Three Types of Mind I

As we grow and develop, our brain/mind changes the way in which it operates. Thanks to the neuroplasticity of the brain, we have the ability to adapt the way we view the world at any time during our lives. In his book, Immunity to Change, Robert Kegan points to two key findings about how we handle complexity from the research in this area. [Neuroplasticity: The natural ability of the brain to form new connections in order to compensate for injury or for changes in one’s environment.] First, the ability of adults to handle complexity generally increases with age, and second there are three developmental plateaus to mental complexity. Robert Kegan calls these plateaus the socialized mind, the self-authoring mind, and the self-transforming mind. Thesocialized mindis a dependent mind. The way a socialized mind responds to a situation or request is strongly influenced by what it believes others are expecting, and how it can meet its survival, relationship, and self-esteem needs. It operates from the lower three levels of personal consciousness. The socialized-mind prefers to be given instructions and told what to do. In this way, it is able to overcome its anxiety about being judged and about being able to meet its deficiency needs. Theself-authoring mindis an independent mind. The way a self-authoring mind responds to a situation or request is by feeding back to others what it needs to further its agenda. It is attempting to further its freedom and independence. The self-authoring mind perceives the world through its belief filters. It hears and sees what it wants to hear or see. What gets through the filters is the information it is looking for to support its plan. It corresponds to the transformation level of consciousness. The self-authoring mind wants to be accountable and take initiatives. It will readily accept challenges. It is the type of mind that is required for managerial or supervisory positions. Theself-transformingmindis an interdependent mind. The way a self-transforming mind responds to a situation or request is by seeking out more information to further its need to find meaning, make a difference, and be of service. It corresponds to the upper three levels of personal consciousness. The self-transforming mind is not a prisoner to its beliefs, agenda or position. It is able to witness itself. It is able to look at its own beliefs and ideas objectively, compare them with others, and integrate the best of what it sees into a more inclusive world view. Although people with self-transforming minds have a perspective on the world, they don’t view the world through it. It is there to guide them, but they are quite willing to compare how it stacks up to other world views and modify it if they find something better. This is a necessary and highly-prized quality for someone who is put in the position of leading others.