How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work

Harvard Graduate School of Education developmental psychologists Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey offer a "new technology" or "mental machine" in their book about personal and professional transformation. In it, Kegan and Lahey apply their research on adult learning to the organizational setting. The "new technology" (derived from the Greek techne — "suggesting the artful or skillful activity of making or building") is based on three physical properties: entropy, negentropy, and dynamic equilibrium, as they relate to change. Emphasizing the significance of communication in effecting change, the authors suggest seven language forms as the tools for transforming "customary mental and social arrangements." How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work presents an innovative and practical approach to assist leaders and educators in the challenge to create collaborative learning communities.