Testing Hidden Assumptions

What this film is

An illustrated interpretation of Immunity to Change, the framework by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey. It is my reading of their work, not theirs. Clara is an illustrative example.

Four layers

• A goal she wants: “I want to let my team own its work.”
• A behaviour that blocks it: “Instead, I step in and solve it myself.”
• A competing commitment that protects her: “I am committed to not looking less capable than my team.”
• A big assumption that makes it all feel necessary: “My team follows me because I solve the hardest problems.”

The way out

Not pushing harder. Testing the assumption, one small, safe experiment at a time. The experiment is built to learn, not to fix: Safe, Modest, Action-oriented, Research-focused, Test-valid.

Where it comes from

Immunity to Change grows out of Robert Kegan's theory of adult development. We grow when something we were looking through becomes something we can look at. The lens in the film shows that move.

To go further

In clinical psychotherapy, Affect Phobia Therapy (Leigh McCullough) and Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (Habib Davanloo) describe a similar pattern: anxiety and defences keep a feeling out of reach. They come from a different tradition, psychodynamic rather than developmental. They are therapies, practised by trained clinicians, not a method to apply to oneself.

Sources

• Kegan, R. and Lahey, L. L., Immunity to Change, Harvard Business Press, 2009.
• Kegan, R. and Lahey, L. L., “The Real Reason People Won't Change”, Harvard Business Review, November 2001.
• Kegan, R., The Evolving Self, 1982; In Over Our Heads, 1994.
• McCullough, L. et al., Treating Affect Phobia, Guilford Press, 2003.
• Davanloo, H., Unlocking the Unconscious, Wiley, 1990.

SMART experiments: Minds at Work. Immunity to Change™ is a trademark of Minds at Work. This film is not affiliated with or endorsed by Minds at Work or the authors.