Seven Habits Grounding in the Maturity Continuum:Opportunities for WSU and the Winona Community

Seven Habits Grounding in the Maturity Continuum:Opportunities for WSU and the Winona Community

4th Draft 2/10/03 by R. Schenkat, WinonaCouncil for Quality Director

Introduction

Winona State University has a huge commitment to the ideas embraced in Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. According to Dr. Darrell Krueger, “literally hundreds of WSU employees have taken part in seminars focused on Covey material. Dr. Covey’s teachings are based on timeless, unchanging principles that are in effect at all times around us whether we know it or not”.

As a community member, I’ve been invited to participate in Covey trainings sponsored by Winona State over the years. Through my work with the Winona Council for Quality, I worked with Gary Evans(VP for Development) in 1992 to coordinate the first community offering of the Seven Habits by Royce and Eric Krueger and was subsequently trained with WSU staff as a Covey Trainer. I accompanied Dr. Krueger to La Crosse, in bringing Stephen Covey to a packed Somsen Hall for his community address. In that short ride in the fall of 1992, I didn’t have the chance to reconcile some of my understanding of adult development theory with Seven Habits ideas. I’ve been dogged by questions regarding this reconciliation for over a decade and have recently made some attempted resolution that may have interest to WSU faculty.

Some clues have come from my friendship and intellectual relationship with Craig Pace, WSU’s senior Covey trainer. We’ve had many long conversations over extended dinners in the last year. Also, I made some links in going back and rereading a book called “The Modern American College” by Arthur Chickering, promulgator of the “Seven Principles for Good Undergraduate Education” which are central to teaching and learning at WSU. The book which I’ve owned and returned to many times since 1980 triggered the connection with another chapter by Chickering from 1976 entitled, “Development Change as a Major Outcome” in Experiential Learning by Morris Keeton( LB 2381.K43). That chapter has been a gold mine and has prompted several email exchanges with Dr. Chickering.

Without further ado, I’ll share some of these connections and new understandings.

Maturity Continuum

Central in the Seven Habits is the notion of the Maturity Continuum and the movement from dependence to independence and interdependence. A corollary notion is that private victories must proceed public victories.

I’ve come to find in visiting with Craig Pace that Covey obtained a Masters in Organizational Behavior from Harvard in the 1970’s doing research on leadership which went on to set the foundation for the Seven Habits. I believe in 1970, Chris Argyris came to Harvard after his career’s first two decades at Yale. Argyris developed the concept of the immaturity to maturity continuum which was extensively described in Hershey and Blanchard’s classic-“Management of Organizational Behavior” first published in 1969. It’s a good guess that this was the source of Covey’s idea. However, what’s different about Argyris’ continuum is that is covers many dimensions not just the dependence dimension.

Several other elements change as a person moves from immaturity to maturity. These elements are from: passive to active, behave in few ways to capable of behaving in many ways, erratic shallow interests to deep and strong interests, short time perspective to long time perspective(past and future), subordinate position to equal or super ordinate position, and lack of awareness of self to awareness and control over self. These dimensions are revealed in Appendix 1.

I’d assert that Covey is on the right track but simplifies the Maturity continuum from the many dimensions of Argryis and Schon. I think we don’t think of maturity in this more involved way in our common culture. We think of kids getting mature, but we don’t often think of these elements of maturity as developing aspects of an adult person. We might say this or that person is acting immaturely or in a childish fashion. But we don’t say someone is immature because they only take a short time perspective or have shallow interests.

Chickering made a connection for me in the chapter he wrote in 1976 that linked two areas I’ve thought about much but somewhat separately over the last 25 years.

Argyris and his colleague Donald Schon for years have written about Model 1 and Model 2 behavior. This is briefly summarized in the next two paragraphs( and also represented in Appendix # 2) .

In Model 1, interpersonal relationships are goal oriented toward maximizing winning and minimizing losing, with strong emphasis on rationality and minimal open expression of negative feelings. Relationships tend to be characterized by persuasion, stereotyping, intellectualizing, suppression of feelings and information, competition, manipulation, and outward conformity with limited internal commitment.

In Model 2, the emphasis is on creating valid information so that internal commitment to free and informed choices can occur, and so that actions can be openly and continuously monitored. Interpersonal relationships call for initiative, collaboration, direct observations, attention to one’s own biases and inconsistencies, minimal defensiveness, trust and respect for individuality, and open confrontation on difficult issues.

