Nollind Whachell

This is an awesome introductory video explaining the basics of vertical development by Ryan Gottfredson (which I believe I may have shared before, as it looks familiar).

Main Points

In reflecting upon the video, did you catch the following?

The difference between horizontal and vertical development is the difference between doing and being.

Vertical development helps us to embrace the challenges of life by elevating our mental maturity so that we can make meaning of our world in much more complex ways.

Vertical development is a part of developmental psychology which has been around since the 1880s.

Whereas developmental psychology often focuses on child development through predictable stages of development, vertical development focuses on adult development through more mature stages of development.

However most adults do not develop in adulthood. That’s because adult development is not based upon age but rather effort.

Mind 1.0 embodies safety, comfort, and belonging and encompasses 64% of adults and 7% of executives.

Mind 2.0 embodies standing out, advancing, and getting ahead and encompasses 36% of adults and 85% of executives.

Mind 3.0 embodies contributing, adding value, and lifting others and encompasses 1% of adults and 8% of executives.

Since people can operate at different levels at different times, your center of gravity is where you spend most of your time operating from.

Robert Kegan’s Minds

Now for those who might be aware of Robert Kegan’s work, here’s how it aligns.

Mind 1.0 = Socialized Mind

Mind 2.0 = Self-Authoring Mind

Mind 3.0 = Self-Transforming Mind

Richard Barrett’s Stages of Development & Levels of Consciousness

For those aware of Richard Barrett’s values-based work and how it fleshes out and provides greater detail of Robert Kegan’s minds, here’s how it aligns.

Mind 1.0 = Socialized Mind = Stages / Levels 1, 2, 3

Mind 2.0 = Self-Authoring Mind = Stages / Levels 4, 5

Mind 3.0 = Self-Transforming Mind = Stages / Levels 6, 7

What Richard Barrett does is differentiate stages from levels. While you can achieve stages, your level is what you are currently or primarily operating at. For example, you may have achieve stage 4 and thus level 4. But if you lose your job, you will immediately drop down to level 1 temporarily until you can gain employment once again, even though you’ve still achieved stage 4.

In terms of myself, I’m transitioning between Mind 2.0 and Mind 3.0, as per the video, or between a Self-Authoring Mind and Self-Transforming Mind as per Robert Kegan’s work. From Richard Barrett’s work, I’m transitioning between stage 5 and stage 6 but I have not achieve stage 5 yet. In terms of my level, I have brief moments at level 6 but I mainly operate at level 5 and occasionally drop to level 3 or 4 when I’m feeling down temporarily.

What you will notice is that the more mature your stage of development, the less time you will spend at lower levels of consciousness when you drop down to them. For example, a decade ago, I would drop to lower levels and could spend days, weeks, or even months completely dejected about my life. Nowadays, this time span is just reduced to hours within a day or a few days at worst.

Different Perspectives, Greater Understanding

To state the obvious here, all of these different ways of perceiving growth and development as an adult can feel confusing at first because so many different people have been working on it over the years.

But one thing I’ve realized above all is that looking at something from multiple perspective is the best way to understand it, as this embodies a Mind 3.0 perspective naturally. In effect, it’s like walking virtually around something unknown and understanding it from different angles, so as to make it known.

From a creativity perspective, it is shifting from looking at life as this OR that (i.e. black or white) and looking at life as this AND that (i.e. a spectrum of colours).

In reflecting upon my recent realization, I’m also now understanding why Dave Gray back in 2018 only wanted people who understood their life purpose (and could document it) to join his School of the Possible.

In effect, he only wanted people who had actually experienced the journey of levelling up their level of consciousness because articulating this to someone who hasn’t experienced it is effectively next to impossible.

It would be like asking someone to see something that is invisible to them.

But what I just realized about this is that the experience of it is not enough.

You need a common language with which to communicate with each other by, so that you can actually articulate and put into words what you are experiencing as you progress further on your journey.

And if you don’t have this common language then everyone communicates with different words that have different meaning for them.

So you effectively get a Tower of Babel experience whereby people are speaking words that someone might “know” but with which they don’t understand the deeper meaning behind the words.

For example, someone might say their journey has been like growing a garden. So they use terminology that someone who is familiar with gardening might know. But again what these words mean from that person’s perspective won’t be understood by others (even those familiar with gardening) unless that person explains their deeper meaning.

Now imagine twenty people in a video call all talking about their growth and development experiences but each using their own metaphorical language to explain them.

It would quickly become quite confusing for most people.

This is why a common language is needed.

And this is why I believe vertical development is that common language because it gives you words that can help you express the psychological journey across the inner terrain you are experiencing within your “self.”

