Tag: Bill Torbert

Expert

Experts no longer identify with what makes them the same as the group. Now they value their special, unique skills and what makes them stand out from the group.

The shift from Diplomat to Expert can come about as the Diplomat begins to realize that they can belong to more than one group, each of which has different values. It becomes more and more difficult to know which group has the “right” values.

Experts depend less on others’ judgments of quality, and more on their own standards. But they can do this to the extreme: “My way is the only way!”

Experts sometimes defiantly and stubbornly refuse to acknowledge any authority but their own, or their craft’s ” best practices” or their craft hero’s values. In other words, unless you are a recognized authority on the subject matter, your opinion will not be worth anything to the Expert. Feedback is only welcomed from acknowledged subject matter experts.

The Expert is often a perfectionist, and therefore not such a good team player. They may try to take on a whole project by themselves because they know they can do it better than anyone else.

The Expert sees things as black or white. So an Expert manager may praise a job well done (that is, done to the Expert’s own standards) and criticize anything not done the right way (that is, not done the Expert’s way!).

The Expert’s aim for perfection can take its toll though: stress can be high, and there may be difficult relationships with colleagues.

Distribution in managers

  • 19%-68% of managers are Experts. This percentage is higher in more junior managers, and lower in senor managers.

You’re likely to know lots of Experts!

A devlopmental model of human meaning making

As human beings, we develop throughout our lives, and we do so along several lines. Some examples of developmental lines are: intelligence, cognitive complexity, creativity, interpersonal relations, morality. A developmental model helps explain how genius can be cruel, how artists can be narcissistic: we develop along these lines independently.

The line I’m interested in is referred to as “ego development” or “action logic” or “meaning making”. Some people refer to it as the developmental line of cognitive complexity. The main model is the Leadership Development Framework,  developed by William Torbert and his associates at Harthill Consulting, who expanded on original research by Jane Loevinger. I use the terms action logic, meaning making, developmental level, stage interchangeably.

This model explains a lot about how people develop and mature in the way that they observe the world and draw conclusions, what they notice, what they value, and how they make meaning of the world they live in.

Understanding this model can be instrumental in supporting staff to perform well in their jobs and in achieving personal satisfaction at work. Understanding this model can also help one to live a happier life: as someone said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

We develop through well-defined (and well-researched) stages throughout our lives. We pass through the stages in order, not skipping stages. We experience each stage in three possible ways:

  1. A peak experience gives us a brief and tantalizing glimpse of a later stage action logic. These peak experiences are exciting, can be life-altering and we recall and talk about them for a long time.
  2. When under stress, we regress to an earlier action logic, where we may feel more in control, or safer. Once the stress passes, or is managed adequately, we return to the action logic that is our ground of being.
  3. Our ground of being is the developmental level, or stage, or action logic, where we usually dwell. This can be determined by a professionally validated assessment, such as the Leadership Development Profile.

In future posts, I’m going to write about each of the 7 main action logics we encounter in the adult world.

There are earlier levels than Opportunist, but most of us pass through those as children.

There are later levels than Alchemist, but few adults reach these later stages.

So we won’t look at those here.