Learning Vs Growth
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”, - asked Alice.
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to”, said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where—” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“—so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
- Lewis Caroll, Alice in Wonderland
The two human forces of learning and growth are often connected but are not the same. Learning (Horizontal Development) can be about acquiring a new skill or knowledge base. Growth (Vertical Development) requires some qualitative shift, not just in knowledge, but in perspective or way of thinking. Learning is about increasing our stores of knowledge in the form of our thinking that already exists (in-form-ation), but growing means we need to actually change the form itself (trans-form-ation).
The first time I came across the distinction between learning and growth, it was a shocking experience. I looked back and realized how my constant pursuit of learning and new experiences let me ignore the opportunities of growth. As if, I was constantly trying new types of food and after some time, they were all the same. While both learning and growth are important, pursuit of one over the other can lead to dissatisfaction for the individual and sub-optimal results for the organization. I am focusing this post on growth as it is difficult to understand and experience.
Modern organizations typically, offer two types of career ladders - technical or managerial. However there is something both these ladders are composed of - it is the ability to handle more uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. The rhythm of the movement of growth is about increasing our ability to see more of these in the world. We tend to measure growth with what’s externally visible - titles, levels, reporting structure etc. However, internal growth is hardly visible. Fortunately, thanks to the works of Prof. Robert Kegan and Prof. Lisa Lahey, there is a roadmap to understand adult human development. Leaders with different forms of mind will have different capacities to take the perspectives of others, to be self-directed, to generate and modify systems, to manage conflicts and to deal with paradoxes. Having the capacity to deal with complexity does not necessarily mean that the leader is a careful observer, has good interpersonal skills or even that the leader exercises good judgement in general. However, it does mean that the leader has the capacity to see more nuance and deal with paradox and ambiguity - and the capacity to be agile and responsive.
Theorists from centuries have named the distinction between subject (that which you cannot yet see because you are fused with it) and object (that which you can see and make decisions about because you have gained more distance from it). As our understanding move from subject (hidden) to object (seen), our world view becomes more developed. These forms of mind generally fall into identifiable, qualitatively different ways of making sense of the world as in the table below:
Whether you think about it or not, your own form of mind shapes your world and influences everything you see or think about. Why is this theory not common knowledge? Because it is complicated and mostly it has been useful only to people with the time and energy to study in academic circles. Growing is difficult work, it brings losses along with gains (as we lose who we once were in order to become who we will be next)
Understanding your own mind can help in multiple ways:
- Be more realistic with your expectations
- Understand what pushes your buttons and why
- Design ways that you might develop capacity for complexity in yourself and others
How to identify where someone is and how help people grow? Wait for another post!
References:
- Listen to Dr. Jennifer Garvey Berger speak on Adult development map
- Conversation on Adult Development between Vas Narasimhan and Jennifer Garvey Berger