I no longer want to try to explain who I am or what I’m seeing to anyone anymore…unless they are on the same journey and understand the basic language of it.

Nollind Whachell

So when reflecting upon what I said above, I obviously do need to explain who I am and what my purpose is in plain English as much as possible, so that it can potentially resonate with others.

But after that, I would need to highlight and communicate the language I’m using to express my purpose which would be vertical development.

And I would need to help people understand that unless they want to learn this common language of growth and development, I won’t be able to communicate with them, share my journey, or even help them on their own journey.

Again this common language is essential for understanding this psychologically inner journey.

And only after I have communicated all that, can I share my own metaphorical language which is just an extension of the vertical development language.

But obviously the person would have to understand the basics of vertical development first because my own metaphorical language and framework for life (i.e. Life’s a Role-Playing Game) is scaffolded on top of it.

So all that said, I’m totally fine if people don’t get my metaphorical language at first but I want to work and collaborate with people who understand the common language of vertical development at least.

That is essential for collaboration and shared growth amongst us.

This is the experience of most people on the planet. They find it difficult to meet their survival, safety and security needs. Consequently, like my father, they never get the opportunity to explore the fourth stage of their psychological development; they never get to individuate.

Let’s assume that you are a young adult, in your mid-twenties or early thirties, and you are fortunate enough to live in a nation where you can get your survival, safety and security needs met. You will now want to find freedom and autonomy to become independent and accountable for your life; to adopt the values and beliefs that are meaningful to you, rather than the values and beliefs of your parents or the community in which you were raised. You will want to individuate.

If you are successful, and you can also meet your survival, safety and security needs, then you will feel a sense of well-being. If you are successful at individuating, but for whatever reason you are no longer able to meet your survival, safety or security needs, then you will not feel a sense of well-being.

The contrary is also true; if you can meet your survival, safety and security needs but cannot meet your individuating needs, you will not feel a sense of well-being. This was the situation that precipitated the Arab Spring.

Young adults from the Arab nations of North Africa and the Middle East had studied abroad and come home to relatively high-paying private sector jobs that allowed them to meet their survival, safety and security needs. They now wanted the freedom to explore their own values and beliefs; they wanted to individuate. Unfortunately, they came up against authoritarian regimes that were operating from a lower stage of development. Although they demonstrated over several weeks, their needs were not recognized. Many of these people left their respective countries because they were being prevented from growing and developing. They could only find well-being by settling in a country that was operating from a higher stage of development that allowed them to individuate.

Richard Barrett, Worldview Dynamics and the Well Being of Nations

I wanted to highlight this important quote because it touches upon what I experienced myself. Not in terms of wanting to move to another country but wanting to move to another company.

Simply put, I couldn’t find a conducive organizational setting that would align with where I wanted to grow and development.

So even though my survival, safety, and security needs where being met by having a job within a company, my growth needs were not being met because many of the leaders within these companies I worked for often operated from at a lower stage of development than me.

What this created was a continual catch-22 situation whereby I would need to fulfil my survival, safety, and security needs, so I would get a job. But then after being in the job for six months to a year, I found I couldn’t really express myself and grow within it because management operated from a lower of stage of development than me. This caused me to eventually quit in frustration and start back at square one, needing to get a job again to meet my survival, safety, and security needs.

For many people in the United States right now, who are operating from a higher stage of development, they are probably feeling the same way about living within the United States and having a president who is operating from a lower stage of development. They probably are feeling like they want to leave the country and go to another country where the leader is operating at a higher stage of development.

I’m tired of this.

I’m tired of continually beating myself up and asking myself, “What’s wrong with me?”

Yes, everyone probably does this everyday but let me explain the context of why I do this.

I beat myself up and wonder what’s wrong with me…when I’m able to perceive and understand something that apparently not many others can perceive and understand.

So because I can perceive something that others seem perceptually blind to, I label myself as a freak or an oddity, effectively seeing myself as an outcast.

Yet I’m tired of this.

Like last night, I started reading Richard Barrett’s book Worldview Dynamics and the Well Being of Nations.

And when I did, it felt like both returning home and returning to an exciting adventure that I’ve been on at the same time.

Like I just get “it” and “it” gets me.

And this doesn’t feel like work, it feels like play—glorious, adventurous play.

That’s it.

That’s all I wanted to say.

I’m tired of beating myself up about a potentiality of myself that makes me feel wondrously alive.

Actually no, I think there’s more.

I think what I want is to find my “tribe.” In effect, find the same kind of people who are able to perceive what I can perceive.

And it’s not like this is impossible because I know there are many people who value Richard Barrett’s work.

So if I had to describe what I’m seeking and need, it’s to find a community of people who are fully aware of vertical development and are sharing their own journeys and perspectives of it.

