Inspired by “Change” at the Harvard Conference on Coaching in Medicine and Leadership I am co-director of a new Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School and in September we held our second Harvard Medical School Coaching in Medicine and Leadership Conference. We brought together international coaching leaders to share the theory, research, and science-based practices of coaching with healthcare professionals, executive/leadership coaches, and professional coaches in healthcare. The conference featured speakers from a variety of fields who inspired all of us to move forward vigorously our paths of development and growth so that we are more impactful in helping our coaching clients improve health, well-being, and performance.

Robert Kegan

Based on the wonderful response he received at the 2008 conference, Bob Kegan was invited back this year to present his “Immunity to Change” model in an experiential setting. The model challenged our assumptions and the impact those assumptions have on our lives.

First, Kegan asserts that those things that we complain about provide important clues to what we care about. In their book, How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work, Kegan and co-author Lisa Lahey explain, “Beneath the surface torrent of our complaining lies a hidden river of our caring; that which we most prize or to which we are most committed.”

In a four-part process, the first topic of exploration is “What are you committed to? When you are disgruntled, frustrated, scared, discouraged, and so on, what is the underlying commitment or value that is important to you?” Typical responses might be statements such as: “I am committed to honest and open communication” or “I value living each day as if it were my last.”

Next, we begin to question what we, ourselves, might be doing (or not doing, as the case may be) to prohibit that commitment from being realized. For example, if my commitment statement is “I am committed to honest and open communication,” I may also need to get real with myself about the fact that I want others to be honest with me, but that I don’t always speak up when I need to. Or, in response to “What am I doing or doing that prevents my commitment from being realized?” I might say “I don’t speak up when others are speaking ill of my co-workers.”

The third begins by first asking “What is at risk if I do the opposite of these behaviors? What if I did indeed honor my commitments and values fully?” For example, considering, “If I did choose to speak up when others are saying unkind things about my co-workers, what is the risk for me?” The next step is to take these fears and reframe them in order to name a second commitment. In other words, this second commitment would name what Kegan and Lahey call a “form of self-protection to which we are committed, and which competes with the commitment in the first column.” From the previous example, this second commitment might be stated as, “I value being a part of the ‘in-crowd’ and keeping quiet for the sake of harmony.”

Lastly, we get in touch with our “big assumptions” by reflecting on what we must believe is “true” in order for that competing commitment to make sense. We begin this fourth statement with the phrase, “I assume that if I didn’t engage in the third column behavior then…” In this case, one might say, “I assume that if I’m not part of the ‘in-crowd’ and don’t keep quiet for the sake of harmony, then I will be alone and no one will speak to me.” Or, another assumption might be: “I assume that if I’m not part of the ‘in-crowd’ and don’t keep quiet for the sake of harmony, I will not get promoted in a better position within the organization.”

Here we begin to see the trap we can begin to set for ourselves through our habitual ways of thinking. Especially because our big assumption so often names looming and negative consequences, it easy to see how these assumptions, when left unnamed, can control how we operate in the world.

Of course, Kegan and Lahey’s work goes much beyond this exercise to answer the question, “Now what?” I encourage you to check out either of their books which explore the topic of the Immunity to Change and to begin your own journey of uncovering big assumptions.

Tags: harvard medical school, healthcare professionals, leadership conference, professional coaches, Robert Kegan

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