IDM Press
IDM Press is a multi-lingual social science publishing house and the publishing branch of the Interdevelopmental Institute. We publish textbooks for students taking courses at the Institute, not only in English, but also in German, French, and Spanish.
So far, two books in English have appeared:
- A volume on applied developmental theory titled "Measuring Hidden Dimensions: The Art and Science of Fully Engaging Adults" (2006), referred to as "MHD Volume 1"
- A volume on applied theory of knowledge titled "Measuring Hidden Dimensions of Human Systems: Foundations of Requisite Organization" (2009), "MHD Volume 2".
Both books are textbooks for use in courses taught at the Institute, and are available both in softbound and in e-book form (see below). A German and French translation of Volume 1 is expected in 2009 - 2010.
Highlights of Both Volumes
In terms of substance, both books introduce a new paradigm of "process consultation", whether it be in the form of coaching, management consulting, psychotherapy, HR management, mediation, or social work. The books deviate from the predominant behaviorist paradigm of the social sciences by showing that behavior is a second-hand phenomenon that, in its roots, is based on adult-developmental progressions occurring over an individual's life span. Adult development is viewed from an epistemological — theory of knowledge related — not a psychological perspective.
Volume 2, in particular, is critical of present adult developmental research in which the two best known lines of adult development — cognitive and social-emotional — are either rigidly separated or are reduced one to the other. (We refer to the reduction of the cognitive to the social-emotional line as the "Loevinger Fallacy" which dates from the middle 1970s.) We transcend this now 30-year old research tradition by linking Kohlberg School perspectives to Frankfurt School research in dialectical thinking (Adorno), which ultimately leads to viewing Piaget from Hegel, and viewing Hegel from Plato. At IDM, therefore, we interpret Piaget from a dialectical perspective.
Measuring Hidden Dimensions: The Art and Science of Fully Engaging Adults (MHD Volume 1; 2006)
Content
Volume 1 refines Kegan's developmental perspective by including it as one aspect of three represented in the Constructive Developmental Framework (CDF): social-emotional, cognitive, and psychological. The refinement is in the form of chapters on interviewing, amplification of conventional stage scoring, direct focus on coaching and management consulting, inclusion of practice reflections and exercises, and an Appendix comprising case studies on individuals and teams, as well as capability management.
By including the social-emotional perspective as a sub-component of CDF, it becomes easier to separate, as well as link, the two main lines of adult development. While the crucial social-emotional question is "What should I do and for whom?", the central cognitive question is "What can I do and what are my options?" While linked in real life, conceptually these are two very different issues for adults. They deserve independent theories.
How to Order
Measuring Hidden Dimensions: The Art and Science of Fully Engaging Adults is available in both soft cover bound format ($35.00) and e-book format ($25.00).
NOTE: On US book orders shipping and handling is free. However a charge applies to book orders shipped outside the US. Be sure to select the correct shipping option on the checkout page.
Order Soft-Cover Bound Format
Click the PayPal logo below to order the soft cover book ($35.00).
Order E-Book Format (PDF)
Click the PayPal logo below to order the PDF version of the book ($25).
Reviews & Detailed Description
For details and reviews of MHD Volume 1 please see MHD1 Reviews.
Measuring Hidden Dimensions of Human Systems: Foundations of Requisite Organization (MHD volume 2; 2009)
Content
Volume 2 is more than a sequel to Volume 1 since it grounds social-emotional in epistemic and cognitive development.
Human consciousness is seen as a transformational system in which linear causalities do not apply. The social-emotional, epistemic, and cognitive components of consciousness are in constant interaction with each other, such that epistemic position — indicating the degree to which a person is subject to his/her own thinking [ego] — serves as a bridge between social-emotional and cognitive development.
The book's perspective is succinctly expressed by the diagram below:
Volume 2 proposes, in fact, that social-emotional growth is based on dialectical thought forms, which ultimately grounds this type of mental growth cognitively. At the same time, social-emotional development is seen as exerting an influence on epistemic position and thereby, indirectly, on cognitive development.
This says in a nutshell that consciousness is a system based on teleological reciprocities that are constantly shifting around a cognitive center of gravity, in tandem with the historical context consciousness presently finds itself in. The relationship of the three components remains unfathomable for formal logical thinking, but can be researched and understood by using dialectical thought forms.
The recasting of social-emotional development as a sub-process of cognitive development has immediate consequences in practical work with CDF. A hierarchy of assessment scores is established that looks as follows:
According to the diagram, the most general assessment score is the social-emotional one which applies to millions of people at the same time. It is thus unspecific regarding an individual's uniqueness, and also says nothing about the individual's culture. A person's cognitive profile, assessed in volume 2 by a Fluidity Index, comes much closer to a person's uniqueness and cultural idiosyncracy. Even closer is the psychoanalytical "Needs/Press" score.
Importantly, all three scores need to be seen as interrelated and mutually dependent on each other. When these scores are linked through evidence-based interpretation based on assessment data [as in an IDM case study], a subtle holistic picture of a person arises. This picture emerges through the use of dialectical thought forms.
One can say, then, that volume 2 not only integrates volume 1 but gives more precision to social-emotional assessment than is found in Kohlberg School research. This is due to the fact that in volume 2, Frankfurt School dialectical thinking is fully integrated with Kohlberg School findings. In linking the two schools, CDF transcends both schools — one of which does not think developmentally while the other does not think dialectically — thus opening a new path for process consultation and developmental research in the 21st century.
How to Order
Measuring Hidden Dimensions: The Art and Science of Fully Engaging Adults is available in both soft cover bound ($65.00) and e-book format ($40.00). The Manual of Dialectical Thought Forms is available as a separate e-book for $25.00.
NOTE: On US book orders shipping and handling is free. However a charge applies to book orders shipped outside the US. Be sure to select the correct shipping option on the checkout page.
Order MHD-II Soft-cover Bound Format
Click the PayPal logo below to order the soft cover book ($65.00).
Order MHD-II E-Book Format (PDF)
Click the PayPal logo below to order the PDF version of the book ($40.00).
Order MHD-II Manual of Dialectical Thought Forms E-Book Format (PDF)
Click the PayPal logo below to order the PDF version of the Manual ($25.00).
Reviews
For details and reviews of MHD Volume 2 please see MHD2 Reviews.