in this issue

Featured Article #1: The Difference with IDM Featured Article #2: Team Coaching: A Developmental Perspective Article #3: An article by Otto Laske on Coaching Ethics from a developmental perspective is found in Choice Magazine 4.3, 10-13. (3-page PDF) Invitation: If You Have Completed Module A, You Can Teach Gateway! An invitation to join Interdevelopmental Associates (IDMA) Update on volume 2 of Measuring Hidden Dimensions IDM International News IDM Programs at a Glance Fall 2006 / Winter 2007 Course Offerings Starting Developmental Coaching (IDM Gateway) Deepening Developmental Listening (IDM Module A) Cognitive Coaching: How to Boost Your Client's Systemic Thinking (IDM Module B) Behavioral Assessment in Executive Coaching (IDM Module C) Program One Case Study (IDM Module D) Unlearning and Making Discoveries in Action Learning

The Difference With IDM

By Brian Leclerc

I'd like to introduce myself as a consultant/coach offering and developing an expertise in employee assistance programs at different levels of management within the federal and provincial governments of Canada.

About a year ago I was looking for models which could provide me with assessment tools that would complement my practice based on Wilber's integral approach. So I came across the Interdevelopmental Institute (IDM) and found it reflected the value I was looking for. What attracted me first to IDM was the fact that the program is based on research from multiple perspectives: the study of Kegan on socio-emotional development, Basseches on dialectical thinking, Jaques on types of mental processing, Wilber on the integral model, Murray on the Need/Press profile, Laske on developmental coaching, and others. The second important aspect for me is that the program, once completed, gives me a Certification in Developmental Assessment.

Following up this first impression of IDM, I started what is called "Program One". Its modules cover three fundamental areas of coaching, namely, the emotional (A), cognitive (B), and behavioral modules (C), drawn together in a case study in module D. The focus of the program is on learning how to understand and use those assessment tools in the respective lines of adult development. When I dove into that new learning, I quickly discovered that within the social-emotional, cognitive, and behavioral territories there are hidden dimensions that a coach must not only acknowledge in listening to his client, but also in discovering how those same structures and dynamics of development are manifesting in him- or herself.

I can say that my experience of participating in the IDM courses during the first year of study was very beneficial. First of all, the tele-class environment created for the learning is open and safe. It gave me the opportunity to express and develop my constructive insight of the material presented and, most of all, to expose my critical thinking in each module, by questioning what seems ambiguous or, from my perspective, inquiring what I thought to be a connection between concepts not fully spelled out. I have been impressed of how each of my inquiries has been treated with a respectful manner and high consideration.

After a year now, the difference between what I thought reality was at the beginning, and what I now know reality might reflect in the human experience is beyond words. I am not only more aware of "what is there", but more consciously able to see what is absent (in me and others) for a transformation to occur. It takes practice, focus, and the will to challenge what we already know about ourselves, as well as the will to continue to develop the latent potential.

As an example, in the cognitive coaching module, the dialectical thought forms (thinking patterns) that we are learning have created new insights and are very refreshing for me because I feel more equipped to look at how a problem is constructed in the first place. These thought forms create more possibilities when used to reframe problematic situations, both for my clients and myself.

Developmentally, in my personal and professional life, I feel like I now have a series of keys for opening a lot of new avenues for transformation. This new awareness has enhanced my interaction with people by focusing more attention on how I am listening to the structure behind the content clients are bringing up, and on conversing with people in a less judgmental way.

Also, the word "change" has taken on a new perspective for me. I cannot envision reality without weighing the energy emerging from it. The question I ask myself is how I internalize that energy. The answer comes to me when I observe how I am able to respond to my own meaning-making. I do so by reflecting on how I presently construct my world. Is the world the way I am constructing it in balance or does it need attention? Am I at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a particular stage of development? Do I understand that particular stage as to where it seems I am stuck? How do I discern what kind of conflict I am in, or how I am prepared to proceed to the next step?

By witnessing and objectifying my internal dialogue as an internal object, I am becoming more present to my meaning making, and consequently to what is it I am controlling or am being controlled by. Learning the particular structure of WHO I am facilitates the management of my energy that is needed to navigate on the wave of the change process.

