Tag: cognitive Fluidity

Solving real world problems tests professionals’ present level of cognitive development. A good training ground for working on hard problems in teams is the Case Study Cohort Method (CSCM) developed at the Interdevelopmental Institute. The method consists of a having members of a team assessing an individual’s or team’s level of cognitive maturity debate the empirical evidence that speaks in favor of one or the other level of subjects’ cognitive flexibility. Although the material for the debate is “academic”, consisting of a transcription of a 1-hr cognitive interview, the opportunities for sharpening one’s use of dialectical thought forms is the same as in a real-world situation in which an individual or team is looking for solutions. In this paper, I describe both the method and show what it entails to learn to use dialectical thought forms, envisioning that such use could become a social practice with major benefits for solving global economic and political problems. (A reprint from Integral Review 11, no. 3, 2015). DTF as a Tool for Creating Integral Collaborations Read More...

This article describes a constructivist approach to coaching based on the Constructive Developmental Framework (CDF). Such coaching is evidence based, i.e., based on empirical assessments of coachees prior to actual coaching. Coaching plans are based on empirical findings about coachees' present frame of reference (the way they see the world), meant to guide them toward a more lucid understanding of themselves and their work, and toward more complex thinking. The article appeared in the International Review of Coaching Psychology, London, UK, in 2007, and is here reprinted because it helps behavioral coaches understand the limitations of their professional work. Contributions of Evidence Based Coaching 2007   Read More...

In this article, written in response to the 2nd ITC conference (2010), Nick Shannon outlined four main vantage points from which teachings at the Otto Laske Interdevelopmental Institute (IDM) elucidate and strengthen integral thinking: (1) upper left quadrant, (2) dialectical unfolding of concepts, (3) moving from contextual to transformation language, and (4) cognitive development and higher levels of consciousness. Shannon thought that in all of these regards, Otto Laske's teaching clarifies and advances integral thinking. To this day, the promise of this teaching, more recently reinforced by Bhaskar's dialectical writings (1990s), has remained largely unknown or unnoticed. We are reprinting N. Shannon's thoughts here to invite further engagement of integral practitioners with dialectic, a recent topic of Laske's book entitled "Dialectical thinking for integral leaders: A primer" (Integral Publishers, 2015). Shannon, What can IDM offer the Integral Movement   Read More...

Buchbesprechung Otto Laske, Dialectical Thinking For Integral Leaders: A Primer Integral Publishers, ISBN 978-0-9904419-9-1, 2015 (June) Zusammenfassung In dieser Buchbesprechung hebt Michael Habecker die wesentlichen Gedanken eines jeden Kapitels des obigen Buches heraus und schafft dadurch eine klare Zusammenfassung der Intentionen von Otto Laske. Michael Habecker Das neue Buch von Otto Laske, als eine Zusammenfassung seiner Arbeit zum dialektischen Denken, leistet Wesentliches zur Theorie und Praxis menschlichen Denkens als eines unserer wichtigsten Instrumente und Möglichkeiten zum Erkennen und Verstehen von uns selbst, anderen Menschen und der Welt als Ganzes. Es richtet sich im Titel an „integrale“ Führungspersonen und versteht sich in diesem Sinne als ein Angebot an diesem Personenkreis und an die integrale Theorie und Praxis als Ganzes. Dieser Primer fasst die Inhalte des Buches Measuring Hidden Dimensions: The Art and Science of Fully Engaging Adults Band 2 von Otto Laske zusammen, von dem es noch keine deutschsprachige Übersetzung gibt. Übersetzt ist jedoch der Band 1, Potenziale in Menschen erkennen, wecken und messen: Handbuch der entwicklungsorientierten Beratung, in dem es um die sozial emotionale Entwicklung des Menschen geht, welche der Autor klar von der Entwicklung dialektischen Denkens, als dem Gipfel erwachsenen kognitiven Denkens unterscheidet, um die es in dem Primer... Read More...

The Move into Irrealism and How to Counter-Act It By Otto Laske The signs of a mutation of human consciousness since 2000 are becoming more and more clear: The real world disappears behind subjective screens propped up by objective social forces seeking profit. What the profit is meant to be used for is less than clear, and one can fear that it will serve psychological immaturity. The fact that consciousness overlays “itself” with screens signals a shift in the relationship in which empirical, actual, and real world are seen. Ontology, almost forgotten, is clubbed over the head once more. The disdain for empirical data, long in coming, and visible in the denial of global warming as well as integral speculation, seems to gain a stronger and stronger foothold. In Twitter, the links to the network of screens become shorter, and what was already short, like attention, is further shortened. What are the social consequences of this trend? Piaget thought of adult development as an increasing move out of ego-centrism, that is, the focus on “my little personality”. This hypothesis, followed in empirical research into the evolving self, is still on target, but the people using it are no dialectical thinkers.... Read More...

5' Introductory video: Otto Laske on the transformative power of learning dialectical thinking Read More...