Inner Development Goals:

Background, method and

the IDG framework

1 Being — Relationship to Self

2 Thinking — Cognitive Skills

3 Relating — Caring for Others and the World

4 Collaborating — Social Skills

5 Acting — Enabling Change

Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Introduction1
1 This is an account of the first phase of the Inner Development Goals
Very many people have
contributed in various ways to (IDG) project. It explains the background and the method of the project,
this report. The main author
of the text is Thomas Jordan,
and presents the 23 skills and qualities we have identified. If your
but important concrete interest is mainly the skills and qualities, feel free to skip to the section
comments suggestions,
additions and corrections detailing these (however, do have a look at the points below first). If you
have been contributed by
Jonathan Reams, Kristian
are interested in the thinking behind the project, who the initiators are
Stålne, Stefanie Greca, Jan and how we went about in order to develop the IDG framework,
Artem Henriksson, Tomas
Björkman and Theo Dawson. read on.

If you skip reading about the background and the method, there are still
a few things that you should know about the nature of the project:

• The IDG framework of skills and qualities relate to what is needed

in order to successfully work with complex societal issues,
in particular those identified in UN's Agenda 2030 and the 17
Sustainable Development Goals. Some similar frameworks have
a broader scope, such as skills and qualities that are important
for general well-being or for empowering individuals to lead
satisfying lives.

• The IDG initiative is, so far, a low-budget project. There were no

resources available, in the first phase, for conducting a thorough
literature review or research. The core activities have been
designing and distributing two surveys and using the responses to
develop a list of key skills and qualities.

• Very many people (more than a thousand) have been actively

involved in providing suggestions, reviewing and commenting
during the process. The IDG framework therefore has a broad base
and is not closely linked to a particular theoretical framework.

• We have extensively talked about the relationship between

individual and collective skills and qualities. It is obvious that
capacities often are properties of systems rather than individuals,
and we think that the present version of the IDG framework can be
used as a starting point for exploring both individual and collective
skills and qualities and how culture, organizations and institutions
can support the development needed.

• In its present form, the IDG framework is probably biased by the fact
that the majority of the respondents were from Western societies
and many belonged to groups already interested in the science and
practice of leadership development or global sustainability issues.
We are keenly aware of this and hope to redress this bias in
future work.

2
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Background 1: The general framing

The starting point for this initiative was a belief that there is a blind
spot in our efforts to create a sustainable global society. We have
accumulated much knowledge about environmental problems, climate
change, poverty, public health, various social ills, etc. In UN's Agenda
2030 goals and targets have been formulated for 17 critically important
areas relating to sustainability. We know a lot about conditions and
causes, and there is also a lot of knowledge and ideas about what
could and ought to be done. We have a vision of what needs to happen,
but progress along this vision has been disappointing.

The initiators of the IDG project (see below) were motivated by a belief
that what has been largely missing is a keen insight into what abilities,
qualities or skills we need to foster among those individuals, groups
and organizations that play crucial roles in working to fulfill the visions.
The argument is that we talk far more about what ought to be done to
resolve the problems out in the world, than we talk about how to build
skillfulness among the actors who are in a position to make the
visions happen.

When facing challenging tasks, there is a need for a range of cognitive

and emotional skills and other qualities that go beyond what most
people normally learn in schools and higher education. We believe
that significant knowledge and insight has accumulated over the
years about what these skills and qualities are and how they evolve, in
several research fields, such as adult learning and development and
in the study of strategic leadership regarding complex issues, such as
sustainability studies.

The purpose of the Inner Development Goals project is to draw

attention to the need to support development of abilities, skills and
other inner qualities for people and organizations involved in efforts to
contribute to a more sustainable global society. By having a framework
that is easy to grasp and that describes those skills and qualities,
we hope to mobilize a broader engagement and effort among
organizations, companies and institutions to significantly increase the
investments in efforts to develop crucial skills and qualities.

In other words the Inner Development Goals project works to

identify, popularize and support the development of relevant abilities,
skills and qualities for inner growth, through consciously supportive
organizations, companies and institutions, to better address the
global challenges.

The aim of the first phase of this endeavor has been (and still is) limited
to making an inventory of what such crucial abilities, qualities and skills

3
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

are perceived to be and create a framework that clearly articulates

these in ways we can reach a high level of agreement about.

We wanted to draw on different types of knowledge, experience and

insight in order to have a comprehensive basis for the inventory. In
particular we wanted to consult both practitioners involved in actually
working with sustainability issues, as well as researchers with many
years of experience in researching and theorizing about adult skills
and maturity, with specific reference to management of complex
tasks. Practitioners – such as sustainability managers in companies,
governmental organizations and NGOs, HR managers, activists,
leadership development trainers and consultants – can be expected
to have a lot of experience with the challenges encountered in working
with complex sustainability issues, but are not necessarily able to
describe in detail what the needed skills are and how they can be
2 scaffolded2. Researchers in adult development and leadership (for
The notion of «scaffolding»
is central to our initiative, it example) can be expected to have well-grounded ways of unpacking in
refers to different forms of
supporting the development
detail a broad range of skills and qualities, and the patterns in how these
of (and performing) develop. But on the other hand, researchers may have limited insights
demanding skills (Andersson,
2015; Jordan, 2016; Mascolo, into what real-life challenges and dilemmas practitioners encounter,
2005; Wood, Bruner & Ross,
1976).
and what particular skills and qualities are helpful in navigating a
complex context.

In appendix 1 you will find a table outlining the «program theory» of the
IDG project.

Related frameworks

During the course of the IDG project we have found and received
suggestions from others of a number of more or less similar initiatives
to formulate frameworks describing important skills and qualities. These
frameworks have evolved in different contexts, for different purposes,
with different theoretical bases, and with different methodologies.
Some of them (e.g. Wamsler et al., 2020, 2021; Wamsler & Restoy,
2020; Wiek, Withycombe & Redman, 2011; Center for Vaeredygtighed,
2021; Rimanoczy, 2020; and Dawson, 2020-2021) also explore the
skills needed in order to manage sustainability issues more effectively.
We have not been in a position to make a systematical review and
comparison of these frameworks, but it is obvious that to a considerable
extent they identify the same or very similar skills and qualities. For a list
of publications of some of the most relevant initiatives to identify and
describe key skills and qualities that we are aware of, see appendix 2.

4
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Background 2: A brief chronological account

of the IDG initiative

In April 2019 a thought leaders gathering was conducted with a group

of adult development scholars on the Ekskäret island in the Stockholm
3 archipelago.3 Together the group wrote the Growth that Matters
Among the more well-know
participants were Robert Manifesto that stated the urgent need to work systemically with human
Kegan, Susanne Cook-
growth in adults in order to better meet the accelerating complexity in
Greuter, Bonnitta Roy, Aftab
Omer, Bence Ganti and societal challenges.
Jonathan Reams.

Representatives from academia, like Center for Social Sustainability

at Karolinska Institute and Stockholm School of Economics signed
the Growth that Matters Manifesto together with a growing number
of representatives of the business world and other organizations, that
created the coalition that the coming year would co-create and support
the IDG initiative.

