Map what keeps you from changing
Take one change you genuinely want, find the hidden commitment working against it, and test the assumption underneath.
Why it works
Kegan and Lahey propose that people fail to make changes they sincerely want because a hidden competing commitment, protected by a "big assumption," works against the goal. Mapping that system makes visible a belief the person has been subject to, and small experiments test whether the belief is actually true. Petrie reports that more than one practitioner he interviewed called this the gold standard of vertical practices, because it pairs action with reflection on what holds a person at their current way of making sense.
How to do it
- Write one improvement goal you care about — for example, delegating more.
- List what you actually do or fail to do that works against it, without excuses.
- For each behavior, ask what you would worry about if you did the opposite, and turn the worry into a commitment ("I am committed to never losing control").
- Name the big assumption under that commitment ("If I delegate, I will become redundant").
- Design a small, safe test of the assumption, run it, and write down what actually happened.
Evidence
The method is set out in Kegan and Lahey (2009), drawing on their constructive-developmental research at Harvard. Petrie (2015) describes it as a mapping exercise followed by small experiments to test hidden beliefs, and reports practitioners calling it the gold standard of vertical practices. That endorsement is practitioner opinion; this page cites no controlled trial of the method. (anecdotal)
Uncovering a big assumption is not the same as outgrowing it; a map can produce insight without behavior change if the tests are never run.
Sources
- Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. L. (2009). Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization. Harvard Business Press.
- Petrie, N. (2015). The How-To of Vertical Leadership Development–Part 2: 30 Experts, 3 Conditions, and 15 Approaches. Center for Creative Leadership white paper.
Common mistake
Writing competing commitments that sound noble ("I am committed to quality") instead of the self-protective ones that actually hold the pattern in place. If the commitment does not feel slightly embarrassing, it is probably not the real one.
Practice this with IX Coach
More practices for Vertical Development Practices: How Adults Grow, Not Just Add Skills
- Seek a heat experience on purpose
Take on a first-time challenge where results matter and your current way of thinking is not enough.
- Put yourself where perspectives collide
Spend real time with people whose worldviews, training and stakes differ from yours, and listen past their content to their values.
- Make sense of it with a guide, not alone
Set aside regular reflection time with a coach or mentor who understands developmental stages, so a disruption turns into a new way of seeing.
- Audit your goals: skill gap or sense-making gap?
Sort your development goals into what more knowledge would fix and what a different way of seeing would fix.
- Work at your edge with support, then without it
Notice that you can think at a more complex level with help than alone, and use that gap as the place to grow.
- Use a developmental assessment for insight, never for ranking
If you take a stage assessment, choose a rigorous one, debrief it with a trained practitioner, and keep it away from decisions about people’s worth.
- Choose months of challenge with support over one-off events
Pick development that runs over months and combines real challenge with reflection, not a two-day event.
Related concepts
- Kegan’s Subject-Object Theory, Made Practical
Moving from being run by your assumptions to being able to examine them
- Self-Authorship: Moving From the Socialized to the Self-Authored Mind
Kegan’s stages, subject-object moves, and authoring your own life
- Adaptive Leadership, Made Practical
Distinguishing adaptive challenges from technical problems — and leading accordingly
- Terri O’Fallon’s STAGES Model, Made Practical
Twelve stages built from three repeating questions, and how to work with the one you are in
- Zone of Proximal Development: Learning at Your Real Edge
Targeting the gap between what you can do alone and what you can do with guidance
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