Clarifying how the concepts of education, training and development are defined and perceived is one of the most crucial steps, when we think about raising the adults' training and development process effectiveness.

The adult development process is one of the “hottest” topics nowadays, therefore, it has been on the agenda of many researchers. But I find that one of the most interesting theories is developed by Robert Kegan, an American developmental psychologist. He points out that there are five distinct stages of adult development: impulsive mind, imperial mind, socialised mind, self-authoring mind, and self-transforming mind. Usually, people are in a transition between these stages, but, still, their level in this hierarchy depends on how well individuals are aware of some aspects of their life. (Kegan, R., Lahey, L., Immunity to change, Boston: HBR Press, 2009)

Understanding of moving between these stages is necessary, as it helps to understand another important concept – transformation. It’s changing the way we know and understand the world because, by reaching a higher level of development, we “make sense” of the world in more complex ways. In other words, we grow “bigger minds”. This idea makes sense. No doubts that Kegan has become one of the most recognized researchers and practitioners on how adults should develop and release their full potential in their lives and careers justly. Therefore, this article is mostly based on his ideas, which are preferable to take into account in building good adult training programs – programs that meet adults' learning and personal development expectations and needs.

Understanding of the people matters

It’s very crucial for all stakeholders who are involved in the training process, especially for the trainers, to understand the main aspects of the way adults are learning – why they learn and how they learn. And the first step is to clarify how the concepts of education, training and development are defined and perceived. On the one hand, it’s quite easy to give clear definitions for these concepts. On another side, we have to keep in mind that the translation of those three concepts mentioned above very often depends on the attitude and understanding of people involved in the training management processes, the training specialists and clients, affecting the quality of contents of effective training programs, appropriate training methodology, and the competence of trainers.

The concept of training is mostly considered as the process of developing specific skills or attitudes to enable an individual's ability to perform a given task or job. The concept of education is considered as a more general and long term activity and is connected with obtaining more theoretical knowledge. Because the main task of education is to provide people with a broader understanding of a range of different subjects and the basis for later training and development. But the concept of development … (Kegan, R., Lahey, L., An everyone culture – Becoming a deliberately developmental organisation, Boston: HBR Press, 2016)

The most widely used concept of development is more complicated to define as it involves all possible lifelong activities and processes of fulfilling an individual's potential. But the good news is that Kegan gives a powerful insight, how to unleash people’s potential by focusing on the continuous development of all employees to build successful organisations and individual careers in the 21st century.

Different people = different learning methods

As mentioned before, according to Kegan's theory, there are five stages of adult development, and the hierarchy of these stages matters as, by reaching higher levels of development, people grow “bigger in mind”. But, before we take a deeper look at them, I think it's the right time to remember about the leadership expert Nick Petrie. He argues that there are two different types of development: “horizontal” and “vertical”. Horizontal development refers to development of the new skills, abilities and behaviours, but vertical development – to the “stages” that people progress through in regard to how they make “sense” of their world. (White Paper, Future Trends in Leadership Development, 2013)

He also mentions that “a great deal of time has been spent on horizontal development (competencies), but very little time on vertical development (developmental stages). The methods for horizontal and vertical development are very different. Horizontal development can be “transmitted” (from an expert), but vertical development must be earned (for oneself)”. Nevertheless, the author suggests that it is important to develop people simultaneously in both – horizontal and vertical directions.

It’s obvious that Petrie's vision of the people's development is very close to Kegan’s vision. I would even say that, generally, they are talking about the same, but in different words.

Right motivation provides development

Let’s look closer to the description of the first two adult development stages defined by Kegan. The first stage is called “impulsive mind” and it relates to early childhood. The idea is that, even being adults, we have the knowledge which is gained in childhood (of course, it’s mostly related to the several aspects of our personal safety, but still). But the second or “imperial mind” stage relates to the age of adolescence because the emphasis on one’s own needs, interests and agendas is primary there. However, many adults never get past this stage. Experts estimate that we can speak about 6% of the adult population in this case, mostly: low-educated and low-skilled ones.

These two stages of adult development totally correspond to Petrie's horizontal development level because here we speak about the people who are not ready or don’t want to see the world in its complexity and choose the self-awareness path for further development. Therefore, they don’t have their own opinion and values system and are easy to manipulate.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that representatives of the first and the second adult development stages are not happy with their lives. They just are not aware about the benefits that moving to the next stages can provide them. Facing such trainees, the trainers' task (I would even say – “mission”) is to motivate them to develop their personality – to start their “journey” to the next personal development stages. This is the moment when we start to speak about Petrie's vertical development level.

To be clear – it doesn’t mean that they have to move straight to the fifth or “self-transforming mind” stage, which is almost “exclusive” (it is estimated that only 1% of the adult population qualify for it). Actually, it’s not possible to get there, by skipping the third and the fourth stage because people who represent this stage have very strong leadership skills. For example, they have their own ideology, but are able to step back from it and see it as limited or partial, if needed. Same, they can hold more contradiction and oppositeness in their thinking and no longer feel the need to gravitate towards polarised thinking.

According to Kegan's theory, the third or “socialised mind” stage of adult development, which is represented by more than a half or 58% of the adult population, is very optimal for representatives of the first two stages, as at this level people are shaped by the expectations of those around them. What they think and say is strongly influenced by what they think others want or would want to hear. But it should be noted that the main task of the individuals who have reached the fourth or “self-authoring mind” stage (it’s calculated that we are talking about the 35% of adults population) is to develop their own ideology or internal “compass”. Their sense of self is aligned with their own belief system, personal code, and values. They can take stands, set limits on behalf of their own internal “voice.”

Conclusions?!

To ensure the highest possible efficiency of the learning process, it is very crucial for every trainer to take into account these four aspects, when involved in adult training and development area:

• BE AWARE of the distinct stages of adult development, defined by Kegan, as it can help to understand yourself as a trainee and your trainees (actually, every human being around you) better.

• BE CLEAR about the definitions of such concepts as “training”, “education” and “development”, as it is important aspect in building successful training programs and selecting an appropriate training content and methodology.

• UNDERSTAND the basic factors of horizontal and vertical development.

• FOSTER self-awareness and learning about the changing ways of thinking to contribute a better understanding of the complexity of the world around us.

To gain a wider understanding of the five distinct stages of the adults development process, I would recommend trainers to supplement their professional reading list with these three books:

• Kegan R., Lahey L.L., “Immunity to change”, Boston: HBR Press, 2009

• Kegan R., “An everyone culture – Becoming a deliberately developmental organization”, Boston: HBR Press, 2016

• White Paper, “Future Trends in Leadership Development”, 2013