How Vertical Development Will Create Transformational Change For You As A Change Agent

The year 2020 has been a period of unanticipated challenges and abrupt changes to most businesses. Many may feel that the way of life as we know it does not seem to make sense anymore. Many of our routines have been disrupted; rushing to get to the office by 9am is not the first thing workers wake up to anymore, having classes through a computer screen instead of having interactive in-person classes are the only option college students have for spring term, and retail businesses are shifting their focus towards legitimising their online presence to attract customers because everyone shops with their digital devices now.

With these dramatic shift recently, many businesses and individuals struggle to keep their heads above water during this difficult time. However, there is a possible solution to this situation, which is to become a change agent with a continuous vertical and horizontal developing mindset.

What is a Change Agent?

A change agent, in a general sense, is someone who brings about change within a group. In businesses, it is "an individual who promotes and supports a new way of doing something within the company," according to google’s top answer by SearchCIO. These include but are not limited to the use of new processes, the adoption of new management structures, and the transformation of advancing business models.

Traditionally, there are two types of commonly-known change agents; the internal and the external. An internal change agent is someone who works within the organisation and is directly affiliated with the organisation’s policies. The advantage of this type of change agents is that they consistently manage an ongoing process of change, which may allow the organisation to better understand each aspect involved during the process. On the other hand, an external change agent is someone who is brought to the organisation from the outside to motivate a specific change within the organisation. The advantages of the external type is that they are more likely to bring in a fresh perspective to a stubborn situation, as well as a challenge to the organisation's status quo.

Why Do We Need to Become a Change Agent?

Nowadays, change management is not only a specialty in the field of business, it is what most leaders should be learning. The rate of change is accelerating rapidly, causing our tactics for tackling challenges to improve at a similar rate. Our change strategy must match our opponent, which is change itself. The difference is, if we initiate it first, we have the upper hand. It is time to change the way we view change.

Leading change does not only require someone with extensive knowledge, a wide range of skills, and years of experience in the particular field. In 2020, organisations and companies are looking for someone with strong and in-depth capabilities in manoeuvring the knowledge, skills and experiences to manage unexpected challenges like the Coronavirus pandemic. You could be that someone!

A change agent is usually an observer and a participant at the same time, which allows them to spot problems and understand where they might have stemmed from. They are also equipped with diversified knowledge across different sectors which enables them to see from various perspectives, giving them the edge of overcoming challenges with unconventional solutions. With these qualities, change agents have something that other workers do not possess, which seems to be the key that enables them to bring positive change to an organisation in trouble. And this key component is vertical development.

How to Become a Vertically Developing Change Agent in the Current Society?

Horizontal Development vs. Vertical Development

According to the Cross Knowledge blog, horizontal development refers to "subject-matter expertise", knowledge-based skills that can easily be learned through taking classes. Conversely, vertical development refers to highly developed "soft skills" that translate to the capacity of the mind.

Consider a common analogy in describing the difference between the two developments; horizontal development is to add more water into the glass, whereas vertical development is to expand the size of the glass. The glass resembles a person's mind and the water within resembles knowledge, skills, and competencies. As you might have guessed, without expanding the size of the glass, there is always a limit as to how much water the glass can hold.

"Traditional horizontal development focuses on the acquisition of further knowledge, skills and development of specific personal qualities to become more proficient and experienced in a given aspect of leadership. By contrast, vertical development transforms the underlying capacity of the leader to make sense of and respond to situations, working directly on their internal 'meaning making', rather than just behaviours or actions." - Mike Vessey

Vertical Development Since Birth

Nick Petrie, the author of Vertical Leadership Development at the Center for Creative Leadership, tells us that both horizontal and vertical development happen simultaneously as children grow. In fact, vertical development happens at a much quicker rate during childhood and slows down dramatically once reaching adulthood.

Since birth, children develop vertically from first gaining physical awareness of the self, then emotional awareness of the self, to the emergence of the conceptual self and the establishment of a concrete consciousness. At the same time, children are developing horizontally as well. Using language as an example, learning the words in a particular language and the structural rules one must follow to string together sentences are a part of horizontal development, whereas how one uses the language to persuade their parents to buy them a Switch Nintendo is a part of vertical development.

This suggests that everyone is capable of further vertical development in adulthood, since we have been doing it throughout childhood. So why do most people struggle with growing vertically? Perhaps understanding the reason for its dramatic decrease in adulthood would give us insights as to how we can overcome the likelihood of reaching this point of plateau. Dr. Alan Watkins, explained in his TED Talk Why You Feel What You Feel, that once children reach the stage of establishing concrete consciousness and understanding where they fit in in this reality, their vertical development slows down because they get comfortable, as most people do. The instances of people attempting to move beyond their concrete self is most commonly seen in their rebellious teenage years and during their midlife crisis. Then the ultimate question now becomes, how does one stimulate their vertical development during adulthood?

Incorporate Vertical Development with Horizontal Development

Dr. Alan Watkins, a physician and neuroscientist, explains that vertical development is a transformation of one's consciousness through developing an increased mental complexity and innovation capability, improving emotional intelligence and ability to resolve conflict constructively, and increasing efficiency in the decision making process. Engaging in this approach will help one thrive in a constantly-evolving world.

To kickstart one's vertical development requires something to challenge the status quo. Much like the "kick" described in the movie Inception - the feeling of falling that jolts you awake - it is when our reality is being questioned that we begin to feel uncomfortable with what we are used to and wake up from it. There are three things to keep in mind through vertical growth:

1. Recognise that struggle is an invitation for growth as it is often opportunity in disguise.

2. Question underlying assumptions to always be aware of false logic leading to inaction.

3. Learn as long as you are able to breathe because knowledge will provide you keys to the doors that leads to different perspectives.

4. Always hold multiple point-of-views in order to be fully prepared for problems and challenges one may encounter, and constantly be prepared for a new normal.

Being prepared for the mindset shift will ultimately prepare you for the action shift. Being a change agent is no longer making changes as problems arise, it is anticipating the possible challenges of every decision made and initiating the change process before these challenges become permanent problems. The key to stand out amongst the rest is to incorporate vertical development with horizontal development as a change agent. The difference is, we are not making changes, we are leading change.

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Reference

Jones R. 2019, How Vertical Development Helps New Leaders Truly Transform, Richard Hughes Jones, viewed 22 June 2020, <http://www.richardhughesjones.com/vertical-development/>

Megha M. 2016,Change Agent, Business Jargons, viewed 20 June 2020, <https://businessjargons.com/change-agent.html>

Watkins A. 2015, Vertical Development, YouTube, viewed 23 June 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghjUKUf_Uf4>

Watkins A. 2015, Why You Feel What You Feel, TEDxOxford, viewed 23 June 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-rRgpPbR5w>

Horizontal Development vs. Vertical Development: What You Need to Know 2019, Cross Knowledge, viewed 22 June 2020, <https://blog.crossknowledge.com/horizontal-vertical-development/>