Chickering connected Model 1 and 2 with the Maturity Continuum suggesting that they represent spans on the continuum with the Model 2 behavior at the more mature end of the maturity continuum. This was an eye opener for me as I’ve had a hard time imagining these two models and now I see them related to maturity. But then Chickering made another connection. He linked Argryis and Schon’s Model 1 and Model 2 with the developmental psychology literature- especially the work of Jane Loevinger on ego development. So, where as Covey has reduced it to the dimension of dependence to interdependence, and Arygris has 7 elements in his continuum, Loevinger devoted her life to study of ego development( in a nutshell, the patterns of thinking and feeling about oneself, other, authority, ethics, knowledge, and the central concerns that hold life together) . She has published extensively in this area.

This got me back to rereading Lovinger and her seminal book- Ego Development. She sets out a chart that delineates the potential growth of a person in becoming more fully human(see Appendix # 3 ) .

Connecting Seven Habits to Maturity Continuum

On the Loevinger chart , I have super imposed two additions. One, along the left edge I’ve inserted the Maturity Continuum from Low to High to call attention to the fact that both Argyris and Covey are distillations of the aspects of maturity that Loevinger has set out. Two, I’ve inserted my best guess about the placement of the Seven Habits based on Loevinger’s descriptions. Below, I will connect each of the habits to a more textual description by Loevinger.

Habit 1-Be Proactive

At the Conscientious Stage in the Impulse Control Column, Character Development column the Chart indicates—“Self-evaluated standards, self-criticism, guilt for consequences, long term goals”. In the chapter narrative regarding the chart, Loevinger continues “one sees oneself as the origin of one’s own destiny with a sense of choice not being a pawn”. This sounds like Habit 1 Be Proactive.

Habit 2 Begin with the End in Mind

At the Conscientious Stage in the Impulse Control Column, Character Development column the Chart indicates—“Long Term goals with self evaluated standards” In the chapter narrative regarding this chart, Loevinger, continues “contributing to this more mature conscience are the longer time perspectives and the tendency to look at things in a broader context socially. One aspires to achievement rather than seeing work as onerous. Achievement is judged by own one’s standards and not by recognition or competitive advantage”. This sounds like Habit 2 Begin with the End in Mind

Habit 3 First Things First

At the Integrated Stage in Conscious Preoccupations Column, the Chart indicates—“role conception and self in social context”. ” In the chapter narrative regarding this chart, Loevinger, continues noting role conception is seeing how one functions differently in different roles and requirements. This seems to be said in a different way in seeing self in social context. Both aspects seem to call for the self awareness of prioritizing how one spends time in different roles and the significance of those roles to the broader ends in mind.

This sounds like Habit 3 First Things First.

Habit 4 Win/Win

From the Autonomous Stage in the Impulse Control Column, Character Development column the chapter narrative states, “ finally realize conflict is an inherent part of the human condition. Don’t have more conflict, but have courage to address and deal with rather than ignoring it(denial) or projecting it out to the environment.”. This sounds like a foundation to Habit 4 Win/Win. Without this sense of conflict too much energy is put into blame.

Habit 5 Seek to Understand Before Understood

At the Conscientious Stage in the Interpersonal Style column, the Chart indicates –“intensive, responsible,mutual, concern for communication. ” In the chapter narrative regarding this chart, Loevinger, continues “understand others’ views, mutuality in interpersonal relationships becomes possible. The ability to see matters from other people’s view is the connecting link between deeper interpersonal relationships and more mature conscience.” This sounds like Habit 5 Seek to Understand Before Understood

Habit 6 Synergize

At the Autonomous Stage in the Cognitive Column, the Chart indicates-“increased conceptual complexity, complex patterns, toleration for ambiguity”. ” In the chapter narrative regarding this chart, Loevinger, continues “unite and integrate ideas that appeared incompatible earlier. Rather than dealing in polarities as more typical of the conscientious stage, sees now as complex and multifacted and can transcend”. This sounds like Habit 6 Synergize.

Habit 7 Sharpen the Saw

From the Autonomous Stage in the Impulse Control Column, Character Development column the chapter narrative states “takes a broad view of life as a whole, have an interest in development”. This sounds like a focus on a balanced approach to personal continual improvement or Habit 7 Sharpen the Saw.

Potential Implications of Seven Habits Maturity Continuum Placement for WSU

So why is rationalizing placement of the Seven Habits on the Loevinger Chart important?

The following section see the Habits more richly, uses the continuum to understand student motives, posits a cross disciplinary aligning based on the continuum, and links the continuum to cognitive development, learning communities, and systemic barriers that can mitigate maturity.

The Seven Habits are not just a collection of skills to be learned to be turned into habits by practice. They are rather, markers of maturity—outcomes if you will. If we bisect the Loevinger Chart all the Habits appear in the bottom half. If we look at the top half we get an idea of where undergraduates often reside in their approaches to college life. From Loevinger’s Chart and narrative the following descriptors about less mature behaviors arise:

-seeing the world in conceptual simplicity, stereotypes, and cliches(viewing the situation and people as conceptually simple admitting to few exceptions)

-there are rules; don’t get caught. There is little self criticism with more likely blame of the other with a sense of opportunistic hedonism

-the inner life is seen in simple terms: such as happy- sad, joy –sorrow.