I guess the other thing I want to say is this.

I realize what I’m experiencing and communicating is monumentally challenging for people to grasp but I’ve done the journey myself.

I’ve crossed the inner terrain, expanded my worldview, and have learnt the language of the people of this realm, so anyone else can.

They just have to be willing to undertake the journey.

All the knowledge is out there, freely accessible on the Web, they just have to have a desire and resonance to read it.

No matter what I say, I can’t force someone to start that journey.

They have to want to start it themselves.

But when they’re on the journey, seriously on it, and want to understand the language of these different realms, then I’d be happy to help translate and help them understand the characteristics of these stages of psychological development.

But they have to understand the basic terminology of this space first. Until they do that, I can’t help them because they won’t understand my language.

They have to want to step beyond the horizon of their current mind and explore into an unknown space.

And ya, it’s scary as hell to do but there are people doing it everyday.

All I want to do is connect these people up and help them realize that they are all on the same journey of growth and development and not alone.

That’s it.

I no longer want to try to explain who I am or what I’m seeing to anyone anymore…unless they are on the same journey and understand the basic language of it.

In doing so, I think I’ll finally just be able to accept myself as I am, instead of continually beating myself up for having a potentially beyond others.

Somehow I think this is an essential step I have to take if I want to step beyond a Self-Authoring Mind and stabilize myself with a Self-Transforming Mind.

I have to fully accept who I am at all levels of my being.

Microsoft AI CEO says cash will be replaced by intelligence as new currency in the AI era

Microsoft’s AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman claims AI will eradicate the need for hard cash, making intelligence the new currency.

https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/microsofts-ai-ceo-mustafa-suleyman-says-we-wont-need-hard-dollars-in-the-ai-era-intelligence-will-be-the-new-currency

We’re taking this intelligence, the thing that has made us successful as a species, this ability to predict in complicated environments and take this action. We’re making it cheap and basically abundant. And in a way, that’s kind of like providing you with a team of support around you to help execute on your idea.

Mustafa Suleyman

This statement is typical for a CEO in the business world but it completely misses the bigger picture and bigger problem.

Intelligence is not the limiter in executing ideas.

You, your “self,” are the limiter.

In effect, people are striving to express their ideas everyday. They can write them out succinctly in a short tweet or in more detail in a larger blog post.

The problem they have isn’t writing their ideas out.

Their problem is pressing the button at the end to share the ideas they’ve just written out.

In effect, if you’re afraid and fearful of publicly expressing and sharing your ideas, good luck in trying to actually execute on them.

I said this years back, that people have very little fear in trying something new. What they have fear in is sharing something new that they’re exploring.

Intelligence is not the limiter.

Our existing sense of “self” is the limiter.

This is what vertical development, as an embodiment of psychological growth and development, is all about.

It’s about creatively getting out of your own way by letting go of your old sense of “self” so that your larger sense of Self can emerge.

This is embodied by the shift beyond a Self-Authoring Mind, whereby it needs to let go of knowledge as being the be-all and end-all, so that the person can let go of trying to be an “expert” of knowledge and instead transition to being an “expert” of knowing themselves.

That’s where true wisdom lies.

Adam Grant Shared 1 Crystal-Clear Way You Can Master Your Self-Leadership

Wharton professor Adam Grant paints a great picture of how to lead yourself better.

https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/adam-grant-shared-1-crystal-clear-way-you-can-master-your-self-leadership/91176447

If you’re like most people, you waste a lot of time and energy trying to control things that aren’t ours to control: people’s opinions, behaviors, reactions. The irony? The more you try to manage what’s outside of you, the less effective you become at leading yourself.

At the center were the things in your control:

• The way you respond to people and situations
• The people you choose to spend time with
• The way you communicate and speak to others
• Your attitude and your boundaries
• The way you treat others

Everything outside that circle? Stuff you often fixate on but can’t change: other people’s behaviors, the past/the future, outcomes, external events, and even what others say about you.

This mirrors an awesome speech by Pema Chödrön about This Lousy World. Within it she describes how most of us are often frustrated with the world around us and wish we could change the entire world to make it better. She describes the analogy like wanting to cover the world with leather so our bare feet will no longer experience pain. Of course, she explains, why not just make sandals out of leather to cover your own feet?

This is a core message about growth and development. It’s not about forcing someone else to change but about changing yourself (ie. “Be the change you wish to see in the world”).

This also embodies Joseph Campbell’s Hero Journey as a metaphorical embodiment of our inner psychological growth and development. In effect, by undergoing this inner journey, we are able to not only transform the way we perceive ourselves but the way we perceive the world around us, as the two are entwined as our worldview. Thus by transforming ourselves internally, we are actually transforming and changing our world externally.