In this way, breakthroughs in thinking may occur that lead to divergent thinking in approach organizational problems.

Following the workshop, IDM experts will give feedback on participants’ assessment outcomes, workshop performance, and cognitive potential, and will coach participants in implementing what was learned.

Line Managers will be given the opportunity to solve more “immediate” problems in their daily work, including issues of working with, and coaching, employees. They will be given specific problems whose nature will not be disclosed to them prior to workshop sessions. Rather, they will have to improvise on a particular case, and will report to the instructors to explain and justify their procedures. Feedback will then be given in the immediate context of managers’ reports to the group of participants.

For details, contact the Director of Education, Dr. Otto Laske, otto@interdevelopmentals.org.

Register for the In-House Strategic Thinking Workshop

Book Review: Measuring Hidden Dimensions

OnCoaching (oncoaching.com), Thursday, 11 May 2006
Reprinted with permission of the Editor, Stephanie Brail

Author: Otto E. Laske

For those who dismiss life coaching as airy fairy woo-woo fluff, Otto Laske's Measuring Hidden Dimensions: The Art and Science of Fully Engaging Adults is proof that coaching theory can be quite rigorous. Meticulously researched and constructed, Measuring Hidden Dimensions is a combination book and workbook that outlines a complete methodology for working with adults on the developmental level.

Adult developmental assessment is the core concept behind this book, and thus is the “Hidden Dimension” referred to in the book's title. As Laske writes:

“The term adult development has an unconventional ring to it, since grown-ups don't typically think much about their own development, except when they get into a crisis, come to what feels like a turning point in life, or compare their life to that of others. That is, adult development is a kind of HIDDEN DIMENSION. This holds true not only in our own life, but also, unfortunately, in the helping professions where developmental knowledge would be a priceless tool.”

Indeed, it seems almost strange that current popular coaching concepts don't fully acknowledge the concept of adult development. Coaching, of course, is all about personal development, but the two are not exactly the same. When Laske talks about adult development in his book, he is referring to a set of stages that all adults go through in order to achieve the next level in their lives. He further breaks down this “mental growth” into three dimensions: social-emotional, cognitive, and behavioral.

As Laske notes, at 25, when we are supposed to be full adults, our development has “barely begun.” Of course, it might be easy to say that a 25-year-old lacks the maturity of a 50-year-old. But adult development is not that simple. Developmental stages are not confined to ages; not all adults achieve all levels of development either. While unlikely, a 25-year-old may, indeed, be farther along the adult development path than a person twice that age.

As such, it takes a very refined developmental “eye” to discover in which stage an adult might be. By identifying the various adult developmental stages and learning a framework from which to approach these stages, coaches could dramatically increase their effectiveness with their clients.

Measuring Hidden Dimensions does an extremely thorough job of defining and quantifying adult development and how a coach (or consultant) might work with a client. Extensive time is taken to go through client interactions. Laske goes beyond the “active listening” as defined by ICF (The International Coach Federation) and shows in-depth examples of the client/coach developmental assessment interview process.

With numerous examples, exercises, and models, Measuring Hidden Dimensions is extremely interactive. In many respects, it is a course as much as it is a workbook. This is a challenging work on many levels, and will require reading with a college-eye. This is no pop psychology book, for certain.

If Measuring Hidden Dimensions has one major failing, it's that the book itself does not come with a teacher, and some coaches may find Measuring Hidden Dimensions to be too dense and academic for their tastes. Laske himself admonishes readers in the preface that this book is no replacement for being in a classroom, and he's absolutely right. As such, the book cannot train coaches to become developmental specialists, but it does provide additional insight and frameworks for coaching.

Furthermore, with some criticizing coaching for not having much of an academic basis, Measuring Hidden Dimensions is proof that science can indeed be the basis for coaching. Coaching needs more books like this, as well as thinkers like Laske.

-Stephanie Brail

More Measuring Hidden Dimensions book reviews.

Aix-en-Provence Keynote

Otto Laske will be a keynote speaker at the Conference on Post-Bureaucratic Management in Aix-en-Provence, France, on June 16, 2006. He will share the platform with Mr. Kinghan, Director General, Local & Regional Governance Group, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, UK. The title of Laske’s Keynote is Post-bureaucratic Management: An Adult-Developmental Perspective.

The Keynote addresses public agency managers, business school staff, and social scientists creating organizational theory. The presentation focuses on the developmental stratification of the social world, including the world of public organizations such as the European Commission.

Laske distinguishes three different “cultures” of public governance, following the Level -3, -4, and -5 social-emotional levels taught at IDM. He sees the possibility of post-bureaucratic government wherever government agencies are staffed by leaders and managers who have transcended the orthodox self authoring position (stage-4). In his talk, Laske elucidates the post-bureaucratic boundary, and outlines the assessment methodologies that are available for promoting a post-bureaucratic mindset.

New Courses, Summer 2006

Position Yourself as a Developmental Coach in Seven Easy Steps

You may have heard rumors that developmental coaching is “difficult.” I am not saying it is like any other coaching. But “difficult” does not capture the difference. How difficult developmental coaching is for you all depends on how difficult it is for you to beome aware of where you presently are developmentally. To do so can be difficult, but once you do, everything easily follows from there. When you are taking this on, it helps to know that millions of people share the journey with you, however different their personality or language.

In order to demonstrate this to you, IDM is introducing a new, practice-focused approach to learning developmental coaching. The approach is geared to working with you on issues of your present practice from both a social-emotional and cognitive point of view SIMULTANEOUSLY (mixing topics of Module A and B).