During 2020 representatives of Ekskäret foundation, 29k and The New

4 Division4 spoke about their shared concern that there is a need to focus
Starting with Erik Fernholm,
Jakob Trollbäck and Hannah
more attention on developing skillfulness among actors working with
Boman, later including «wicked issues», in particular those named in the UNs Agenda 2030 as
Tomas Björkman Jan
Artem Henriksson, Caroline the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The idea for IDG:s was
Stiernstedt Sahlborn, Fredric
Lindencrona + academic
born (first called Inner Global Goals) and was first publicly presented at
representatives (Appendix 3). the MindShift Digital Conference at Stockholm School of Economics
during May 2020.

The initiators thought that the scholarly field of adult development

research has accumulated a lot of relevant knowledge that is sorely
needed for us to become more successful in working towards a
5 more sustainable world.5 Many initial exploratory conversations and
See for example Berger,
2011; Commons, 2008; Cook- consultations were held in different constellations, e.g. with renowned
Greuter, 1999; 2013; Dawson,
2004; Fischer, 1980; Kegan,
«thought leaders» in the field, such as Robert Kegan, Susanne Cook-
1994; King & Kitchener, 1994; Greuter, Peter Senge, Otto Scharmer, Amy Edmondson and Jennifer
Loevinger, 1976; Torbert et al.,
2004;. Garvey Berger. Even local researchers and thought leaders like Stefan
Einhorn and Walter Osika (from CSS at Karolinska Institute), Emma
Stenström and Anders Richtner (from Stockholm School of Economics),
Christine Wamsler (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)
and Fredric Lindecrona (Stockholms Stad and MindShift Sweden)
supported the IDG initiative early on. For a longer list if people and
organizations involved, please se appendix 3.

During autumn 2020 the initiative changed the name to Inner

Development Goals a more formal project group took form that
coordinated a gradual process of formulating a key survey question in
order to collect as much (relevant) input as possible on which skills and
qualities are most important in order to work more effectively towards
the SDGs.
5
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

The initiators established contacts with a range of companies,

researchers and other actors with a keen interest in the vision of the
IDG project. Several meetings were held with founders, CEOs, HR
managers, sustainability managers, and other strategically positioned
people in the private and public sector, and another series of meetings
were held with researchers and leaders in leading Swedish academic
institutions: The Stockholm School of Economics, the Center for Social
Sustainability at Karolinska Institutet, the Lund University Centre for
Sustainability Studies and Stockholm University.

A series of five consultative meetings were held during 2020

within a network comprising about 80 managers, researchers and
organizational consultants discussing the initiative, and in particular the
survey design.

Two surveys were made, the first one was launched publicly 1 March
2021, the second one on 19 April. The surveys will be described further
in the next section.

A draft of the IDG framework was presented and discussed at a

workshop on 28 April with about 150 participants, in 12 May at the
MindShift conference at SSE with about 1.500 participants and at
the Integral European Conference, also on May 29th, with about 150
participants.

Feedback was gathered at each of the discussions digitally (through

the How-space platform or google docs when smaller gatherings),
which was used to further revise formulations and category names.
A communications group was formed with participants who are
specialized in mass communication for further revision of the form and
language of the IDG framework in a series of four meetings.

Appendix 3 accounts for the different constellations of people who

have been most actively involved in the project.

The surveys
Our initial idea was to use 2 surveys, each with one main question,
after collecting some biographical information on the respondents.
We wanted to collect input from a large number of respondents, in
particular people with a professional relationship to sustainability issues,
on what skills and qualities they regard as important in order to work
more successfully towards the SDGs. The main question in the first
survey was eventually (after deliberation in different fora) formulated in
this way:

What abilities, qualities or skills do you believe are essential

to develop, individually and collectively, in order to get
6
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

us significantly closer to fulfilling the UN Sustainable

Development Goals?

In the following text boxes, please write 3-7 abilities, qualities

or skills and add, if you want, a brief comment on why you
feel these abilities, qualities or skills are essential.

We wanted to use the responses in the first survey to compile a

manageable list of key skills and qualities, in order to invite people in a
second survey to rank the most important skills and qualities, arriving
at a framework of 7-10 items. However, we ended up making a different
decision, which meant that the second survey performed a somewhat
different function than initially intended (see further below).

Participants in the first survey

The text and questions in the first survey are presented in appendix 4.
861 persons gave full responses to the first survey. More women (ca.
62%) than men filled out the survey. A large majority of the respondents
were between 30 and 69 years old. About half of the respondents were
Swedish, an additional 30% were European, while about 12% were
from USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Only 6% (50 individuals)
were from Latin America, Africa or developing countries in Asia. Very
few respondents were from Russia, China and Japan.

We aimed at collecting views from categories of people we had reason

to believe would have more insight into the challenges of working
towards the SDGs than the general population. In the table below, we
6 present the number of respondents according to professional roles.6
A mistake in the survey design
meant that respondents could
only choose one role. Several Table 1. Roles of respondents to survey 1.
respondents remarked on
this, since they span more
than one role.
Professional role
Organizational consultant/coach 147
Manager (except HR and sustainability 141
manager)
Leadership development professional 115
Employee 112
HR Manager 66
Researcher 50
Social entrepreneur 47
Sustainability manager 43
Other 124
Blank 16
861

7
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Finally, we also asked how familiar the respondent is with the SDGs.
About 22% actively work towards the SDGs, whereas 21% selected the
7 alternative «Very familiar»7.
The alternative responses
were «Not at all familiar»,
«Somewhat familiar», «Very
familiar» and « Very familiar
Analysis of responses to the first survey
and working towards the
SDGs is part of your job».
Two scholars, Thomas Jordan and Maria Booth, independently coded
the responses to the main open question. Many responses from
different respondents used identical or very similar wording, but we
also created some codes for responses that used different words for
skills or qualities we found could be subsumed under the same coding.

Thomas Jordan's coding initially yielded 36 codes, while Maria Booth's

resulted in 22 codes, some of which had subcategories. We compared
our codes and concluded that our codes were very similar, with few
differences. However, over 30 categories are too many from a purely
pedagogical point of view, so we went through a process, involving the
steering group, to merge codes with closely related content. This is a
tricky endeavour, because more granularity may represent variation
in skills and qualities in a more accurate way, but then becoming more
difficult to communicate and grasp.

Exclusions

There were some items in the survey responses that we decided to

exclude for various reasons, even though they were listed by several
respondents. Decisions about inclusion and exclusion are a matter of
judgment – different people may make different judgments. The two
most important exclusions were the following:

Knowledge. Several respondents pointed to the importance of having

relevant knowledge about the factual issues involved in working
towards the SDGs: being familiar with the SDG framework, having
insights into causes and conditions regarding (for example) ecology
and sustainability, but also in terms of methodological and technical
skills in using different methods for analysis. While this is obviously
very important, we excluded factual knowledge from the framework
because we want the framework to focus on non-technical skills and
qualities needed for working effectively with complex societal issues,
such as the SDGs, rather than concrete technical expertise.

