Blog

Are you a complex thinker, or interested in becoming one? – The world is in great need of such people. Otto Laske is a world expert on complex thinking. Since 2000, he has taught dialectical, meta-systemic thinking at the Interdevelopmental Institute (IDM), working with international groups of experts in their field and reflective practitioners generally, mostly consultants. Laske is continuing his teaching, starting the Spring of 2024. His teaching will focus on learning how to use DTF, the Dialectical Thought Form Framework (2000), recently broadly publicized by three books published by Springer under the title of “Advanced Systems Level Problem Solving (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-40332-3). Book #1 and #2 form the background to Book #3, the only existing Manual of Dialectical Thought Forms. Complex, dialectical thinking differs from logical thinking, abductive thinking, and conventional systemic thinking in that it is ‘meta-systemic’. Such thinking critically investigates the structure of one’s own thinking as articulated in real time (NOW), in whatever social venue and circumstances. As a result, Laske’s approach to teaching dialectical thinking is dialogical: people learn to listen deeply to each other and scrutinize the structure of their own thinking with the help of others, in the process becoming complex thinkers. Starting in... Read More...

In recent months, Otto Laske's work on human development has become more widely known on account of  CAD, the Center for Applied Dialectic directed by Bernhard Possert. In addition, Dr Iva Vurdelja has worked with film maker Mark Stanic on the film "Forging a Life", a documentary now available for distribution (http://vimeo.com/884507807; Password: Otto). The documentary traces Otto Laske's creative life in both the arts and sciences, showing how it lead to the creation of the Constructive Developmental Framework in 1998 to 2002. CDF takes a philosophical and empirical step beyond "developmental theory". It transitions from a stale and limited notion of development as social-emotional, based on R. Kegan's and Loevinger's work, to a much broader, philosophically grounded. dialogical epistemology, by including in developmental work  and thinking practices built on Laske's and his collegues' consulting, coaching, and team development work. In this more highly developed form, CDF links to philosophical traditions as well as new philosophical streams of thought as represented, e.g.,  by Roy Bhaskar's Dialectical Critical Realism and Gilbert Simondon's work on the philosophy of becoming as transduction (of which human development is a special case). From G. Simondon's vantage point, a theory of human development over the lifespan... Read More...

  Those interested in dialectical thinking will be pleased to know that Otto Laske's volume 2 of 'Measuring Hidden Dimensions'  of 2008 has been thoroughly revised and is in the process of becoming available again in the form of a three-part monograph under the title of this blog. The title does justice to the fact that the monograph has relevance far beyond applications in work contexts and is a must-read for systems thinkers venturing outside of the purely logical domain of intellectual endeavor. Since its first publication the scope of interest in complex thinking -- beyond the mechanics of using thought forms -- has broadened. Outside of being of interest to organizational thinkers, a broader, evolutionary, perspective , spearheaded by John Stewart and Lawrence Wollersheim, has emerged that centers on the planet's global crisis. These authors address two capital aspects of human flourishing: (a) self-evolution, and (b) meta-systemic wisdom the core of which is dialectical thinking (see https://www.evolutionarymanifesto.com/SpandaArticle.pdf, by John E. Stewart). Another target audience of the monograph comprises high-level systemic thinkers with an integral focus, whether they are active in think tanks, government, or intelligence agencies, as well as architects and artists whose work focuses on transformation. The three... Read More...

Volume 1 of 'Measuring Hidden Dimensions', on social-emotional development, first appeared in 2005 under the 'IDM Press' imprint. Its German translation was recently re-issued by Wolfgang Pabst Science Publisher, Germany, under the title of 'Humanpotenziale wecken, erkennen, und messen'. The translation into German is by Rainer v. Leoprechting who was one of the first to work  with the book in 2006 at the European Union. The reprint of the English original of the book is forthcoming from the same publisher. The French, Spanish, and Japanese translations of the work are still awaiting publication. See the publisher's announcement below, as well as a two German book reviews by Michael Habecker (written in 2012). Habecker illuminates the character of CDF by saying that it is "not a mere theory but a framework for becoming a developmental thinker and practitioner", -- a most apt characterization of my work. Neuerscheinung bei Wolfgang Pabst Science Publisher Habecker MHD Bd. 1 Rezension Habecker, Jenseits aktiven Zuhoerens Habecker ueberarbeitet OL Read More...

Interest in Constructive Developmental Framework is growing. Recently, we were invited to give an overview of CDF for members of the 'Entrepreneur Factory', Osaka, Japan. The attached set of slides is a new introduction to the historical sources of CDF, its main hypotheses, and the way it is used. How to become a user of CDF is also explained. Osaka Interviews 2022 version 5 Read More...

The topic of 'spirituality' has a huge literature. Empirical findings about it are rare. We looked at spirituality from an adult-developmental perspective and, using a semi-structured interview, came to some interesting conclusions. The interview is modeled after the social-emotional interview that is based on prompts. If you, the reader, find our conclusions to be of interest, let us know by writing to otto@interdevelopmentals.org. Perhaps you want to volunteer to be interviewed? Insights into Spirituality Read More...