The integral model gives me the map to see the territory. IDM gives me the tools to probe and prompt my navigation in the territory. The differential I perceive when I apply those two frameworks simultaneously increases the balance between me and the environment both by an internal and external awareness in a highly comprehensive way.

Team Coaching: A Developmental Perspective

By Otto Laske

Have you ever encountered those blank stares from team members when you asked them to reflect on their motivation for doing the work assigned to them, or to make more explicit how the problem they are working on figures in the culture of their organization at large?

Then you know what I am talking about. Most teams are so thoroughly focused on their "task" and their habitual ways of pursuing them, they completely disregard their own inner process and the way they make meaning of the organization.

This leads me to some further questions.

Have you ever thought that this might be related to how team members THINK? Have you wondered what kind of team you are working with in terms of the systemic thinking abilities of team members? Have you considered that depending on team members' phase or level cognitive development there are things they cannot do, whether with or without coaching? Have you considered that how team members think decides how much of their habitual ways of working they can UNLEARN and discover new ways of working?

That is the perspective taken at IDM regarding action learning and team coaching generally: we coach teams based on our understanding of the phase of cognitive development team members are presently in, and therefore teach coaches to discern what cognitive type of team they are working with. It sounds difficult, but it isn't any more difficult than other coaching tasks.

We work from a TEAM TYPOLOGY that predicts what kind of thinking and decision making team members are likely to engage in, based on developmental research, and we verify that hypothesis in our work with teams.

This is a new paradigm of team coaching.

We give students the further option to enrich this approach by also taking into account the social-emotional maturity of team members. This way, we are getting at two questions every team member is asking him- or herself anyway, mostly unconsciously:

1. What should I do, and for whom?
2. What can I do, and what are my options?

Answers to the first question depend on the individual's social-emotional level, while answer to the second one are a function of his or her present cognitive profile (fluidity index). Depending on team members' level and phase of development, they will answer this question differently. The same holds for their ability to unlearn ingrained ways of working.

As developmental team coaches, we can predict their answers to these two questions. Having hypothesized their answers, we can make them aware of "what is going on" in the team by having them make discoveries.

In short, if you can make distinctions between people's present level of systemic thinking, you have found a major entry point for coaching interventions. With Elliott Jaques, let's make some simple distinctions between four types of information processing:

Table 1: Four Types of Information Processing

If you know how to listen, you can discern these different types of thinking in what team members tell you, something I call dialectical listening. (If you have studied at IDM, you can add to that developmental listening which is focused on stages of social-emotional maturity.) Knowing Jaques's work, you can then transpose these distinctions into four corresponding types of teams, as listed in the table below:

Table 2: Four Types of Teams distributed over eight "Strata" (Accountability Levels)

Given the stark differences between these teams (which are too involved to spell out here), you would not want to coach each of them the same way.

BUT HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY APPROACH EACH TEAM DIFFERENTLY?

Here are some hints – for more, take the IDM Action Learning Course scheduled for January 2007:

• As shown in Table, the four types of teams occur on two different levels, namely, first and second order of information complexity. These levels differ in terms of the complexity of information a team is dealing with. The A-teams by definition deal with less complex information and also think less systemically than the B-teams. They also have a shorter time-horizon, meaning that their members operate within a smaller time span than members of B-teams. This reduces the level of complexity they can cope with.
• A1 teams, called "Direct Action Teams", go for action. If your level of reflective judgment is low, action is the seemingly best way out. These teams want to "get things done" before they know what the problem is, or what the strategy of reaching the goal should be. This improves in B1 teams, at a higher level of information complexity, but action remains in focus. These teams are "disjunct" in their thinking, and are thus unable to make significant linkages between things. (Might this be your team?)
• A2 teams go after significant data. They aim to accumulate as much data as possible to be on the safe side, and conjoin data sources. I call them diagnostic accumulation teams. Alas, they have a hard time agreeing what the significant data are! But they try hard. They think "conjunctively" to do so, bringing data and explanations based on them together. At B2, this happens at a higher level of thinking, but in the same way. (Might this be your team?)
• At a higher stage of cognitive development, we encounter A3 Teams. Such teams go after alternative pathways to goal completion. They think conditionally (serially), in terms of what leads to what, and what may force pathways to branch at particular choice points. Their focus is on keeping track of the different alternative strategies that can be developed to solve a problem, and keep data subordinate to this. At B3, this occurs at a higher level of abstraction than at A3. Thus, the emphasis throughout in these teams is on "strategy". (Might this be your team?)
• A4 teams have it all. They can "conduct", that is, treat in parallel, all data streams, strategies, partial solutions, or what have you. That's because they can think in parallel, and can deal with subject matter the way a conductor leads the many instruments of an orchestra. At B4, such teams can deal with the unceasingly changing kaleidoscope of real events, company-internal or –external, in a systemic fashion. It's only that there are very few of them around, to judge from the kind of decisions that teams in large organizations are making. (Might this be your team).