Frugality. Quite a few respondents, using different phrasings, pointed

to the virtue of avoiding over-consumption and being content with
a simple life-style. We recognize the importance of consumption
patterns for the Agenda 2030 goals in general perspective, but we
want the framework to focus on skills and qualities that are crucial for
transformational work, and we do not see frugality as really fitting into
that conception.
8
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Developing the IDG framework

After consolidating some items, we had a draft version with 22 skills

and qualities. The items were grouped into 4 main dimensions:
Cognitive skills; Values, attitudes and identifications; Relationship to self;
and Social skills. A brief, one-sentence, description of each skill/quality
was drafted by Thomas Jordan. This draft was then presented and
discussed in several fora during April and the beginning of May 2021:
the steering group, the reference group of researchers and at a series
of workshops with invited participants from the MindShift network. The
draft was also circulated among a number of researchers and other
experts in the fields of adult development and leadership development.
Much feedback and many suggestions were given, and led to revising
both the naming of skills/qualities, the grouping and the descriptions.

The second survey: ranking skills and qualities

In the second survey (see appendix 5), respondents were invited to

review the list of 22 skills/qualities and rank the 10 items they deemed
most important. When we closed the survey, we had received 813 valid
responses, with a similar biographical profile as in the first survey. Our
initial idea was to use the results of the second survey to select 7-10 key
skills/qualities and design a framework based on these. However, the
question of whether to keep the 22 skills/qualities or making a selection
among them was discussed in several fora, and it was eventually
decided to retain all the 22 and even add a 23rd item, sense-making.
This addition was made after suggestions from several people, and it
was also mentioned several times in the survey responses.

Here is an alphabetical list of the 23 skills and qualities. Further

elaboration will be made further down.

Appreciation Inner Compass

Co-creation Skills Integrity and Authenticity
Communication Skills Long-term Orientation and Visioning
Complexity Awareness Mobilization Skills
Connectedness Openness and Learning Mindset
Critical Thinking Optimism
Courage Perseverance
Creativity Perspective Skills
Empathy and Compassion Presence
Humility Self-awareness
Inclusive Mindset and Intercultural Sense-making
Competence Trust

9
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Figure 1. Alphabetical list of the 23 skills and qualities

The responses to the ranking question can be computed in a number

of different ways, as well as be reported by different biographical
categories (see appendix 6). The weighted top ten list for all the 813
8 respondents turned out this way: 8
A category was assigned 10
points if in the first place, 9
points if in the second place,
etc. Then points are summed
1. Co-creation Skills
up and ranked, yielding this 2. Complexity Awareness
table.
3. Communication Skills
4. Connectedness
5. Empathy and Compassion
6. Courage
7. Self-awareness
8. Appreciation
9. Openness and Learning
Mindset
10. Inner Compass
Organizing the 23 skills and qualities into a smaller number of
dimensions

In order to have a more pedagogical framework, we had extensive

discussions in different settings about how to organize the 23 skills
and qualities 4 or 5 main dimensions. There was a certain cognitive
tension involved in how to group the items and how to name the main
dimensions, between on the one hand the wish for logical stringency
in how the skills and qualities are grouped and terminological
accuracy (a scholarly perspective), on the other hand the wish for
having a structure and vocabulary that makes sense to practitioners
(a mass communication perspective). There is no «correct» way to
group the skills and qualities, as they are interdependent and
overlapping in significant ways. Still, in order to have a framework that
is as easy as possible to grasp and work with, a framework with a
limited number of main dimensions was deemed useful.

I, Thomas Jordan (the main author of this report), prefer a framework

9 that I feel make the most sense from a theoretical point of view.9 I
My preunderstanding
is anchored in adult
think that some of the items we came up with can be thought of as
development theories. skills: abilities that can be learned and trained. Other items do not fit
into the conception of skills, but are better understood as personality
traits or virtues (some of which can be nurtured and refined), values or
qualities that are functions of a person's level of ego development.
From this point of view my preferred systematization of the 23 skills
and qualities would be to use 5 main dimensions: Cognition; Stances:
Attitudes and values; Identifications, Relationship to Self; and Social
skills.

10
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Cognition refers not only to thinking in the traditional sense, but also to
sense-making and creativity, cognitive processes that to a large extent
occur below the threshold of awareness.

Stance: Attitudes and values comprises the basic stance with which an
individual (or a collective) relates to the world (people, issues, events, life
in general). Most of these have a significant emotional component in the
form of durable feeling dispositions.

Identifications is the category referring to core identity, what a person

feels he or she fundamentally is.

Relationship to Self is different from identifications by referring to

psychological skills that can be developed by training.

Social skills is a category comprising skills in the more traditional

sense, here relating to various aspects of working with other people in
productive ways.

It is obvious that this division into dimensions is somewhat artificial:

skills and qualities are intimately intertwined and some could be part of
more than one category. However, with these considerations in mind,
the organization of the 23 skills and qualities would look like this:

Table 2: First overview draft of main dimensions

Cognition Stances Identifications Relationship Social skills

to Self
Critical Thinking Appreciation Connectedness Integrity and Communication
Authenticity Skills
Complexity Empathy and Inner Compass
Awareness Compassion Humility Self-awareness Co-creation
Perspective Skills Courage Presence Skills

Sense-making Optimism Inclusive

Creativity Perseverance Mindset
and Intercultural
Long-term Openness and Competence
Orientation and Learning
Trust
Visioning Mindset
Mobilization
Skills

Adapting the IDG framework for easy communication

The IDG project is, however, not primarily a scholarly endeavour, but
aims at being suitable for mass communication. The initial draft of
23 skills and qualities divided into 5 main dimensions was
discussed in a rather large number of fora, where the main ambition
was to develop a framework and a languaging that makes sense
and works well for communication with practitioners: managers,
officials, politicians, change agents, etc. In this process, theoretical
11 precision may have to
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

give way for the ambition to reach high levels of face validity in a broad
audience. The outcome of this process is presented below. This is
not to be regarded as a final and fixed framework. We will continue to
deliberate which skills and qualities are important and how the can be
named and described to work well as a broadly accessible framework.

Table 3: Overview of the Inner Development Goals framework

Being – Thinking – Relating – Collaborating – Acting –

Relationship to Cognitive Skills Caring for Social Skills Enabling Change
Self Others and the
World

Inner Compass Critical Thinking Appreciation Communication Courage

Integrity and Complexity Connectedness Skills Creativity
Authenticity Awareness Humility Co-creation Optimism
Skills Perseverance
Openness and Perspective Skills Empathy and
Learning Mindset Compassion
Sense-making Inclusive Mindset
Self-awareness and Intercultural
Long-term
Competence
Presence Orientation and
Visioning Trust
Mobilization
Skills

The Inner Development Goals framework

In this section, the Inner Development Goals framework is presented,
and the 23 skills and qualities are described in a somewhat more
elaborated form. The «names» of the skills and qualities and the one-
sentence descriptions of their meaning have been discussed and
revised in a large number of iterations, involving both practitioners and
researchers. However, the elaborations below of each skill/quality have
not been subjected to the same scrutiny, but have been added by the
present author and reflect my own knowledge basis and interpretations.
These expanded descriptions should therefore be regarded as work-
in-progress, a starting point for more thorough reflection, revisions
and refinement.

