Cultivating our inner life and developing and deepening our relationship to our thoughts, feelings and body help us be present, intentional and non-reactive when we face complexity.
Having an «inner compass» is not a skill, but is rather a consequence of having a broad scope of awareness that also has led to a motivation to care for and contribute to the welfare of something much larger than oneself.
The concept of an inner compass is related to how people make priorities when making decisions and acting. Having a deeply felt sense of responsibility and commitment to values and purposes relating to the good of the whole.
A stable inner compass anchored in values relating to a larger whole means that concerns for the well-being of the larger whole are factored in in various situations.
Having an inner compass firmly anchored in a commitment to contribute to the good of the whole is intimately related to other IDGs, such as Connectedness, Long-term orientation and visioning, and Perseverance.
A capacity to be open to learning, re-evaluation and be curious about alternative ways of perceiving and interpreting various issues requires a self that has a considerable measure of robustness. If one's sense of self-regard is dependent on identification with a certain self-image or if one's sense of safety is linked to a need to defend a certain set of beliefs and values, there is probably a need for having psychological defense mechanisms that might inhibit the capacity for remaining open and curious when encountering unfamiliar or diverging views or events.
Openness and a learning mindset is therefore not to be regarded solely as a skill that can be trained, but is intimately linked to adult development processes involving the whole self. Openness is also one of the personality traits included in the Big Five framework.
Having a basic mindset of curiosity and a willingness to be vulnerable and embrace change and grow is vital.
Openness and Learning mindset is strongly related to Critical thinking, Complexity awareness, Perspective skills, Humility, Creativity and Communication skills.
What goes on inside a person has a considerable impact on that person's potential for being effective when engaging with complex issues, especially in interaction with people with diverse perspectives and interests. The Ability to be in reflective contact with own thoughts, feelings and desires; having a realistic self-image and ability to regulate oneself.
Self-awareness involves being aware of emotional, cognitive, motivational and other internal psychological processes as they happen (or shortly afterwards). Being in touch with and understanding one's own inner processes often leads to greater self-acceptance, less need to cling to an idealized self-image and therefore less need for psychological defense mechanisms. A well- developed capacity for self-awareness makes it possible to actively manage the relationship between internal (spontaneous) processes and the expectations and needs coupled to a particular role or function the person has.
Challenging situations evoke emotional and cognitive reactions. If a person is not capable of monitoring these reactions, the capacity for handling them in constructive ways is limited, and the person may act out emotions, defensive reactions and hasty judgments without really noticing that this is happening.
Ability to be in the here and now, without judgement and in a state of open-ended presence.
Presence is also related to Self-awareness and Humility.
This capacity is strongly linked to Openness and Learning mindset, but emphasizes the quality of making oneself fully available in encounters with other people, in an accepting, mindful, sensitive and non- judgmental way. This quality can partly be regarded as a skill that can be trained by practicing mindfulness exercises. But arguably a well- developed capacity for presence is also dependent on being relatively free from preoccupation with projecting and defending a particular self- image or a psychological need for upholding the stability of a certain worldview that provides a sense of safety
This item is partly about values one has identified with and is committed to practicing, but it is also strongly related to personal maturity. In order to be capable of acting with sincerity, honesty and integrity, a person has to be keenly aware of his or her inner processes (reactions, emotions, identifications, see the item Self-awareness below) as well as having a robust self-sense that is not easily threatened and thereby giving the person an ability to be appropriately vulnerable.
A commitment and ability to act with sincerity, honesty and integrity.
Developing our cognitive skills by taking different perspectives, evaluating information and making sense of the world as an interconnected whole is essential for wise decision-making.
Complexity awareness is first and foremost a keen awareness that certain issues might be complex, and perhaps complex in ways that one is not yet aware of.
Understanding of and skills in working with complex and systemic conditions and casualties. Complexity might be related to underlying and diverse causes, conditions and circumstances that influence a particular issue.