You get the point. The teams we have discussed at are successively higher levels of cognitive development, and that determines what they can and can't do! The level of cognitive development they are on can be expressed in terms of the fluidity of dialectical thinking or, alternatively, stages of reflective judgment, both of them validated by research.

And now the North American prize question: So what? How do you deal with each of these types of teams?

You might want to read Volume 2 of Measuring Hidden Dimensions (February 2007) to find out, or else sign up for a course in Action Learning.

Here are some general hints:

1. It takes more than logical thinking, namely "dialectical" thinking, to figure out how to deal with adult teams. The more adults advance in their development, what comes into play in their thinking and decision making is the use of dialectical thought forms. These are thought forms systemic thinking depends on. At IDM, they are taught in Module B of Program One, and in our Action Learning Courses.
2. Learning to hypothesize what type of team you are dealing with is the crux of the issue in team coaching. This is a learnable skill. It requires more than absorbing a theoretical framework, namely, unlearning old assumptions about yourself, the team, and decision making. Essentially what it takes is "dialectical listening", by which you can assess, with considerable precision, what kind of team you are dealing with.
3. As a coach, you want to convey to your team what you see and hear is going on, to make team members more self-aware. This takes a high level of reflection and self awareness. Since as a coach you are not sharing the team's problem solving function, you can be strictly focused on the team's learning. Therefore, you intervene to boost the teams learning, thereby advancing the team, eventually, to its next developmental level. You can then intervene in order to advance the team to its next developmental level.
4. If you are dealing with a Direct Action Team (A1) that only masters a few unrelated dialectical thought forms, you can expect it to be focused on action prematurely. You then want to think about how you would guide the team in searching for and interpreting significant data (A2).
5. If your team already masters dialectical thinking to some extent, as in diagnostic accumulation teams (A2), you need to help them coordinate their interpretations of the significant data they are finding. As a coach, you can help team members' focus on alternative strategies (A3) rather than just data. And so forth. In short, you can use the table above to guide your actions, and increase the team's (and your own) effectiveness.

Well, there is more to team coaching than this because recipes won't work. You have to learn a new cognitive framework, unlearn stale ideas, and do your own thinking and hypothesizing. How well you'll do this will depend on where YOU are in your own cognitive development.

Let us hear from you if this strikes you as something you might want to learn.

See the description of the Action Learning Course below.

Invitation to Join Interdevelopmental Associates (IDMA)

Interdevelopmental Associates (IDMA) is an association of present and former students of IDM whose mission it is to make the developmental perspective in consulting and coaching taught at IDM known in the U.S. and international market place. Associates are grounded in the personal acquaintance gained through participation in IDM courses over an entire year. They share the mission of evidence-based work in the consulting and coaching arenas.

The invitation to join IDMA is both comprehensive and very specific. It encompasses participation in any assignment IDMA may take on, from automating developmental assessments within an international consortium to participating in assessment and coaching for profit. A very specific topic of engagement at this time is teaching Gateway.

If you have participated in Program One, Module A, regardless of whether you have already completed a Module D-case study or not, you are invited to teach Gateway within you own professional environment. The sharing of Gateway teaching is based on a simple license agreement with IDM. According to this agreement, net income from teaching (income minus costs) is partitioned into three portions:

• Presentation of Gateway (based on licensed materials)
• Marketing
• Royalty to IDM as licensor.

Teaching of Gateway can be combined with any for-profit activity you are undertaking. If you are interested in a licensing agreement, contact Otto Laske at otto@interdevelopmentals.org.