We are very much aware that the different skills and qualities included
in the IDG framework are often overlapping and interdependent. Some
are more fundamental and prerequisites for others. It is a worthwhile
and important task to carry out research and theory development
of how the web of skills and qualities works. However, since this is a
very complex field of knowledge, there will certainly be quite different
theoretical frameworks, using different concepts and principles for
creating models. We want to avoid advocating a particular theoretical
framework and keep the IDG framework as open as possible in the
hope that people with different preferences regarding theoretical
models will be able to see the IDG framework as a useful
pedagogical framework.
12
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

It is also worth pointing out that the skills and qualities described below
to a considerable extent refer to individuals, rather than collectives. We
believe that the framework is highly relevant to explore collective skills
and qualities (and how they can be supported) as well, but we have not
been in a position to do this in a serious way at this stage of the initiative.

1 Being — Relationship to Self

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.

Inner Compass
Having a deeply felt sense of responsibility and commitment to values
and purposes relating to the good of the whole.

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. This larger whole can be constructed in different ways:
humanity, the global ecosystem, or particular large-scale issues, such
as climate change, environmental problems, public health, human rights,
10 etc.10 The concept of an inner compass is related to how people make
The philosopher Ken Wilber
(1995) made the useful
priorities when making decisions and acting. A stable inner compass
distinction between socio- anchored in values relating to a larger whole means that concerns for
centric and world-centric
perspectives, the first type the well-being of the larger whole are factored in in various situations.
characterized by concern for
one's own in-group, while the
second type is characterized Quite a few concepts that were listed by survey respondents can be
by concern for universal
values and principles. related to Inner Compass, e.g. being grounded in ethical values,
passion for the whole, caring about others, solidarity and sense of
purpose.

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.

Integrity and Authenticity

A commitment and ability to act with sincerity, honesty and integrity.

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
13 threatened and thereby giving the person an ability to be appropriately
vulnerable.
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Openness and Learning Mindset

Having a basic mindset of curiosity and a willingness to be vulnerable
and embrace change and grow.

A capacity to be open to learning, reevaluation 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.

In the survey some respondents listed qualities that can be linked with
the capacity for openness, such as tolerance for ambiguity/uncertainty/
discomfort, having a growth mindset and willingness to let go (of
existing patterns).

Openness and Learning Mindset is strongly related to Critical Thinking,

Complexity Awareness, Perspective Skills, Humility, Creativity and
Communication Skills.

Self-awareness
Ability to be in reflective contact with own thoughts, feelings and
desires; having a realistic self-image and ability to regulate oneself.

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. 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. 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.
14
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Several formulations relating to the self were mentioned by survey

respondents: self-reflection, self-care, self-acceptance, self-leadership,
and personal integration of mind, body, soul.
Self-awareness is closely linked to Presence, Humility, Integrity and
Authenticity, Openness and Learning Mindset.

Presence
Ability to be in the here and now, without judgement and in a state of
open-ended presence.

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. See also the discussion of
Humility below. Presence is also related to Self-awareness.

2 Thinking — Cognitive Skills

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.

Critical Thinking
Skills in critically reviewing the validity of views, evidence and plans.

«Critical Thinking» is a concept that has been given different

meanings. It is strongly related to «reflective judgment» or «skills of
argument», constructs that have been extensively researched (see in
particular King & Kitchener, 1994; and Kuhn, 1991. See also Dawson,
2020-2021, who describes the micro-skills involved i great detail).
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:

• Are there robust reasons to believe that the claims made are valid?
• What other facts could be relevant to a balanced interpretation?
• What consequences have to be true if the claims are true?
• What other views or interpretations are possibly valid in relation to
this issue?
• What arguments do people with different views refer to, and what
credibility do those arguments have?
15
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

• Could there be circumstances that have not so far been considered

that could mean that the argument proposed is not fully valid?

A related concept mentioned by survey respondents were variations

of the theme «evidence-based practice», i.e. a concern for using
practices that have been shown to be effective, rather than just doing
what comes to mind. Critical Thinking is strongly related to and partially
overlapping with Perspective skills.

Complexity Awareness
Understanding of and skills in working with complex and systemic
conditions and casualties.

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. 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. There are many types of systems: ecological,
social, cultural, economic, legal, organizational, cognitive, etc. Systems
thinking goes beyond thinking in terms of unidirectional and even
multivariate cause-and-effect relationships to consider dynamics
that cannot be understood without considering systemic patterns
and relationships.

Related concepts that were listed in the survey were holistic view,
strategic thinking, dialectical thinking, polarity thinking and ability to
synthesize. Awareness of complexity is a first step, actual skills in
analyzing, synthesizing and developing and enacting strategies for
managing complex issues are of course of central importance.

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.

Perspective Skills
Skills in seeking, understanding and actively making use of insights from
contrasting perspectives.

This can be regarded as a family of skills, ranging from rather basic

to very sophisticated (and quite rare) skills. A basic perspective skill is
16
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

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. 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. Theo Dawson (2020-2021)
has described a large number of concrete micro-skills contributing to
skillfulness in working productively with multiple perspectives.

Perspective Skills are related to Openness and Learning Mindset,

Sense-making, Complexity Awareness, Critical Thinking and Inclusive
Mindset and Intercultural Competence.

Sense-making
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. Sense-making
has considerable overlap with other parts of the IDG framework, such
as Critical Thinking, Complexity Awareness and Perspective Skills.

Long-term Orientation and Visioning

Long-term orientation and ability to formulate and sustain commitment
to visions relating to the larger context

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. 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. 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
17
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

the development of complex systems. A long-term orientation is

strongly related to and dependent on Complexity Awareness
and Perseverance.

3 Relating — Caring for Others and the World

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
Relating to others and to the world with a basic sense of appreciation,
gratitude and joy.

Appreciation is not a skill in a traditional sense, but 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. Several survey respondents
mentioned the importance of valuing and appreciating nature, as a
basis for feeling commitment to protect the natural environment from
harm. There are reasons to believe that there is a link between later
stages in adult development and the propensity and capacity to be
anchored in an appreciative attitude (Cook-Greuter, 1999). 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.

Gratitude and joy were also mentioned relatively frequently in the

survey responses. These 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.

Appreciation is related to Humility, Openness and Learning Mindset

and Presence, and can be an important factor for Mobilization Skills.

Connectedness
Having a keen sense of being connected with and/or being a part of a
larger whole, such as a community, humanity or global ecosystem.

This is one of the items in the IDG framework that is most profoundly
intertwined with felt identity. 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
18
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

to engage in activities that contribute to positive outcomes for the

«larger whole». Connectedness is certainly not a specific skill resulting
from training. 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, that can be induced by psychedelic
substances, 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.

Connectedness is linked by many other skills and qualities in the IDG

framework, 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.

Humility
Being able to act in accordance with the needs of the situation, without
concern for one's own importance.

