A Technical Approach to a Value-Centric Network of Listening & Hearing
Living and loving inquiry through the application of The Dynamic Inquiry System Skills (DISS) serves as a ‘guidance system,’ much like a GPS, for anyone in helping roles. This includes coaching, leading, managing, advising, selling, teaching, medicine, law, parenting, social and mental health, and customer service roles — essentially, anyone who needs to meet people where they are to inspire actionable behavior.
First Listen & Hear, then ASK!
The counter-intuitive aspect of inquiry is its reliance on listening and hearing capabilities. Without these, inquiry is unlikely to lead to actionable behavior that promotes learning, growth, and development.
Axiom 1
Most adult development theories acknowledge that people evolve through stages of meaning and sense-making, which can be described using the metaphor of VOLTAGE — an acronym for Vertical Complexity (Hierarchical), Oblique Complexity (transitional and adaptive), Lateral Complexity (Knowledge, Skills, and Experience), and Time Complexity (AGE or Maturity).
Axiom 2
Developmental stages are distinct enough that each stage, including transitions, possesses unique algorithms (ways of doing things) in specific densities (how we do things) and frequencies (how often we do things).
Understanding where individuals are within these stages — whether entering at the nodal point or exiting — helps in identifying their current position and what lies ahead.
The Importance of Betweenness
Given this framework, two main criteria emerge in inquiry:
- Is there a significant gap between the individual’s developmental position and the complexity of the problem or task concerning CCR (Culture, Conditions, and Requirements)?
- Are recognition and regulation sufficiently dense and frequent to produce robust outcomes?
Failing to understand someone’s position within a third of a stage (entering, nodal, or exiting) can lead to the misapplication of strategies and tactics, wasting valuable resources.
As they say in Nebraska, “It’s like trying to teach a pig to sing — it doesn’t work, and it annoys the pig!”
To use appropriately targeted inquiry over time, it’s crucial to assess the density and frequency (D&F) of verifiable data on the individual’s meaning and sense-making system, CCR, and other data points to cover present problems and opportunities.
Simplifying the Process
We aim to eliminate problems after investing in solutions. This approach is not just for psychology but for daily living.
“In psychology, meaning-making is the process of how persons construe, understand, or make sense of life events, relationships, and the self.” – Ignelzi
Real choice involves selecting the problems that will choose you.
The other significant aspect of transformative helping is understanding the direction and pace of development relative to what is required based on the individual’s development rate and the VOLTAGE at their current position within a specific CCR context. Is it robust enough to address the problems they face?
It costs resources to solve problems, so making them disappear is preferable.
Live – Love – Ask
Determining where people are and the pace they need to develop involves assessing their VOLTAGE — reflective of energy and information.
This ‘position and trajectory’ can be considered a ‘mode’ of oblique complexity.
For those familiar with Elliott Jaques’ Complexity of Information Processing (CIP), there are specific methods to identify an individual’s current position and extrapolate their mode.
They Went That A Way?
There are four developmental “dimensions” I label as directions using the GPS metaphor: Vertical, Oblique, Lateral, and Time (though often overlooked, try using a GPS without time).
Volume, Density & Frequency
Remember them with VOLT: Vertical, Oblique, Lateral, and Time — a “VOL” of “u” + “me.”
Subject + Object Relationships
There is always a subject and an object in any inquiry, even self-inquiry. In measuring VOLTAGE, the helper’s influence is always present.
Understanding the subject and object relationship in terms of position, direction, density, and frequency is crucial. People often work at a higher level when supported, and this dynamic must be considered.
Since everything can be reduced to energy and information, VOLTAGE is an apt metaphor for helping. Get the VOLTAGE right, and everything works.
Remember, these developmental dimensions are positions in spacetime, each with its own requirements, though interdevelopmental by nature.
Live – Love – Ask!
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Mike R Jay & Gary Gile
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