Update on Volume 2 of Measuring Hidden Dimensions

The second volume of MHD extends developmental process consultation into the domain of team coaching, especially action learning. It provides a cognitive framework for working with teams in an entirely new way, namely, by concentrating on how team members THINK. Since thinking defines adults current potential capability — the ability to decide "what can I do"; its title is: Measuring Hidden Dimensions: How to Harness the Potential Capability of Teams. As the subtitle shows, the book is greatly indebted to the work of Elliott Jaques on Requisite Organization.

The book's classification of teams is based on the following five criteria (the first three of which derive from Jaques's work):

1. Order of information complexity
2. Type of mental processing
3. Time horizon
4. Phase of development of dialectical (systemic) thinking, commensurate with stage of reflective judgment
5. Stage of social-emotional development.

These five criteria make it possible to distinguish four major types of teams as a function of the phase of cognitive development team members are presently in:

• Direct Action teams (A1/B1)
• Diagnostic Accumulation teams (A2/B2)
• Planning teams (A3/B3)
• "Conductor" teams (A4/B4).

In the world of organizations, these four types of team are found distributed over two different orders of information complexity, here called A and B. These orders define the level of abstraction team members' thinking can muster, and thus also the time span within which they can carry out their work. (The more abstractly team members can think, the longer is the time span over which their projects can extend.)

Volume 2 is based on a summary of 50 years of research. It synthesizes cognitive research on individuals and teams stemming from Th.W. Adorno, Roy Bhaskar, Elliott Jaques, Michael Basseches, Robert Kegan, and King & Kitchener. It comprises four sections:

• Section I: A Theory of Cognitive Development Explaining the Structure of Organizations and Teams
• Section II: Tools for Dialectical Thinking and Discovery in the Workplace
• Section III: What Cognitive Level of Work Can Your Team Do?
• Section IV: Appendix (Exercises, Glossary, etc.).

Volume 2 is a textbook for Program One Module B, and also serves as material for a stand-alone course on team coaching with a focus on action learning. The book is scheduled to appear in February of 2007 at the IDM Press.

IDM International News

There have been interesting developments at IDM over the summer and early fall, all of which have contributed to IDM's national and international standing as a primary source of developmental OD and coaching in the world.

1. APA Midwinter Conference, February 2007
2. UK Visit to Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and presentation to the European Commission, Brussels, November 2006
3. Workshop for the Special Group in Coaching Psychology of the British Psychological Association, London, December 2006
4. Summer Workshops in Developmental Coaching in Konstanz, Koeln, Berlin, June 2007
5. Partnership with PRIME Leadership, Krakow/Warsaw, Poland, in Developmental Process Consultation, starting in 2007
6. Formation of a Consortium for establishing CAMS, a set of on-line developmental assessments in collaboration with the Swiss e-learning firm Comartis.

APA Division 13 Mid-Winter Conference

Otto Laske will teach a one-day workshop on "Executive Development as Adult Development" at the Society of Consulting Psychology Mid-Winter Conference in Miami, Florida, from February 8 to 11, 2007. You are invited to attend.

WORKSHOP FORMAT

Experiential grounding in intuitions about adult development, followed by an introduction to the Kegan-Laske developmental stage theory, leading to hands-on exercises worked on in small groups, and a brief introduction to, and modeling of, developmental listening and interviewing. Case studies discussion of feedback to clients if time allows. (A one-day course equals 50% of the IDM Gateway course that comprises 16 instruction hours, and is a pre-requisite of entering IDM Program One that leads to a Certificate in Developmental Assessment.)

SKILL LEVEL

Career professionals, all levels; doctoral and post-doctoral students.

ABSTRACT

1. Purpose and content:

• Introducing to an adult-developmental framework for evidence based coaching
• Hands-on experience in discerning levels of social-emotional development
• Integration of developmental insights into behavioral, especially executive, coaching.

2. Benefits to participants:

• An understanding of, and ‘feel' for, stages of social-emotional development
• Ability to formulate developmental hypotheses for use in coaching
• Opportunity to take a first step toward a Certificate of Developmental Assessment.

3. Research basis of offering:

• Extension of research by R. Kegan on structural changes in social-emotional meaning making over the lifespan.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of the session, participants will:

• Objective A: Improve their conventional listening skills through inclusion of a developmental perspective.
• Objective B: Formulate developmental hypotheses about a client.
• Objective C: Articulate a more specific framework for more far-reaching studies in developmental coaching.

