[SOUND] Welcome back, in this module we'll provide an overview of intentional change theory. A theory that explains what enables sustained, desired change at any level, individual, dyads, teams, organizations, communities, countries and beyond. This theory serves as the basis for our coaching model. And in the upcoming models of this course we will share cognitive, emotional, physiological and neurological aspects of the theory as it relates to coaching others for their development and growth. Now intentional change theory shares in common certain aspects of a number of theories of change, motivation, or goal pursuit. For instance, DC and Ryan's self-determination theory suggested individuals have three basic psychological needs. We need to feel competent in what it is that we're doing. We need to feel a sense of relatedness, or meaningful connections to others. And, we need to feel a sense of autonomy, where we're in a control of our own lives. You will see that intentional changes theory accounts for each of these needs. Regulatory focus theory, as articulated by Tony Higgins, offers that there are two separate and independent self-regulatory orientations. A promotion-focus orientation involves focusing on hopes or accomplishments, in the pursuit of an ideal framed as a positive outcome. On the other hand, prevention-focused orientation focuses on the safety or security of doing what one ought to do to prevent negative outcomes. You will learn that coaching based on intentional change theory encourages more of a promotion-focused orientation, or a hopeful pursuit of your dream, or an ideal image of the future. Finally, Barbara Fredrickson's broaden and build theory suggests that positive emotions broaden our awareness. They open us up and expand our views, as well as making us more creative and resilient. Further, she argues that the effects of positive emotions are enduring. They enable us to build long-lasting resources, which can be psychological, intellectual, physical or social, and they enhance our overall wellbeing. You will learn in the next module the key role that positive emotions play in intentional change. Now, while intentional change theory shares certain elements with a variety of other theories, it is a relatively comprehensive theory that as I said, helps explain what enables sustained, desired change. So let's talk more specifically about the theory itself. Drawing on complexity theory, intentional change theory recognizes that behavioral change does not necessarily occur in a smooth linear continuous fashion, right? Instead it occurs more in discontinuous bursts or spurts. The theory suggests that sustained change occurs through the emergence of five of these bursts, which can be described as epiphanies or discoveries. The first of these discoveries involves getting in touch with what we call the ideal self. Now getting in touch with the ideal self requires asking and then answering the question, who do I really want to be, and what do I really want to do with my life, broadly speaking. Now notice I didn't say what do I want to do in my job or what do I want to do with my career? Those things are important but it's bigger than that. It's what do I want to do with my life and who do I really want to be as a person? This is a more holistic view. Notice also that I stress that word, really. Who do I really want to be? The reason I stress that, is because sometimes people think they're tapping into an ideal self. Well if they mistakenly tap into as what's been describe as an ought self, which is more of who do I think I ought to be or what do others think I ought to be doing? And that's a very different motivation when you tap into and ought and much less likely to lead to sustained change. And we'll talk much more about that distinction between the ideal self and the ought self in the future module. But for now just remember that this process starts with you focusing on your ideal. Who you really want to be, and what you really want to do. The second discovery of the model involves getting in touch with what we call the real self. Now, getting in touch with the real self involves asking and then answering the question, who am I today? But it's not who am I today in an absolute sense. It's, who am I today relative to who I've said I want to be? Because it is relative to who you said you want to be, there are certain areas in your life where you may already be in that area or aspect of your life, kind of who you want to be. And that's great. You want to recognize that as a strength. But for most of us, there are other areas in our lives where we are not quite there yet. We're not quite who we want to be in that are of our lives. That's flagged on the model as a gap, an area where ideal self and our real self are not currently in sync. And the second discovery requires really focusing on being aware of both, those strengths as well as those gaps. The third discovery, then, involves a creation of what we call a learning agenda. Which is essentially a plan, for doing what it is you're excited to do to move your real self to where it's more closely aligned with your ideal. You know, in what ways you're excited to grow. What are you excited about learning? A key consideration here, is that this learning agenda or plan, should start with the acknowledgment and then the leveraging and building of strengths you have. And only then do you move to the closing of gaps that you want to close. There's a video I sometimes show with groups that I work with entitled, Celebrate What's Right With the World. And in that video, Dewitt Jones shares that, by celebrating what's right, we find the energy to fix what's wrong. In this context, by acknowledging and leveraging our strengths, we better enable ourselves to close any gaps that we want to close. Now, the fourth discovery of the model recognizes that no matter how elaborate a plan you put together in that third discovery, at the end of the day if you continue to do what you've always done, you'll continue to be who've you always been, period. To truly make change in your life requires that you do some things differently than you've done historically, right. So this fourth discovery suggests that you should first of all, start experimenting with some new behaviors. Try some things that you haven't tried before. And you continue that experimentation process until you find something that works. And when you do, you then move to the second half of this discovery, which is to then practice those new behaviors, right. Now the key here is the extent to which you practice. You don't just practice to the point of comfort, to where you feel like, man if I think about this, I can do it really well. And that's great, but you want to go beyond that point of comfort. You want to practice to the point of mastery, to where you don't even have to think about it anymore, to where it's just part of kind of who you are and what you do. There used to be a television commercial that ran several years ago that, for me, captured the essence of this distinction. And the wording from that commercial was, it something like, amateurs practice until they get it right, professionals practice until they can't get it wrong. That's the level of distinction we're talking about here. Practice me to that point of mastery. Now, the fifth discovery recognizes that significant behavioral change is difficult. It's even more difficult, however, if you attempt to do it in isolation. So this fifth discovery recognizes that you're gonna be more successful in your change efforts if you embed them within a network of trusting, supportive relationships with others. So in other words, who are the people who can help you, at each of the other four discoveries in the model, work through those discoveries in your change process? Who can you talk to about who you really want to be in your future? Who can you turn to get good open feedback about where you are today? But also, too, who you're trying to become. Who can really help you think about strategies and approaches for making change as you attempt to achieve that ideal self you've articulated? So again, some of us may think, yes, I can do it on my own. But we know from our research that turning to the support of others is crucial in this process. So, those are the five discoveries. One more point that I want to make is that movement between these five discoveries, occurs as we reach tipping points between positive and negative emotional attractors. We will explain these positive and negative emotional attractors in the next module. But I wanted to stress the fact that these tipping points in our emotional, hormonal and neurological states play a key role in our movement between the discoveries. As well as helping us to open up to new ideas, and to achieve growth within a given discovery. So, that is an overview of intentional change theory, the basis of our coaching model. As we proceed through this course, we will explore each of these discoveries in greater depth and discuss why and how they facilitate sustained desired change. We will also share tips and techniques for leveraging each of these discoveries in the coaching process. That's all for now, I look forward to seeing you in the next module. [MUSIC]