Humility here means the capacity to act without concern for looking
good in the eyes of others or of oneself. 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. This may be a consequence of a realistic and accepting
awareness of one's own limitations and other personality properties.
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, e.g. as an expert. This makes it easier to be open, sensitive
and respectful in relation to others.

Humility is related to Openness and Learning Mindset, Self-awareness,

Connectedness, Empathy and Compassion, Presence and Inclusive
Mindset and Intercultural Competence.

Empathy and Compassion

Ability to relate to others, oneself and nature with kindness, empathy
and compassion and the intention to address related suffering.

We have chosen to use both empathy and compassion as

concepts with somewhat different connotations. There are different
conceptualizations in the literature, and it might be wise to keep the
definitions rather open. 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. Empathy and compassion are, of course,
important components in emotional intelligence (see e.g. Eklund &
Meranius, 2021).
19
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Related concepts that were mentioned in the survey were benevolence,

agreeableness and love.

4 Collaborating – Social Skills

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.

Communication Skills
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.

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. However, without a more fundamental
grounding in values and psychological maturity, just practicing certain
behaviours may not lead to genuine contact, trust, safe spaces and
fruitful dialogue. 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. 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.

In the survey some respondents pointed to conflict management

skills and story-telling skills as important. We chose to include these
skills in the communication skills category. Obviously there is a very
comprehensive literature on communication, conflict management and
story-telling, so large that it is difficult to select representative resources.
Some classic references regarding communication are Rosenberg,
1999; Fisher & Ury, 1981; and Bohm, 2004.

Co-creation Skills
Skills and motivation to build, develop and facilitate collaborative
relationships with diverse stake-holders, characterized by psychological
safety and genuine co-creation.

The choice of the term «Co-creation Skills» was made after

extensive conversations in different constellations. In the first survey,
«collaboration» was mentioned very often, but we eventually opted
for «co-creation», because the term emphasises the creative and
20
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

generative aspect of collaboration. Obviously co-creation skills cover

a large number of sub-skills and overlap with several other skills and
qualities in the IDG framework, such as Trust, Communication Skills,
Inclusive Mindset and Intercultural Competence, Mobilization Skills,
Openness and Learning Mindset and Perspective Skills (for a detailed
analysis of collaboration micro-skills, see Dawson 2020-2021). 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.

We chose not to separately list change management skills, which was

mentioned several times in the survey, but the concept certainly merits
specific attention when designing competence development programs.

Again, there is a very large literature relevant to co-creation, not least

regarding facilitation and methods for managing complex issues.

Inclusive Mindset and Intercultural Competence

Willingness and competence to embrace diversity and include people
and collectives with different views and backgrounds.

In this item we combined attitudes and 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. 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-
11 or low-context communication, decision-making practices11 ) and
See e.g. Hofstede, Hofstede
and Minkov, 2005.
communication skills.

A specific aspect of an inclusive mindset mentioned in the survey was

willingness to listen to and adapt to local knowledge. Another facet of
an inclusive mindset is willingness to share power.

Trust
Ability to show trust and to create and maintain trusting relationships.

We included trust in the framework even though trust often 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
21
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

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.

Trust is linked with Integrity and Authenticity, Communication Skills and

Co-creation Skills.

Mobilization Skills
Skills in inspiring and mobilizing others to engage in shared purposes.

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.

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.

5 Acting — Enabling Change

Qualities such as courage and optimism help us acquire true agency,

break old patterns, generate original ideas and act with persistence
in uncertain times.

Courage
Ability to stand up for values, make decisions, take decisive action and,
if need be, challenge and disrupt existing structures and views.

Courage is yet another IDG that cannot easily be regarded as a skill,

but which is still 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. Courage also
entails the willingness to challenge and disrupt deeply ingrained
22
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

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.

Creativity
Ability to generate and develop original ideas, innovate and being willing
to disrupt conventional patterns.

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.
However, there are reasons to believe that creativity is linked to
adult development processes. A common distinction in the adult
development field is to differentiate between preconventional,
conventional and postconventional patterns of meaning-making
(see e.g. Cook-Greuter, 1999). Conventional meaning-making is
associated with taking prevailing norms and practices as given, rather
than inquiring into alternative possibilities, whereas postconventional
meaning-making involves independent envisioning of what is
desirable and how it can be realized. A strongly developed Complexity
Awareness includes the habit of exploring and seeking understanding
of causal relationships and possibilities for alternative scenarios.
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. Other 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.

Optimism
Ability to sustain and communicate a sense of hope, positive attitude
and confidence in the possibility of meaningful change.

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. 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. Of course optimism is not
per definition something that is always functional in relation to
achieving concrete results when grappling with very complex
challenges, it has to be realistic.

Optimism is closely related to Appreciation.

Perseverance
Ability to sustain engagement and remain determined and patient
even when efforts take a long time to bear fruit.
23
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

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.

We included some related concepts mentioned in the survey in this

category: patience, resilience, determination and decisiveness.

24
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Concluding comments
The nature of the IDG framework

As has been pointed out above, the intended function of the IDG
framework is primarily pedagogical. We hope that the creation of the
framework can attract attention, engagement and stimulate further
development. We are well aware that there are deeper patterns
regarding how skills and qualities relate to each other, how they can be
unpacked into sub-skills and how they can be more precisely described
and understood. Some skills and qualities are more fundamental
and prerequisites for others. There are also theoretical frameworks
that describe human development as a holistic process, where the
self and its skills is understood as a «structured whole» (see e.g. ego
development frameworks, Loevinger, 1976; Kegan, 1994; and Cook-
Greuter, 1999; 2013). However, a more penetrating and elaborated
analysis of this is beyond the scope of this report, and also requires
making use of more specific theoretical frameworks (of which there are
many with different properties and biases). So we hope that the IDG
framework will be perceived as open-ended and versatile, and that it
can lend itself to development and adaptations in different directions.

Another aspect of the IDG framework that has been mentioned above
is to what extent we approach skills and qualities using individuals
as the main unit of analysis, or if we think of skills and qualities as
properties of collectives, such as groups, organizations, communities,
processes or methods. In the present (provisional) formulation, the
collective aspect of skills and qualities has not been given the role
it certainly would deserve, and we hope that more attention will be
devoted to exploring this dimension further on.

The SDGs and the IDGs

In real life, skills and qualities develop in specific contexts. This goes
both ways: what skills and qualities are relevant and important varies
depending on role, tasks and situational conditions, while skills and
qualities develop in response to the particular tasks and demands
an individual or a collective are facing. People and organizations
working actively towards fulfilling the SDGs have very different roles
and conditions, so of course the profiles of which of the 23 skills and
qualities are important to focus on varies depending on the specific
case. We have limited systematical knowledge about the matching
patterns between skills and qualities on the one hand, and tasks, roles
and specific conditions on the other hand.

25
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Phase two of Inner Development Goals

The purpose of the first phase of the IDG initiative was to identify and
describe what skills and qualities we need more of in order to work
more successfully toward the Sustainable Development Goals. We
believe and hope that the resulting framework can be useful in various
ways as it stands. The far bigger and more challenging task is to explore
what can be done in order to support the development of key skills
and qualities.