Complexity might also be related to mutual interdependencies between different factors, that cannot be properly understood by uni- directional uni-factorial causal relationships. A very significant and often mentioned aspect of complexity awareness is systems thinking: the propensity to look for patterns of wholes, how elements of systems interact in complex ways, leading to system dynamics and emergent properties of systems.
Complexity awareness is an important condition for having a genuine openness and earning mindset, because there is always an expectation that there are circumstances one is not yet aware of. Complexity awareness is strongly related to Critical thinking, Sense-making and Perspective skills.
This entails an awareness that one's own perspective necessarily is incomplete and has blind spots, which in turn generally leads to an inquiring orientation.
A person with well- developed perspective skills is generally open and curious, and may actively seek out and try to understand perspectives that are very different from one's own and make use of several perspectives in order to make sense of issues and processes.
A basic perspective skill is simply to be aware that your view of the world and its issues and events is a view: an interpretation based on a limited and selective set of data and complemented by assumptions and judgments not backed up by proven facts. More sophisticated skills involve a keen awareness of the durable, complex and systemic patterns of perspectives, both one's own and those of others.
Perspective skills are related to Openness and Learning mindset, Sense-making, Complexity awareness, Critical thinking and Inclusive mindset and Intercultural competence.
One way of describing critical thinking skills is to focus on the habits of asking probing questions in relation to statements, validity claims, views and opinions, questions such as:
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Are there robust reasons to believe that the claims made are valid?
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What other facts could be relevant to a balanced interpretation?
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What consequences have to be true if the claims are true?
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What other views or interpretations are possibly valid in relation to this issue?
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What arguments do people with different views refer to, and what credibility do those arguments have?
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Could there be circumstances that have not so far been considered that could mean that the argument proposed is not fully valid?
Skills in critically reviewing the validity of views, evidence and plans. Critical thinking is strongly related to and partially overlapping with Perspective skills.
A long-term orientation is strongly related to and dependent on Complexity awareness and Perseverance.
Problems caused or conditioned by properties and dynamics of very complex systems can seldom be fixed quickly, but require sustained efforts over long periods involving a multitude of different measures and strategies.
Obviously complex global issues, such as those described in the SDGs of Agenda 2030, involve long-term change processes, regarding climate, environmental problems, socio-economic structures, the world order, etc.
Actors with strategic roles in relation to such issues must have a very long time horizon, in terms of apprehending patterns of long-term processes that generate problems, formulating visions and designing and engaging with actions in order to influence the development of complex systems.
Sense-making has considerable overlap with other parts of the IDG framework, such as Critical thinking, Complexity awareness and Perspective skills.
Skills in seeing patterns, structuring the unknown and being able to consciously create stories
All human beings are continually engaged in making sense of their experiences, in order to be able to function.
So in order to regard sense- making as a key skill, we need to focus on the more developed forms of sense-making. These involve actively looking for patterns relevant for the tasks individuals or groups are facing, trying to make sense of those patterns by looking for additional pieces of information, test different possible interpretations, engage in dialogue with other people and thereby arrive at more well-founded understandings.
Qualities such as courage and optimism help us acquire true agency, break old patterns, generate original ideas and act with persistence in uncertain times.
Creativity is not a skill in the more narrow sense, nor is it a cognitive capacity that anyone can develop to a high level by specific exercises.
Ability to generate and develop original ideas, innovate and being willing to disrupt conventional patterns. IDG items related to creativity are Openness and Learning mindset, Perspective skills, and, when seeing creativity as a collective phenomenon, Co-creation skills and other social skills.
Conventional meaning-making is associated with taking prevailing norms and practices as given, rather than inquiring into alternative possibilities, whereas post-conventional meaning-making involves independent envisioning of what is desirable and how it can be realized.
People with strong complexity awareness tend not to take existing conditions and patterns for granted, but often imagine how things could be like if done differently.
