Much of my perspective on my work comes from developmental frameworks. I tend to see that individuals and groups grow and develop in recognizable patterns. While each individual and group is unique, the various stages of its growth and maturation have certain characteristics. Like other groups, research shows that families develop progressive mindsets or stages. Understanding the dynamics of these mindsets is critical to a family’s core capacity to adapt and survive as a family group. It can be said that the effectiveness of the family in its own relationships with one another and with the world is actually constrained by its collective mindset. Moving into higher stages of family development thus becomes critical for long-term family success.
In our work, we typically see families “upshifting” through five basic mindsets or “gears of development.” These shifts are often a function of greater competency and deeper alignment. These developmental shifts become path of a particular kind of evolution that allows families to sustain inter-generational success. This success, which is broadly defined to be more than merely financial, sets the stage for the collective family and individual family members to create much deeper forms of significance and connection. These become platforms for ensuring deeper levels of success across generations. In the coming entries, we will look at the five mindsets in greater detail.
Questions:
1. What mindsets to do you see the families that are successful across generations?
2. In your experience, what causes families to “upshift” to higher forms of functioning?
— September 20, 2010