The IDG initiative will now proceed to study what evidence, practices
and tools already exist regarding validated practices for supporting
skill development as well as adult development in a more fundamental
sense. This is a daunting task, requiring comprehensive efforts. The level
of ambition we can aspire to will to a significant extent be dependent on
the financial resources that can be mobilized.

26
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

References
Andersson, P. (2015). Scaffolding of task complexity awareness and
its impact on actions and learning. ALAR: Action Learning and
Action Research Journal, 21(1), 124-147.
Berger, J. G. (2011). Changing on the job: Developing leaders for a
complex world. Stanford University Press.
Bohm, D. (2004). On dialogue, Routledge.
Center for Vaeredygtighed (red.) (2021). Væredygtighed – Indersiden af
Bæredygtighed, Dafolo.
Commons, M. L. (2008) ‹Introduction to the Model of Hierarchical
Complexity and Its Relationship to Postformal Action,› World
Futures, 64:5, p. 305-320.
Cook-Greuter, S. R. (1999). Postautonomous ego development: A study
of its nature and measurement. Thesis presented to the Faculty
of the Graduate School of Education of Harvard University.
Cook-Greuter, S. R. (2013). Nine levels of increasing embrace in ego
development: A full-spectrum theory of vertical growth
and meaning making, www.cook-greuter.com.
Dawson, T. L. (2004) ‹Assessing intellectual development: Three
approaches, one sequence,› Journal of Adult Development, 11,
71-85.
Dawson, T. (2020-2021). VUCA unpacked [a series of blog texts],
dowloaded 6 July 2021 from https://theo-dawson.medium.
com/vuca-unpacked-1-introduction-57cf72ac368b
Eklund, J. H., & Meranius, M. S. (2021). Toward a consensus on the
nature of empathy: A review of reviews. Patient Education and
Counseling. 104(2), 300-307.
Fischer, K. W. (1980) ‹A theory of cognitive development: The control
and construction of hierarchies of skills,› Psychological Review,
vol 87:6, p. 477-531.
Fisher, R. & Ury, W. (1981). Getting to yes. Negotiating agreement without
giving in, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2005). Cultures and
organizations: Software of the mind. New York: Mcgraw-Hill.
Jordan, T. (2016). Deliberative Methods for Complex Issues: A typology
of functions that may need scaffolding. Group Facilitation: A
Research & Applications Journal, 13.
Kegan, R. (1994). In over our heads. The mental demands of modern
life, Cambridge, MS: Harvard University Press.
King, P. M. & K. S. Kitchener (1994). Developing reflective judgment:
Understanding and promoting intellectual growth and critical
thinking in adolescents and adults, Jossey Bass.
Loevinger, J. (1976). Ego development, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers.
Kuhn, D. (1991). The skills of argument, Cambridge University Press.
Loevinger, J. (1976). Ego Development, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers.
27
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Mascolo, M. F. (2005). Change processes in development: The concept

of coactive scaffolding. New Ideas in Psychology, 23(3), 185-196.
Rimanoczy, I. (2020). The Sustainability Mindset Principles: A Guide to
Develop a Mindset for a Better World. Routledge.
Rosenberg, M. (1999). Nonviolent Communication: A Language of
Compassion, Encinitas, CA: PuddleDancer Press.
Torbert W. R. and Associates (2004). Action inquiry: The secret of timely
and transforming leadership. San Francisco CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Wamsler, C., Schäpke, N., Fraude, C., Stasiak, D., Bruhn, T., Lawrence,
M., Schroeder, H. & Mundaca, L. (2020). Enabling new mindsets
and transformative skills for negotiating and activating
climate action: Lessons from UNFCCC conferences of
the parties. Environmental Science & Policy, 112, 227-235.
Wamsler, C. & Restoy, F., (2020). ‹Emotional Intelligence and the
Sustainable Development Goals: Supporting peaceful,
just and inclusive societies›, in: Leal Filho, W. et al. (2020),
Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals,
Springer.
Wamsler, C., Osberg, G., Osika, W., Hendersson, H., & Mundaca, L.
(2021). Linking internal and external transformation for
sustainability and climate action: Towards a new research and
policy agenda, Global Environmental Change, Volume 71,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378021001527
Wiek, A., Withycombe, L., & Redman, C. L. (2011). Key competencies
in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program
development. Sustainability science, 6(2), 203-218.
Wilber, K. (1995). Sex, ecology, spirituality. The spirit of evolution, Boston
and London: Shambala Publications.
Wood, D., Bruner, J. S. & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem
solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17, 89-100.
 

28
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

List of appendices

1. The program theory of the IDG project

2. Related frameworks describing key skills
3. Constellations of people actively involved in
the IDG project
4. Survey 1: form
5. Survey 2: form
6. Top ten lists

29
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Appendix 1: The program theory of the IDG

project, as conceived by Thomas Jordan

30
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Appendix 2: References for similar frameworks

describing key skills

Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics.

(2019a). The SEE Learning Companion: Social, Emotional, and
Ethical Learning: Educating the Heart and Mind. Atlanta, GA:
Emory University.
Center for Vaeredygtighed (red.) (2021). Væredygtighed – Indersiden af
Bæredygtighed, Dafolo.
Chima, A., & Gutman, R. (2020). What it takes to lead through an era of
exponential change. Digital article, Harvard Business Review,
October 29.
Dawson, T. (2020-2021). VUCA unpacked [a series of blog texts],
dowloaded 6 July 2021 from https://theo-dawson.medium.com/
vuca-unpacked-1-introduction-57cf72ac368b
Niemiec, R. M. (2017). Character Strengths Interventions: A Field Guide
for Practitioners, Hogrefe Publishing.
Niemiec, R. M., & McGrath, R. E. (2019). The power of character
strengths: Appreciate and ignite your positive personality. VIA
Institute on Character.
Rant, M. B. (2020). Sustainable development goals (SDGs), leadership,
and Sadhguru: SELF-TRANSFORMATION becoming the aim
of leadership development. The International Journal of
Management Education, 18(3), 100426.
Rimanoczy, I. (2020). The Sustainability Mindset Principles: A Guide to
Develop a Mindset for a Better World. Routledge.
Rychen, D. S., & Salganik, L. H. (Eds.). (2003). Key competencies for a
successful life and well-functioning society. Hogrefe Publishing.
Wamsler, C., Schäpke, N., Fraude, C., Stasiak, D., Bruhn, T., Lawrence,
M., Schroeder, H. & Mundaca, L. (2020). Enabling new mindsets
and transformative skills for negotiating and activating
climate action: Lessons from UNFCCC conferences of
the parties. Environmental Science & Policy, 112, 227-235.
Wamsler, C. & Restoy, F., (2020). ‹Emotional Intelligence and the
Sustainable Development Goals: Supporting peaceful,
just and inclusive societies›, in: Leal Filho, W. et al. (2020),
Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals,
Springer.
Wamsler, C., Osberg, G., Osika, W., Hendersson, H., & Mundaca, L.
(2021). Linking internal and external transformation for
sustainability and climate action: Towards a new research and
policy agenda, Global Environmental Change, Volume 71,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378021001527.
Wiek, A., Withycombe, L., & Redman, C. L. (2011). Key competencies
in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program
development. Sustainability science, 6(2), 203-218.
31
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Appendix 3: People involved

The IDG project initiators is a partnership among the organizations
Ekskäret Foundation (ekskaret.se), 29k (29k.org) and the sustainability
consultancy The New Division (thenewdivision.world).