-belonging helps feel secure

-tend to perceive self and others conforming to socially approved norms while observing group difference, but insensitive to individual differences. Sees nationality, sex, age but sees everyone in a group as alike and people are what ought to be which is what’s socially approved

The move from dependence to independence to interdependence on the maturity continuum is at the core of a college education. Transcending what is “learned” in the major area is a quality of being that distinguishes one as college educated. In fact, much of what is learned and how it is learned in a college setting has the probability of moving one on the maturity continuum. There’s much research on this type of change in college students and most of it isn’t very encouraging. The more faculty are aligned around the importance of movement on the maturity continuum the more likely this complex change in students will take place.

In Chickering’s chapter, which I extolled earlier regarding the connections created for me, he does a superb job in conveying how the traditional academic disciplines can foster movement on the maturity continuum. I’ll include a few teasers.

Philosophy--Take truth seriously; set aside your self; penetrate your prejudices; distinguish between what is right and what you like; use care with language; define your terms; abide by publicly stated rules; subject your views to public criticism.

Literature-- characters display motives and emotions; they reveal values, attitudes, and belief systems with the reasoning processes, prides, and prejudices that lie behind. Literature gives us these characters in a context. Put literature against personal experiences- who are Willie Lomans where I work(what’s their social context)? What is the novel in what I’ve lived so far and continue to create?

History - a record of persons who must make absolute decisions in the face of pluralistic values, with relativistic and contingent information. Each individual is both constrained and freed by the actions of others and by the sequence he or she creates through living.

Science. Rules of evidence and methodological constraints (screen out subjectivity) and try to control our biases—yet scientists can’t fully control and delude themselves and others if think can .Issues are to be settled on the basis of evidence, not through coercion, personal argument, or appeal to authority.

It seems, from my experience of over two decades ago now in college teaching/learning support, that often faculty revel in the possibilities and would like students to join them as co learners in their disciplines, but in a little simplification, all students seem to want to know is how long should the term paper be or how many points are needed for a B? The insights from the top half of the Loevinger Chart give a sense of why students have the motives that often are very vexing to faculty. Research shows the best ways to move students on the maturity continuum is by concerted faculty effort.

The Seven Principles of Good Practice for Undergraduate Education , co –authored by Chickering, are even more valuable when seen as tools to foster student movement on the maturity continuum. For instance, under Encourages Student-Faculty Contact , sharing past experiences, attitudes, and values with students models a complexity and approach to life that helps students see conceptual complexity, complex patterns, toleration for ambiguity, objectivity, etc. This is similarly reinforced in Encourages Active Learning in which students are encouraged to challenge the professor’s ideas , the ideas of other students, or those presented in readings or other course material.

It is important to consider what systemic factors can inadvertently reinforce students staying at the lower end of the maturity continuum. Chickering in the Seven Principles document notes that in encouraging cooperation among students performance criteria should be distributed to students so that each person’s grade is independent of those achieved by others. Without that consideration it’s possible for students to keep a zero sum attitude; someone has to lose . If “rush for coverage” only allows students to develop views of situations as conceptually simple, maturity isn’t being fostered in the cognitive style column.

The Maturity Continuum in the fleshing out by Loevinger represents an insight into the student’s potentially growing character, interdependent style, and cognitive style. The richness of this explication offers a way to connect the substance of disciplines or academic majors to student development; an area that has not often been common knowledge for university faculty. In fact, even these separate columns become the work of scholarship on student development as the Character column for instance is probed further in the works of Kohlberg and Gilligan. The Cognitive style column has been explicated by the seminal work of William G. Perry and many subsequent inquirers(see Appendix # 4 ). It’s noted that cognitive style is much more “than is a student left or right brained, concrete or abstract”. In fact, dealing with capacity for abstraction is integral to higher education and isn’t just a preference that some individuals have.

The notion of a community of learners takes on added import when looked at through the lens of the Maturity Continuum. This sense of community parallels Covey’s insights about public victories utilizing Win/Win, Synergize, and Seek to Understand. We’ve seen that Win/Win is grounded in a different and much more mature understanding of conflict. Another Winona State favorite, Parker Palmer, says this in another way, “At the core of this communal way of knowing is a primary virtue, one too seldom named when we discuss community or set community against competition. This primary value is capacity for creative conflict…… there is no knowing without conflict.. Our ability to confront each other critically and honestly over alleged facts, imputed meanings, or personal biases and prejudices—that is the ability impaired by the lack of community.”