Category: Book Publication

  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...

Otto Laske’s contributions to social-science, process consultation, and the teaching of & mentoring in developmental and dialectical thinking and listening extend from 1999 to the present day. While his two books on ‘Measuring Hidden Dimensions’ are presently out of print, they are available in their newest edition under Publications () as pdf. In addition, almost all of his articles, keynotes, and teaching materials in English and German, as well as translations into Spanish and Italian, are found on this website under Blogs as downloadable pdfs (). Look for the Laske Social Science Archive No. I to VI of 2020, starting with . Materials in the six archives are organized in the form of thematic collections. Licensing of Laske’s teaching materials is available; so far, it has been adopted in Malaysia. The prominent topics in Laske’s writings are: Embedding of CDF, a social-science instrument, in Bhaskar's basic and dialectical critical realism. Adult development as comprising a social-emotional, cognitive and psychological dimension as irreducible to each other and intrinsically linked. Complex, dialectical, thinking as the peak of adult cognitive development, and its relevance in society today. Pedagogy of dialectical thinking (methodology of learning complex dialog), exercised, taught and certified at the Interdevelopmental... Read More...

As time elapses, research findings get updated, consolidated, and what was originally left out or stayed unseen is clarified. An example of this historical process is CDF, the Constructive Developmental Framework created by Otto Laske between 1999 and 2000. 25 years after Kohlberg School research began, CDF brought together what this research separated or left standing in isolation. CDF is a synthesis that connects all that this research brought to light about the human self. So far, the CDF synthesis has been treated as separate from, and other than, Kegan's, Basseches' and Fowler's research. The time has come to acknowledge that CDF transcends ideology, however well defended, and is a step beyond the original research of the Harvard School. Convince yourself by reading the actual texts that constitute CDF, which has three components: a refined version of Kegan's research on the social-emotional self a refined version of Basseches' research on the cognitive self, with inclusion of Roy Bhaskar's updating of the notion of adult cognitive development an integrated component regarding the psychological self as seen by Moris Aderman, student of Henry Murray's, called 'Need-Press' (see www.needpress.com). Texts on these components of CDF have been made available in pdf form found... Read More...

In this 2nd "inspiration session" regarding the book "Practices of Dynamic Collaboration", Jan De Visch and Otto Laske focus on what DTF, the Dialectical Thought Form Framework, can teach a person or group about enlarging and deepening their 'internal workplace' through thought-form based listening. Thought forms are shown to be more than simply conversation starters or analytical tools for understanding conversations. Their optimal use lies in real=time listening in a group or team environment. Thought forms are dynamic tools of dialogical thinking, in contrast to monological lists of patterns and text examples for grasping dialectic. The catch is: their use simultaneously teaches becoming aware of, and presupposes having become aware of, one's own dialectical movements-in-thought. In short: You have to like adventures. The set of slides below focus on team meetings (chapter 3 of the book) from the point of view of listening in real time; it teaches first steps in this direction made though text analysis of social-emotional and cognitive interviews. Inspiration Session 2 - August 19 2020 rev. OL   Read More...

Team collaboration has become a pivot of organizational success. If people had an intuitive awareness of the structure of their thinking, team work would be a lot more effective since a greater mutual understanding and decision making would prevail. Such an awareness being absent, what meta-cognitive strategies can we use to heighten such an awareness? As the book 'Practices of Dynamic Collaboration' shows, a very effective strategy consists of  intentionally listening and speaking based on dialectical 'thought forms'. Discover how the collaborative intelligence paradigm derived from Laske's Dialectical Thought Form Framework works when applied in five crucial organizational practices seen as dialogue practices. Sign up for partaking of introductory sessions on team dialogue practices at: Also view literature links at , Section A, and pertinent teaching materials in Section B. For IDM Services, go to https://interdevelopmentals.org/services/ Read More...