Oxford and Brussels, November 2006

This November, Otto Laske will visit Oxford Brookes University, prior to presenting to the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium. The topics of his presentations are:

1. Coaching Program, Oxford Brookes University: Insights into Coaching from Developmental Theory.
2. EU Commission: The Right Person at the Right Place in the Organization: Insights into Human Capital and Coaching from Developmental Theory.

Participation in the Special Group in Coaching Psychology (SGCP), City University, London, December 2006

IDM, represented by Otto Laske, will present a 1-hour theoretical introduction and a 1-hr hands-on skills workshop in developmental coaching on December 18, 06. The presentation will focus on the research foundation of the developmental approach to coaching and explain the three perspectives on the client taught at IDM (social-emotional, cognitive, and behavioral). Attendees will work hands-on in small groups and will be able to experience developmental listening and interviewing.

European Summer Workshops in Developmental Coaching, June 2007

In June of 2007, Otto Laske will hold IDM's first public German workshops in Entwicklungscoaching (Developmental Coaching). A two-day Workshop will take place in Konstanz, together with Werner Vogelauer, Director of Trigon Entwicklungsberatung, Graz, who is known for his use of the theory of developmental phases. A workshop following in Berlin and Cologne based on the IDM Gateway course is also in the works.

Coaching Rozwojowy — Collaboration with PRIME Leadership, Poland

PRIME Leadership and Interdevelopmental Associates (IDMA), a component of Laske and Associates, LLC, join in the intent to introduce a regular education program in developmental coaching and developmental OD in Poland (Krakow or Warsaw) starting in the Spring of 2007.

PRIME Leadership is a Polish Counseling and Consulting Firm with the mission to set free businesses' as well as managers' developmental potential. The competitive advantage of this collaboration — compared to behavioral (ICF/ICC and CTI based) coaching in Poland — lies in the deeper professionalism of developmental coaching, and its ability to prove its effectiveness by way of pre- and post-assessments.

The IDMA/PRIME collaboration initially aims to educate a cadre of 25-30 elite consultants/ coaches who will redefine coaching in Poland from its present behavioral tenor to a more evidence-based, developmental practice. From this base, broader organizational consulting including work with teams and entire organizations will flow. The collaboration will extend to topics such as succession planning, executive education and development, and the formulation of human capital strategy. In future years, it may well expand into other Eastern European countries.

In our work, we follow the threefold scheme of Problem Recognition, Manager Involvement, and Enhancement. Developmentally defined, the three procedural steps we take in our consultations are defined as follows:

1. Problem recognition has to do with analyzing information (anecdotes and informal conversations) in light of requisite organization (is it realized in the company? Y/N).
2. Manager involvement concerns interacting with, and interviewing, managers in order to learn the level of information complexity they are dealing with (their role), and the appropriateness of the distribution of levels of responsibility in the company.
3. Engagement is about the integration of self and role in managers' work: is a manager's role commensurate with his/her developmental profile? In Engagement, coaching plays a major role.

CAMS Automation Project in Search of a User-Developer

IDMA is aiming to automate its social-emotional and cognitive assessments for faster and more global public on-line access around the world. The project, called CAMS (Capability Management System) requires a Consortium of companies who join in the design, implementation, testing, and marketing of the CAMS instrument. The Swiss e-learning firm Comartis has expressed interest in undertaking the software implementation of the project, with IDMA functioning as the conceptual designer. The third needed party, called "user-developer", who would support the actual research and development of a prototype, is still undetermined. However, there are several potential candidates.

If you know of a forward-thinking company dedicated to developing its human capital that might be a suitable development partner, please contact Otto Laske at otto@interdevelopmentals.org.

IDM Programs at a Glance

(See future newsletters for a more substantial introduction to these programs.)

* To acquire 80 credits in Program One takes 10 months. The typical time taken by students to write the Module D case study is about six weeks, bringing the total time needed for completing Program One to just under a year.

