Building Self-Reflection skills, not outsourcing development

Welcome to our fourth and final video in series where we're going to focus on self reflection skills instead of outsourcing development. And we will spend time on talking about what is a developmental organization. And I have two masters, one in education, one in organization development. So I've certainly heard a lot about developmental process or organizations. But I never knew the origins until I started working with Carol Sanford where she was the one of the originators of this work back in the 1960s and 70s working for Proctor Gamble, Proctor and Gamble in the detergent business. And this work that they did that became so incredibly successful, Harvard called it the prototype to adopt. And so it was one of the most studied organizations with over 50 case studies. It was copied and researched and many site visits from academics coming in and other businesses and they were basically copycatting. But the problem was they didn't have the living systems paradigm that we learned about in in the paradigm video. So there are books written deliberately developmental or processes like Holacracy, Teal Self Managing Organizations. They left out the living systems first principles so they copied it. But the spirit of the work, really the difference that makes the difference was missing. And that's what I'd like to share. And I, I do this work now I want to share it more broadly. So what do we mean by to develop? It's. It's French for deil so that we can see and frame life and from a wider lens to see broader perspectives and gain deeper insights. It's also a self determining process versus an expert coming in, filling up my brain with their knowled. And because we're living systems, learning and development doesn't have an end state. We will not expire until we expire. Which is very uplifting for me and for many people and learning new information, it might be thought of as fun. But when you're developing in this true developmental spirit that I'm talking about can make us sweat. It is not. We're not in the zone, if you will. But let's watch a video clip from Andrew Huberman as he's interviewing Cal Newport. I think they can say it better than I do there.

It seemed to be all about deliberate practice. So like how do you. They don't waste any time. Professional musicians waste no time doing things they're comfortable doing every time they spend practicing. And this is also incredibly difficult. But every time they spend practicing is almost entirely in a state of I'm not comfortable with this, but if I focus as hard as I can, maybe I'm going to pull this off. Like I'll pull off the sonata at this new speed I'm trying to do. Maybe I'll pull it off. It's like the maximal growth stimulating state.

So I'm going to go through the difference between traditional development and this developmental approach from a living systems perspective. So it's not about outsourcing from the gurus or getting feedback from a coach who's going to write a report and give it to you or say here's my best practice practices. It's really about using a structured self reflection process like I've been doing with you over these videos and then rigorously, ruthlessly self assessing. This should build inner will and help you connect to a deep, deeper, meaningful purpose. Here is one example of a framework that I used with you asking you to self assess your purposeful agency, your self managing capability and thinking for a whole business and acting from for the whole business versus sub optimizing the parts. So that's just one example of structured self reflection, not someone else coming in telling you the answer. Now the second area is about are you copying and pasting the nine step process some competencies or models where we use in developmental practice living systems frameworks that help us see. I like to use this little prism because you can see from all different sides and angles and perspectives. It's not telling you the answer. It's not saying where to start, where to end. It's saying use it and be able to see different things. And this is what the systemic thinking frameworks can do. And we did use this one here, which was the modes of behavior where I asked you again to self assess. So that over time, for instance, if you were to continually notice that you were reactive or coming acting from your ego, you might build the will. That would be the intention that you'd say hey, I want to grow, I want to do more in be more with meaningful purpose. And that's something that a framework can do. Another framework that we used, and this one is a leveling framework because it goes up in levels and this one was developed by Carol Sanford. The first two levels just deal with existence or potential. So as you see this, are you saying Gez, we're just dealing with existence now? Maybe you need to deal with existence. You have problems that need to be solved right now, but yet you can address those problems, today's existing situation from the mind of evolving potential. So that's what I mean when I'm talking about systemic thinking frameworks. The next one we're going to difference is I used to do this to put people in boxes categories, pigeonhole them into DISC or Myers Briggs or high potential, low potential, no potential versus seeing those levels of potential. That's what this pedagogy, how it differs. And it also creates that will. When we see aha, I'm on existence, it builds the inner will that's going to be needed to deal with the problems we have today, today, and motivation to address those. And I will also, in just a moment, give with you another framework, a leveling framework on your leadership roles. So hold out just a moment till I finish this. And the next area we'll look at is the traditional way looked at self development, self improvement, self actualization, getting a promotion, growing your network. You know, all those things are important. But what I'm saying here in developmental is that we're focusing on self and systems. We grow as leaders, as people, as partners on behalf of the third line. And if you remember this from the video when we talked about holes and thinking in whole systems, where I said to start at the third line of work, what is your beloved people, places and causes and get really clear on where they're growing, where they want to grow, where their potential is. And then what does that require of the second line of work and the first line of work? So you're still growing, but you're doing it on behalf of the system. And then finally I won't be able to do this one here. We're not live so that I can't do the Socratic resourcing. But what that means of course is real time interaction is the Socratic aspect to be able to think in higher orders. But then resourcing is the role that I play, which is returning the power to the source, which is you, not me being the source of power, but resourcing the someone else and helping them get, get smarter in their thinking in all of this. I think this quote by my friends at the ReGenesis Institute really sums up the need for developmental organizations. Today's crises are an invitation to move from seeing ourselves as the source of change in the world to becoming enablers of evolution. So with that in mind, this thought of becoming an enabler of evolution of next stage potential. What role are you playing and what contribution are you making? Are you making the desired effects in your system? So four levels I'll have you self assess as our final exercise in the series. So one way to think about your role. Do you allocate resources and stabilize variances kind of recovering as a manager or how do we recover what's lost if you will, next level up would be I'm clearing the disorder, arresting the disorder. And I'm also a problem solver, a professional problem solver is what I used to call myself in my last job. Very flexible, very adaptable, but just solving problems one after another. Another next level up is maintaining industry standards and ideals. So sponsoring these standards, these ideals that are more competitive at an industry wide level. And then finally what I'm looking for is becoming a whole systems transformer and an evolutionary partner. That means to develop your value, adding products, processes and people. So develop your products, your processes and people. Successfully, of course, and simultaneously. That's where I aspire to be. Don't always get there, but life is a process of becoming. So I keep aiming in that direction. And as you think about yourself and you see that you might have a gap, let me remind you that every gap in performance is a gap in capability. Build that capability and we can fill the gap. And the capability can be thought of in three different ways. Your will, it's your personal agency, your motivation, kind of your backbone and. And then it's going to say in Spanish it's Ghanas. So you have will des. The next one is being, your state of being, your personal attention and focus and presence, state of mind, state of being. And finally, yes, functional capabilities might be needed as well. But there's more than that, of course. So let me leave you with just a couple more lines before we sign off. And one is that learning new information is valuable, but unlearning those automatic assumptions makes us wiser than finding a new truth. But it's also an acquired taste and it takes mental discipline. It's not the flow zone. It's hard, but it's worth it. And as my, one of my beloved clients has said several times, once you see it, you can't unsee it. And that's what I hope for you. So we've finished our series, we've gone through holes, potential paradigm, and finally this one on developmental organizations. So I leave you to sign off. Please contact me with my email or my website or LinkedIn. I'd be happy to share some thoughts, reactions and see where we go from here. Bye for now.