The project (working) team included:

Jan Artem Henriksson, project leader

Thomas Jordan, method leader
Maria Booth, analyst
Caroline Stiernstedt Sahlborn, Ekskäret foundation
Tomas Björkman, Ekskäret foundation
Erik Fernholm, 29k
Maria Modigh, 29k
Hannah Boman, The New Division
Jakob Trollbäck, The New Division
Fredrik Lindencrona, MindShift Sverige & Region Stockholm
Kristian Stålne, Malmö University

The steering group comprised:

Caroline Stiernstedt Sahlborn, Chair, Ekskäret Foundation

Erik Fernholm, Founder and CEO, 29k
Jakob Trollbäck, Founder, The New Division
Jan Artem Henriksson, Founder SelfLeaders and Relate
Tomas Björkman, Founder, Ekskäret Foundation

Official academic partners and key representatives:

Emma Stenström and Anders Richtner, Stockholm School of

Economics
Stefan Einhorn and Walter Osika, Center for Social Sustainability at
Karolinska Institute
Christine Wamsler, Lund University Centrum for Sustainability Studies,
LUCSUS
Pehr Granqvist, Stockholm University

Additional reference group of researchers or experts:

The persons listed below have contributed significantly along the

process of developing the IDG framework. Their listing here does
of course no imply that each person approves of every detail in the
framework.

Amy C. Edmondson, Ph.D., Harvard Business School

Christine Wamsler, Professor at LUCSUS, Lund University Centre of
Sustainability Studies, LUCSUS
32
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

David Ershammar, Process Consultant, Omtänk utveckling AB

Emma Stenström, PhD, Associate Professor, Stockholm
School of Economics
Fredrik Lindencrona, PhD and Head of R&D at Region of Stockholm
Fredrik Livheim, PhD, psychologist, Karolinska Institutet,
Stockholm, Sweden
Jennifer Garvey Berger, Ph.D., Harvard University
Jesper Hök, Process consultant, Gro
Jonathan Reams, Associate Professor, Norwegian University of
Science and Technology, Trondheim
Marie Österberg, SBU – AGENCY FOR HEALTH
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
Niklas Huss – Founder of Mindshift Sverige
Otto Scharmer, Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management
Pehr Granqvist, Stockholm university
Peter Senge, Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management
Robert Kegan, Ph.D., Harvard University
Sebastiaan Meijer, Professor, Royal Institute of Technology
Sofia Tranæus, Professor SBU, AGENCY FOR HEALTH
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
Stefan Einhorn, Professor, Center for Social Sustainability at
Karolinska Institute
Stefanie Greca, Head of Research and Communication, CADRA
Theo Dawson, PhD, Founder and Executive Director, Lectica, Inc.
Walter Osika, Director Center for Social Sustainability at
Karolinska Institute

Except for this group above 20 experienced coaches and trainers

helped on a voluntary basis during the MindShift -Growth that Matters
Digital Conference on May 12th 2021, to facilitate dialogue and gather
input from more than 1500 participants on the formulation and framing
of the Inner Development Goals.

Collaborating partners – primary contact person and

organization

Celia Sanchez Valladares, Ashoka

Egbert Schram, Hofstede Insight
Fredrik Lindecrona, Region of Stockholm and Mindshift Sweden
Per Winblad, Motivation.se
Rainer von Leoprechting, CADRA – Cognitive Adult Development
Research and Application project, financed by Erasmus +
Thomas Legrand, UNDP - CoFSA (Conscious Food Systems Alliance)

Financing has been composed of pro-bono work from participating

partners and organizations and donations from: Ericsson - Selina
Millström, Spotify – Katarina Berg, Tanent & Partner – Torbjörn Eriksson,
Houdini - Eva Karlsson, OX2 – Bita Yazdani, IKEA – Tina Molund,
33
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Close – Niklas Grewin and Midroc - LiseLotte J. Bate.

For un updated list of partners and sponsors please check:
www.innerdevelopmentgoals.org

The project capital was initially placed within the Ekskäret Foundation,
through the subsidiary “Ekskäret Commons AB”, but is for now (August
2021) placed under its own AB fully owned by Ekskäret Foundation
named Growth that Matters AB and will when it has grown stronger be
transferred to its own foundation without any commercial profit interest
and with the purpose of developing and making the Inner Development
Goals framework accessible for all.

34
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Appendix 4: Survey 1 form

Inner Development Goals – Survey

When the UN presented the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015,
we were given a comprehensive plan for building a more sustainable
world. The 17 goals cover a wide range of issues that involve people
with different needs, values and convictions. It is important to
understand how we as individuals, organizations and societies can
become more effective in the work towards sustainability, due to the
complexity of our challenges. This is why we are developing the Inner
Development Goals - a framework of the human capabilities, qualities
and transformative skills that are needed to successfully build a better
world. We need your thoughts and insights in this effort.

If you want more information about the background and purpose of this
initiative as well as about data handling (GDPR) please click this link.

This brief survey has three sections:

1. A few questions on biographical information about you. These

data will allow us to look for patterns among the respondents, e.g.
if certain types of skills, qualities or abilities are more frequently
mentioned among certain categories of respondents;

2. The main survey question (one single, but crucial, question)

3. Concluding information and invitation to provide contact

information for a second survey round.

35
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Biographical details
Please tell us about which role or roles you have

Manager (except HR and sustainability manager)

HR manager
Sustainability manager
Leadership development professional
Employee
Social entrepreneur
Organizational consultant/coach
Researcher (if yes, please name your field of research in the textbox below)
Other (if yes, please describe your role in the textbox below)

Comment

Which sector are you working in?

Private sector
Public sector
Non-governmental organization (NGO)

Comment

What is your age?

– 29
30-49
50-69
70 –

What is your gender?

Female
Male
Non-binary / Third gender
Prefer not to say

36
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

What is the country that you primarily grew up in (or the

culture that had the biggest influence on you) before the age
of 15?

[Drop-down list with countries]

Other (please specify)

How familiar are you with the UN's Sustainable Development

Goals and Agenda 2030?

Not at all familiar

Somewhat familiar
Very familiar
Very familiar and working towards the SDGs is part of your job

Main survey question

What abilities, qualities or skills do you believe are essential to develop,

individually and collectively, in order to get us significantly closer to
fulfilling the UN Sustainable Development Goals?

In the following text boxes, please write 3-7 abilities, qualities or skills
and add, if you want, a brief comment on why you feel these abilities,
qualities or skills are essential. (Please write only one ability, quality or
skill per text box.)

1.
Comment:

2.
Comment:

3.
Comment:

4.
Comment:

5.
Comment:

6.
Comment:

7.
Comment:
37
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Thank you so much for contributing to our quest to identify key Inner
Development Goals.

