Vertical Development Model

Similar to the way a tree grows in distinct rings, people have the potential to grow over their lifetimes. But that growth is not a given. Adults don’t automatically grow and many do not. We need a certain set of factors to support our growth: considerable challenge, quality support that's up to the level of challenge, intrinsic desire or need (and perhaps, this next one is my current wondering, sufficient safety/connection to allow for growth).

Like a tree, we always have access to our earlier growth rings and without these we could not stand strong. As adults, at times, it’s useful to have the ability to choose to step into these earlier rings and view the world from there. For example, if you’re dealing with a difficult situation and with a person who seems to be seeing the world very differently, (e.g. perhaps they are focused on the “right” way, or keeping aligned with a power player), it can be a way of trying to better appreciate someone’s roadblocks and growth edges.

Why do we grow? To expand our capacity for seeing options and making choices, and to positively impact ourselves, our organisations, our communities. Especially in this increasingly complex and uncertain world.

When you're going on a journey it's really helpful to have a map. This illustration depicts part of one such map, and there are other, more detailed and bigger maps that offer navigational tools.

More Reading:

• Kegan's Cognitive-Developmental Theory: Kegan, R. (1994). In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

• From Global Leadership Associates, learn about the seven levels of Leadership Development: https://gla.global/the-glp-overview/

Genuine vertical development may beneifit from a trauma-informed approach. If you feel like you are 'missing something', like a missing tree ring, or have some kind of gap, missing files, or similar, this could very well be something worth exploring together. 

What do we need to be able to grow?

• There are several prerequisites to move from one stage of adult development onto the next. One of the key ones is discomfort which we have plenty of right now.

  Many people are facing ongoing and significant disruption, complexity and unpredictability. When we start to realise that their current way of operating is not working anymore, and the pain of their experience is worse than the perceived pain of change, we may look for more sophisticated and mature way of being and making sense.

  But growing is messy. It’s uncomfortable and it often makes us feel foolish (which is why we sometimes unconsciously try to avoid it). But feeling foolish, uncertain, irritable or just plain uncomfortable is an essential part of the process. No discomfort equals no growth.

  Jennifer Garvey Berger is a leading expert in this field.

  “I think the biggest obstacle to our growth is how scary it is to grow,” she says. “I have a sense that people stay the same until the idea of growing is less painful than the place that they’re in. Also, I think people grow because they kind of have to due to their circumstances. For most of us, there is a lot of loss that comes with growth, and as we imagine ourselves being different we have to let go of who we are today. This is very difficult as we get more and more attached to ourselves over time.”

  Another key ingredient in the adult development journey is ongoing reflection. When leaders and managers use coaches and other processes to help them make sense, then it helps them to see and navigate more complex and expanded worldviews. As John Dewey famously said: “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.”

  Exposure to a diverse range of perspectives is also important. Interactions with people who hold different worldviews and opinions, including interactions with people at later stages of vertical development, can help you progress and expand your own capacity.

  People also need support systems that provide ‘good company’ for the developmental journey. This includes developmental coaching and using vertical development tools and learning partnerships. (A metaphor could be creating fertile soil, in which we have a better chance of growing. A fertile soil too, gives us better capacity for weathering adverse conditions - think feedback as an example. If a relationship is strong (fertile soil), then difficult conversations may support healthier growth).

  The final component is personal impact. Does improving your vertical development matter to you? Do you want and need to improve? If it does not, an individual is unlikely (at a conscious or subconscious level) to risk the time, energy or discomfort that embarking on vertical development is likely to involve.

  References:

  • https://www.springleadership.com/insights/what-is-vertical-development

  • https://www.springleadership.com/insights/2021-spring-leadership-magazine

  • https://managemagazine.com/interview/interview-jennifer-garvey-berger-how-to-overcome-obstacles-adult-development/