Immunity to Change is a leadership framework based on the understanding that the mind, like the body, has an Immune System that regulates to protect us from the stresses of environmental shifts. In essence, the human mind not only filters information but is also the means for processing experiences and creating meaning. Like the Immune System, the mind invisibly conditions our behavior, keeping it as steady as possible.
Born at Harvard University, “The Immunity to Change” framework is the brainchild of Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey. The framework gives leaders across all fields and disciplines tools and practices to enhance the learning life of their initiatives. The framework helps people take a mental X-ray to show the hidden dynamics of the mind. By mapping out a mindset, we can understand how certain assumptions and habits lead to errors and distortions that do not let new, helpful ideas come in that could change our behavior.
Why is change so difficult?
Change is difficult because we can only see the whole picture with some work. People often hyperfocus on their behavior and become unaware of how they engage in change-averse dynamics. This behavior is often evident in professional environments.
Bearing this context in mind, leaders can call on two adaptation methods to ensure continuous learning and growth —
- Technical Skills: This is the most accessible need to identify and satisfy. It is usually something practical that does not require deep self-examination. For example, how do you apply for The Global Leaders Institute? There are steps and processes to follow that most people readily welcome to address the need. We are most open to learning technical skills in a professional environment.
- Adaptive Challenges: These are mindset challenges that can be individual and collective. They involve problems that are complex to solve since, more often than not, people are involved and contributing to them. An adaptive challenge example could be “How can I get along better with my sibling?” There is no easy answer because the problem has internal and external components. A “solution” requires internally challenging values, beliefs, and awareness of roles; externally, the “solution” requires experiments, discoveries, and reiterations… it could take a long time to find the right formula to achieve a goal that requires people to change their behavior for a greater good.
How can we be more open to change?
“Mindset transformation requires overcoming blind spots, unearthing our competing commitments, and freeing ourselves of limiting assumptions,” Kegan observes. Leadership today not only requires providing teams with opportunities to renew skills, but it also requires teams to attend to their development. According to authors Kegan and Laskow Lehany, the route to genuine growth increases human capability at work, helping leaders commit to renewing their existing talent.
By exploring and embracing the Immunity to Change framework, today’s arts leaders can learn to harness the power of the tool’s insights and overcome the natural protectionary mechanisms that limit our growth and the ability to support development around us.
Learn more about “Immunity to Change”
About Robert Kegan
Robert Kegan is an American developmental psychologist. He is a licensed psychologist and practicing therapist, lectures to professional and lay audiences, and consults in professional and organization development.
About Lisa Laskow Lahey
Lisa Laskow Lahey has specialized in identifying personal and organizational impediments to change. She has personally helped thousands of individuals and groups to unpack and understand these insights, and to ultimately break free of unproductive habits in order to achieve personal and professional goals.
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