Ability to sustain engagement and remain determined and patient even when efforts take a long time to bear fruit. Also related are patience, resilience, determination and decisiveness.
Perseverance may also be understood as a personality trait or virtue, although it is likely that the capacity for sustaining engagement can be strengthened by conscious focusing on the possibilities to achieve long-term positive outcomes. As such, perseverance is related to Long- term orientation and visioning. Perseverance is yet another quality that can be constructive or destructive depending on the nature of the ambitions a person or group pursue, so it needs to be linked to other qualities and skills.
Optimism may be regarded as a personality trait, but here the emphasis is on the capacity to inspire hope in others (and oneself) that it is possible to achieve meaningful results by focusing on what is doable.
It is the ability to sustain and communicate a sense of hope, positive attitude and confidence in the possibility of meaningful change.
One aspect of this is skills in supporting people in directing their attention, in this case in the direction of possibilities rather than having an exclusive focus on depressing realities.
Optimism is closely related to Appreciation.
Ability to stand up for values, make decisions, take decisive action and, if need be, challenge and disrupt existing structures and views.
Courage also entails the willingness to challenge and disrupt deeply ingrained patterns, views and practices in order to open up possibilities for creativity and change. Courage alone is, of course, not necessarily a positive capability, but needs to be guided by benevolence, complexity awareness and commitment to the good of the whole.
Courage is a quality that can be nurtured and developed through a range of strategies. We have here subsumed a couple of related qualities: the courage to advocate convictions, the capacity to go from ideas to actually making decisions, and the propensity to engage in decisive actions in order to achieve tangible results.
To make progress on shared concerns, we need to develop our abilities to include, hold space and communicate with stakeholders with different values, skills and competencies.
Trust is linked with Integrity and Authenticity, Communication skills and Co-creation skills.
Trust is understood as an outcome, rather than a skill or a basic attitude. Naïve trust can be very problematic, not least when working with highly contested issues. However, there are skills involved in the trust dimension: approaching other people with an ambition to create as much trust as possible, considering the circumstances; acting in ways that inspire trust (by being transparent, conveying benevolence, being reliable, etc.) and continually deal with events with consideration for building and maintaining trust.
However, skillfulness in getting other people to trust oneself can be used for both good and destructive purposes, so skills in creating trust need to be linked to other skills and qualities, such as empathy, compassion and benevolence.
Ability to show trust and to create and maintain trusting relationships.
A specific aspect of an inclusive mindset is willingness to listen to and adapt to local knowledge. Another facet of an inclusive mindset is willingness to share power. Willingness and competence to embrace diversity and include people and collectives with different views and backgrounds.
Intercultural competence requires awareness of the possibility of intercultural differences, to some extent knowledge about common dimensions of differences (e.g. regarding power distance, gender roles, high-or low-context communication, decision-making practice ) and communication skills.
Being actively interested in seeking out, consider and involve individuals and groups with diverse backgrounds, identities and views is one facet. More specifically, working in international contexts means that differences in culturally conditioned norms, values, attitudes, expectations, behavioural patterns, etc. play significant roles for successful collaboration.
Many of the skills and qualities in the IDG framework contribute to skills in mobilizing people to meaningful engagement, e.g. Communication skills not least story-telling), Co-creation skills, Trust, Inclusive mindset and Intercultural competence.
Mobilization skills are, of course, overlapping with co-creation skills, but deserve a separate listing because mobilization includes reaching out broadly to different groups of people, evoking their interest and offering productive ways for people to become actively involved in various kinds of work towards fulfilling the SDGs. As with several other skills and qualities, mobilization skills can be used for constructive or destructive purposes, and therefore need to be guided by a benevolent Inner compass.
In a nut shell - Skills in inspiring and mobilizing others to engage in shared purposes.