What do I mean by that?

I suggest to you the following 7-step program (on which I will comment in separate short articles published by OnCoaching in coming months):

1. Become aware of where you are developmentally, in terms of what strains your current resources
2. Situate yourself developmentally
3. Situate your client developmentally
4. Help your client build broader contexts
5. Help your client think critically
6. Put in place what has been missing, doing away with old constraints
7. Return yourself and your client to life.

Here is a short synopsis of each of these 7 steps, seen as issuing from a more synthetic point of view:

Common Sense (1) => Illumination (2-3) => Remediation (4-6) => Return to Life (7)

As you can see, you'll have to start with yourself. This is the first “difficulty".

In the Common Sense (1) phase, you think you understand yourself but you really don’t. That’s because you are only bent on understanding what is there, but not on taking into account — reflecting on — what is missing (not there) — such as: inconsistencies of your practice, incompleteness of understanding clients’ concerns, obstacles in your clients, a better grasp of how you cut yourself short, a firmer grasp of your developmental potential. Let's call all of these missing things ABSENCES.

It's here that Illumination (2-3) comes in. In developmental coaching, Illumination is one of Absences (all of the above): we want to get a handle on what these ‘absences’ are, in you, the coach, and in the client, in order to do away with them, remove them. We do this by using ‘theory,’ more specifically developmental theory. That is, we look at life as unfolding in stages where what you are striving for, and ultimately gain, is undone again and again by further developmental steps, driving you towards wisdom, maturity, the open road of self discovery. It's as if life itself is showing you the Absences that beset you; however, life also remediates them when you are ready to go to the next stage. Here again, you'll have to start with yourself, and only if you have situated yourself developmentally can you do the same for your client. It's a simple truth that as long as you are in the dark about yourself you won’t clearly see your client either.

Remediation (4-6). Having illuminated your or the client's absences, you'll come into your own. As a coach or consultant, you are in the business of first illuminating, and then doing away with, absences anyway. You do that by ‘helping’ clients think (and consequently act) in a larger conceptual field or “world". At IDM, we teach the use of Thought Forms that instill divergent thinking.

This happens in two ways:

• Help clients build larger contexts and see the ‘big picture’ of their issues
• Help clients think more strongly in terms of processes (unceasing change) and relationships (between people, events, situations), and thus “critically".

The offshoot of this practice is that clients begin to think more highly SYSTEMICALLY. They begin to see that their “reality” is punctuated by absences and powered by contradictions, to put it philosophically.

Example:

A client whose developmental level you have at least approximately ascertained through interviewing has difficulty implementing a business strategy he is in charge of. Having situated the client developmentally through assessment, you have an appreciation of what stands in the way (is an absence) in the client’s self-positioning, and also what are the environmental or organizational constraints are that the client is embedded in, without quite knowing it. If you put both of your developmental insights together — social-emotional positioning of the client in terms of stage, and cognitive positioning in terms of thought forms absent in the client’s thinking — you have a good chance of “helping” your client.

What about the Return to Life (7), as I called it?

You naturally return yourself and your client to life when all of the above has been achieved. Returning to life means doing what before you did with effort without thinking about it, or naturally. You are simply doing it! It has become second nature! And the more you do it, the more does the ‘return to life’ permeate the efforts you make, until at last you can harvest the fruits of your efforts.

This, then, is the IDM offering:

Actively Engage With Your Own Development Through Assessment and Coaching Plus Gateway

IDM students' experience shows that learning developmental coaching is much easier if you also obtain an assessment of your developmental level, followed by a feedback session and one month of coaching. The assessment situates you more clearly, both in your life and in relation to your clients. Coaching clarifies your long-term resources and goals. When you combine these benefits with learning how to listen deeply, by exercising your knowledge about developmental stages, you’ll get the best of all possible worlds. You’ll save $100 compared to taking Gateway, assessment, and coaching separately, not to speak of a free textbook.

Beginning Your Journey as an Independent Developmental Coach

When you have been through Gateway and Modules A, B, and C, you have acquired a wealth of new tools and insights about yourself and others. It has been a transformational journey for you, and now it is time to use the skills and methods you have acquired in working with a volunteer interviewee whom you can assess. You will also be able to give feedback to the volunteer once your case study has been accepted by IDM, and the Certificate of Developmental Assessment and Coaching bestowed on you.

Since you will be doing your case study in the context of a group of peers, and with plenty of mentoring by the instructor, you’ll get sufficient feedback and support to make it through this first piece of independent developmental work. It could become a milestone in your future work as a process consultant.

Take Your Listening to the Next Level, Including Listening to Yourself

A deeper way of listening is at the core of all IDM courses. You can combine Gateway with Module A maintaining a strong focus on listening which, assuredly, will change your practice (see www.interdevelopmentals.org/psychconted.html for students’ reactions). Essentially, you will be acquiring a brand-new set of EARS for what, so far, you were unable to hear, not to speak of understanding it. You’ll save $135 and get a free textbook.

Step Through the Gateway

If you want to be introduced to developmental stages, or else gain access to higher-level courses in Program One, this well-known class is right for you. Be prepared for a transformational experience as you learn to look in on yourself from the outside, so to speak, and gain a first glimpse of what it means to listen developmentally. You’ll discover that the social world is developmentally stratified, in ways not corresponding to age and education. This will make you savvier and more professional than a lot of other people.

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