In a second survey round, we will ask participants to rank the most

important inner development goals from a list of abilities, qualities and
skills derived from this survey.

If you are willing to participate in the second round of this survey, please
provide your contact information. (Your contact info will not be used for
any other purpose and will not be shared outside this project.)
Name
Email Address

Join us at MindShift - 12th of May 2021! On the 12th of May you

are invited to join MindShift - a digital conference with world-leading
scientists (from Harvard, MIT, SSE & KI) and practitioners in the field of
human development.

You will be able to try out and apply the first draft of the «Inner
Development Goals›› - a co- created blueprint for human capabilities,
qualities and skills that are vital for a sustainable future. More info about
MindShift conference here: http://mindshift.ekskaret.se/

38
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Appendix 5: Survey 2 form

Inner Development Goals – Survey 2

When the UN presented the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015,
we were given a comprehensive plan for building a more sustainable
world. The 17 goals cover a wide range of issues that involve people
with different needs, values and convictions. It is important to
understand how we as individuals, organizations and societies can
become more effective in the work towards sustainability, due to the
complexity of our challenges. This is why we are developing the Inner
Development Goals - a framework of the human capabilities, qualities
and transformative skills that are needed to successfully build a better
world. We need your thoughts and insights in this effort.

If you want more information about the background and purpose of this
initiative as well as about data handling (GDPR) please click this link.

This brief survey has three sections:

1. A few questions on biographical information about you. These data

will allow us to look for patterns among the respondents, e.g. if certain
types of skills, qualities or abilities are more frequently mentioned
among certain categories of respondents;

2. The main survey question: You will be asked to select and rank the
skills or qualities you find most important to develop further in order for
us to work more effectively towards UN's Sustainable Development
Goals.

3. Concluding information

39
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Biographical details
Please tell us about which role or roles you have

Manager (except HR and sustainability manager)

HR manager
Sustainability manager
Leadership development professional
Employee
Social entrepreneur
Organizational consultant/coach
Researcher (if yes, please name your field of research in the textbox below)
Other (if yes, please describe your role in the textbox below)

Comment

Which sector are you working in?

Private sector
Public sector
Non-governmental organization (NGO)

Comment

What is your age?

– 29
30-49
50-69
70 –

What is your gender?

Female
Male
Non-binary / Third gender
Prefer not to say

40
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

What is the country that you primarily grew up in (or the

culture that had the biggest influence on you) before the age
of 15?

[Drop-down list with countries]

Other (please specify)

How familiar are you with the UN's Sustainable Development

Goals and Agenda 2030?

Not at all familiar

Somewhat familiar
Very familiar
Very familiar and working towards the SDGs is part of your job

41
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Main survey question

Here is a list of important skills/qualities for working effectively towards
the SDGs suggested by respondents to the first IDG survey. Please
select, according to your view, the ten most important items, and rank
them from most to less important. You do this by drag-and-drop: select
the items you want to include by clicking and holding on the symbol
farthest to the left of the item text and drag it upwards to the position
you want it to have among the first ten.

Appreciation: Relating to others and to the world with a basic sense of

appreciation, gratitude and joy.

Co-creation Skills: Skills and motivation to build, develop and

facilitate collaborative relationships with diverse stakeholders,
characterized by psychological safety and genuine co-creation.

Communication Skills: 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.

Complexity Awareness: Understanding of and skills in working with

complex and systemic conditions and causalities.

Connectedness: Having a keen sense of being connected with and/

or being a part of a larger whole, such as a community, the humanity or
the natural environment.

Courage: Ability to stand up for fundamental values, make decisions,

take decisive action and, if need be, challenge and disrupt existing
structures and views.

Creativity: Ability to generate and develop original ideas, innovate and

being willing to disrupt conventional patterns.

Critical Thinking: Skills in critically reviewing the validity of views,

evidence and plans.

Empathy and Compassion: Ability to relate to others, oneself and

nature with kindness, empathy and compassion and the intention to
address related suffering.

Humility: Being able to act in accordance with the needs of the

situation without concern for one's own importance.

Inclusive Mindset and Intercultural Competence: Willingness and

competence to embrace diversity and include people and collectives
with different views and backgrounds.
42
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Inner Compass: Having a deeply felt sense of responsibility and

commitment to values and purposes relating to the good of the whole.

Integrity and Authenticity: A commitment and ability to act with

sincerity, honesty and integrity.

Long-term Orientation and Visioning: Long-term orientation and

ability to formulate and sustain commitment to visions relating to the
larger context.

Mobilization Skills: Skills in inspiring and mobilizing others to engage

in shared purposes.

Openness and Learning Mindset: Having a basic mindset of curiosity

and willingness to be vulnerable, embrace change and grow.

Optimism: Ability to sustain and communicate a sense of hope, positive

attitude and confidence in the possibility of meaningful change.

Perseverance: Ability to sustain engagement and remain determined

and patient even when efforts take a long time to bear fruit.

Perspective Skills: Skills in seeking, understanding and actively

making use of insights from contrasting perspectives.

Presence: Ability to be in the here and now, without judgement and in a

state of open-ended presence.

Self-awareness: Ability to be in reflective contact with own thoughts,

feelings and desires; having a realistic self-image and ability to regulate
oneself.

Trust: Ability to trust and create and maintain trusting relationships.

Is there any capability that you feel is missing and should be added? Or
do you have any other comments regarding the ranking above?

If you have ranked fewer than 10 skills/qualities

above, please tell us how many you have chosen.

43
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Thank you so much for contributing to our quest to identify key Inner
Development Goals (IDG)! We will process the survey results and
present a first draft of the IDG framework at the online MindShift
conference on 12 May 2021.

Join us at MindShift - 12th of May 2021!

You are invited to join MindShift - a digital conference focused on
human development with 10-14 parallel tracks with world-leading
scientists from Harvard, Karolinska Institute, MIT and Stockholm
School of Economics together with practitioners and senior leaders
from public and private sectors.

You will be able to try out and apply the first draft of the «Inner
Development Goals›› - a co-created framework for human
capabilities, qualities and skills that are vital for a sustainable future.
More info about the MindShift conference here:
http://mindshift.ekskaret.se/

44
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

Appendix 6: Top ten lists from survey 2

In the following tables we present three different ways of calculating the
«top ten» skills and qualities selected by respondents to survey 2. The
first table shows the skills and qualities included by respondents in their
top ten selections, according to how frequent they were at all included.
The second table shows the top ten items in terms of how often they
were ranked first by respondents. The third table uses a weighted
method of calculation, where items ranked in first place get 10 points,
items in the second place get 9 points, etc. The ranked list is based on
how many points each items got.

We also break down responses according to biographical data:

– All respondents
– Female and male respondents
– Swedish respondents vs respondents from all other countries
– Age of respondents: <50 vs >50 years old.
– Roles: researchers, HR managers and sustainability managers
– Respondents who claimed to be very familiar with the SDGs

The tables have been prepared by Maria Booth.

45
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

46
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

47
Inner Development Goals:
Background, method and
the IDG framework

48
 Founding Partners

Academic Partners

Collaborating Partners
Growth that Matters AB, 2021