Obviously co-creation skills cover a large number of sub-skills and overlap with several other skills and qualities such as Trust, Communication skills, Inclusive mindset and Intercultural competence, Mobilization skills, Openness and Learning mindset and Perspective skills.
The focus here is skills in creating favourable conditions for and facilitating productive collaboration and co-creation. Sub-skills include skills in creating an open climate characterized by trust and psychological safety; leading meetings in ways that structure the work process through shared focus, encourage creativity and openness to diverse input; and deconstruct power dynamics that hinder open and creative collaboration.
Skills and motivation to build, develop and facilitate collaborative relationships with diverse stake-holders, characterized by psychological safety and genuine co-creation.
Ability to really listen to others, to foster genuine dialogue, to advocate own views skillfully, to manage conflicts constructively and to adapt communication to diverse groups.
Awareness of other people's potentially very different patterns of meaning-making, due to different enculturation, professional training, political worldview and previous life experiences, is necessary in order to realize the need to adapt communication behaviours to varying contexts.
Communication skills are strongly related to several other IDGs, such as Presence, Humility, Perspective awareness, Openness and Learning mindset and Inclusive mindset and Intercultural competence.
Communication skills can be described in terms of certain concrete behaviours, such as conveying positive intentions and regard, attentive and active listening, asking open-ended questions and advocating views in constructive ways.
Appreciating, caring for and feeling connected to others, such as neighbors, future generations or the biosphere, helps us create more just and sustainable systems and societies for everyone.
Appreciation is related to Humility, Openness and Learning mindset and Presence, and can be an important factor for Mobilization skills.
Appreciation is a mode of relating to people and the social, material and natural worlds that can be strengthened by effort. A basic appreciative attitude is helpful in building connection to and trust between people, and thus conducive to creative and collaborative work performance.
Relating to others and to the world with a basic sense of appreciation, gratitude and joy.
Gratitude and joy are qualities that probably have subtle effects in inspiring other people, shifting attention from depressing realities to that which is worthy of gratitude and appreciation, thereby mobilizing energy for creative engagement.
The less someone is concerned with defending an ego conception and be absorbed with very pre-defined projects and ideas, the easier it is to appreciate positive qualities in various situations one finds oneself in.
We have chosen to use both empathy and compassion as concepts with somewhat different connotations. Empathy is here understood to be the capacity to relatively accurately understand and feel into what other people feel, whereas compassion adds the quality of wanting to relate to other people with benevolence.
This is the Ability to relate to others, oneself and nature with kindness, empathy and compassion and the intention to address related suffering relates deeply with benevolence, agreeableness and love.
Humility here means the capacity to act without concern for looking good in the eyes of others or of oneself. Simply, being able to act in accordance with the needs of the situation, without concern for one's own importance.
Being more or less without a need to uphold a certain ego image means that when one acts, one can fully focus on the needs of the situation, rather than being preoccupied with projecting a certain image of oneself.
This makes it easier to be open, sensitive and respectful in relation to others. This may be a consequence of a realistic and accepting awareness of one's own limitations and other personality properties.
The stance of humility is here understood to be a consequence of not being (overly) identified with a certain self-image and a need to be confirmed in that self-image by others.
Connectedness is certainly not a specific skill resulting from training.
Connectedness is linked by many other skills and qualities both those that enable the feeling of connectedness to arise, and those that follow from the sense of connectedness: Sense- making, Complexity awareness, Inner compass, Appreciation, Empathy and Compassion, Humility and Inclusive mindset.
It involves feeling connected to and being a part of a much larger whole. This sense of connectedness more or less automatically leads to a sense of caring for the well-being of the larger whole. Connectedness is therefore strongly linked to commitment to engage in activities that contribute to positive outcomes for the «larger whole».
There are probably rather different ways of feeling this kind of connection from the more pure and immediate feelings of being at one with everything else to more cognitively based forms of connectedness related to holistic/systemic meaning-making, based on knowledge about the interconnectedness of all living things and the physical environment.