** Typical time taken to complete Program Two is two months when as close as possible to completing Program One.

IDM Fall/Winter Tele-Courses

(see also http://interdevelopmentals.org/course-descriptions.html)

*** Payment Policy: Tuition payment may be made by check or online and must be received at least 1 week before the first course session ***

Starting Developmental Coaching (IDM Gateway)

This 16 (8x2) hr hands-on workshop introduces participants to thinking, listening, and working with client's developmental stages in their coaching practice. By understanding developmental stage as a mode of functioning that directly determines performance, participants gain clarity about where they themselves are in their lifespan development, and what are the criteria to listen for in conversations with their clients. Participants begin to understand the social stratification of the social world, and the impact of this stratification on their day-to-day work. [IDM has received many testimonials as to the transformative character of introductory course.]

For further information on this course, write to the Director of Education at otto@interdevelopmentals.org.

Register Now for the Gateway Course ($495)

Order the text book for the course at http://interdevelopmentals.org/book.html.

Deepening Developmental Listening (Module A)

This 16 (8x2 hr) course is a continuation of Gateway for the sake of deepening developmental listening, and understanding better how clients presently make sense of their experiences in life and work. Emphasis is on understanding the client's Frame of Reference that determines their goals, ways of working, and ways of relating.

Participants learn the art of developmental interviewing and acquire the techniques to evaluate ("score") interviews in terms of the client's present developmental range. Technically, participants move from working with illustrations of developmental stages to interpreting entire interviews, thus increasing their fluency of developmental knowledge.

Register Now for Module A ($700).

Order the text book for the course at http://interdevelopmentals.org/book.html.

Starting Cognitive Coaching: How To Boost Your Client's Systemic Thinking (Module B)

This 16 (8x2) hr course teaches coaches how to focus on the conceptual structure of conversations with individual clients. Participants are helped in moving to a higher level of reflection on how clients construct what is ‘real' for them. Transfer to teams is straightforward. The course is structured for beginners in evidence-based cognitive coaching. It introduces to new tools, or "mind openers,"that can be used to open clients' minds to higher-level reflective inquiry and the asking of questions. Links with clients' social-emotional development are also discussed.

For further information on this course, write to the Director of Education at otto@interdevelopmentals.org.

Register Now for Starting Cognitive Coaching ($495).

Behavioral Assessment in Executive Coaching (Module C)

This 16 (8x2) hr course introduces to a deep-digging questionnaire regarding executives' self conduct, approach to tasks, and emotional intelligence seen as intricately related. Emphasis is on better understanding the unconscious barriers to success in executive performance, including 'energy sinks' and 'frustration index'. Participants take the questionnaire themselves, and then learn how to interpret questionnaire data in order to build a profile of their executive client. This profile helps clarify clients' coaching needs, and can be used to develop realistic coaching plans.

Register Now for Module C ($700)

Developmental Assessment Case Study (Module D)

This 16 (8x2) hr course is meant to support those completing Program One, by putting in place an individual case study with a volunteer of their choice. The instructor acts as a mentor supporting participants by modeling, commenting, and giving advice. Participants are responsible for finding and working with a volunteer for the purpose of conducting two developmental interviews and administering a behavioral questionnaire. Once materials have been gathered, participants begin to evaluate (score) them and submit parts of them to their peers for critique and support. Feedback to clients is given to volunteers only once the case study has been accepted by IDM, and a Certificate of Developmental Assessment issued.

Register Now for Module D ($1,425; $1,500 when paid in two instalments).

Unlearning and Making Discoveries in Action Learning

This 16 (8x2) hr course is a stand-alone course open to those who participated in the introductory action learning course of 2006 or else have completed Module B of Program One. The course focuses on practicing work with teams with foremost attention to the team's learning. To generate "fresh" questions, dialectical thought forms are used in order to discover means first to illuminate and then to remediate absences — inconsistencies, hidden dimensions, gaps, desirables — and bring them into view as opposites (other) of what attention is initially focused on. In this way, new horizons open on the problem to be solved by the team.

For further information on this course, write to the Director of Education at otto@interdevelopmentals.org.

Register Now for Action Learning ($600).

Fall 2006 / Winter 2007Course Schedule

[With class consensus, course times can be changed]

* Module D tuition can be paid in two installments, the second half being due before the 5th session. When so paid, tuition is $1,500.

Quick Links...

In This Issue...

Teleforums

E-Books

Developmental Assessments

Developmental Coaching Services

Certification Program

IDM Schedule

Resources/Research

Contact Us