Immunity to Change 

How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in

Yourself and Your Organization

 

by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey

Copyright 2009 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation

 

Key points:

• Rather than hitting a plateau once they’re adults, people can continue to transform throughout their lives.

• “Mental complexity” evolves in three stages: “the socialized mind, the selfauthoring mind and the self-transforming mind.”

• People can move from one stage to the next when an emotionally significant experience makes them “feel the limits” of their relationship to the world.

• People may want to change, but fail because they sabotage themselves.

• Identify the actions you’re taking that hinder your ability to change.

• Recognize your “hidden competing commitments” that work against change.

• Determine what your assumptions are about the world.

• Design tests that enable you to gather data about whether your assumptions are valid.

• Groups often fail to change for the same reasons as individuals and can use the same techniques.

• Leaders can help their firms change by assuming a need for ongoing growth, understanding the growth process and providing a safe environment for chang

 

Leading for Change

As a leader, help your organization by taking these steps:

• Take “a developmental stance” toward your corporate culture – Don’t stop with specific changes; assume the need and possibility of ongoing transformation on both the individual and organizational levels.

• Identify “technical and adaptive learning agendas” – Sometimes, your people will need to learn fresh skills, such as using new software. However, to address the ongoing challenges of social and economic change, they will need to adapt, and

transform how they see the world.

• Understand that people genuinely want to grow – Focus on helping them grow continuously, rather than just in brief bursts in trainings or on retreats. Encourage each member of your organization to find a “good problem” on which to work.

 

Genuine transformation takes time and it doesn’t happen at a steady or predictable pace. It involves both the internal and the external: Behavior changes minds, and minds change behavior.