33 - Robert Kegan: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organisation
Jan 7, 2019
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Robert Kegan, a renowned Harvard psychologist and expert in adult development, discusses the urgent need for organizations to evolve into deliberately developmental environments. He critiques superficial coaching approaches and argues for embedding growth into daily operations. Kegan emphasizes the importance of supporting all employees' potential, not just the high performers, and explores how combining adult development with organizational practices can foster genuine growth cultures. Insights from innovative companies highlight actionable principles for transformation.
Deliberately developmental organizations (DDOs) integrate personal growth into daily activities, enabling all employees to work towards their fullest potential.
Fostering a growth culture with psychological safety encourages open communication, allowing employees to express vulnerabilities and enhance collaboration.
Deep dives
The Case for Deliberately Developmental Organizations
In the 21st century, organizations need to embrace the concept of deliberately developmental organizations (DDOs) to foster ongoing employee growth. Traditional development practices like executive coaching and off-site training often cater to just a small percentage of employees and occur infrequently, which limits overall effectiveness. By creating a growth culture, organizations can support every employee's potential instead of leaving 90-95% feeling excluded from development opportunities. DDOs emphasize the need to integrate development into daily work life, making personal growth an intrinsic part of the organizational culture.
Transforming the Work Environment
A growth culture creates an environment characterized by care and candor, facilitating open communication and accountability among team members. This approach contrasts with many organizations, where individuals often hide behind their professional facades, worried about maintaining favorable impressions. By fostering a safe space, employees can focus on supporting each other’s growth and acknowledge both strengths and weaknesses without fear of judgment. Companies like NextJump exemplify this principle, as they encourage employees to commit to both personal development and helping their colleagues improve.
Changing the Perspective on Talent
In a growth culture, talent is viewed as a fluid variable rather than a fixed attribute, encouraging continuous development for everyone involved. Instead of merely hiring for skills, leaders should focus on transforming their work environment into an incubator for talent, helping employees evolve into better versions of themselves. This perspective allows organizations to unlock the full potential of their workforce by recognizing that all individuals need ongoing support to enhance their capabilities. By doing so, employees can grow and adapt, ultimately contributing to the organization’s overall success.
The Importance of Psychological Safety
A significant challenge in typical organizations is that employees often spend time managing their public image rather than fully engaging in their work. By establishing psychological safety, companies allow employees to express vulnerabilities and take risks without fearing negative consequences. This type of culture enables individuals to work on their 'second job'—responsibly managing their reputation—more effectively within the context of their core roles. Embracing transparency and vulnerability can reduce self-protective behaviors while encouraging genuine contributions, leading to improved organizational performance.
"Our attempts to grow adults…..through executive coaching programs, mentoring and leadership programs are all happening for too few people, going on too far away from the organisation and happening too infrequently.” The above quote is from this podcasts guest Robert Kegan, renowned Harvard psychologist and author of some of our favourite books on development. He makes a passionate case of the need for a very different type of organisation. It’s time, Robert says, to create genuine growth cultures, where everyone, not only the high potentials, are engaged in growing to their fullest potential. This means going beyond the typical approach most companies take to people development, a sprinkling of elective coaching here and there and an offsite every three months if you’re lucky. This means no less than baking the growth of your people into the day-to-day activities of the company. Robert and his team spent time within companies that do exactly just that, what he calls deliberately developmental organisations. (including Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater) By tuning in you’ll hear the principles and practices that they use to remarkable effect. A list of resources mentioned in the podcast can be found here: https://www.coachesrising.com/podcast/becoming-a-deliberately-developmental-organization/
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