Subject-Object Interview (SOI)
How do you measure maturity?
Have you noticed that some people get wiser with age and others… well, not so much? Our brains don’t have to stop developing at adulthood. Leadership demands a mental capacity that may put some of us in over our heads. There’s a science behind adult development and a method of measuring it called the Subject-Object interview.
What is the Subject-Object Interview (SOI)?
The SOI is the gold standard for assessing the nature, complexity, and limits of various predictable stages of mental maturity as described in Robert Kegan’s constructive-development theory. The SOI helps codify the extent to which we are able to consciously observe our own systems of thinking and feeling as if they were objects outside of us, versus being subject to them unconsciously. Each level of development represents a way of thinking that allows a greater unfolding of what was once hidden from one’s awareness at a prior level. There are 21 distinctions further refining the 5 stages shown below.
STAGE
1. Impulsive Mind
DESCRIPTOR
– Urges, fantasy, impulses, and perceptions
– Current moment
– Own perspective
Typically, infants and toddlers
2. Imperial, Instrumental Mind
– One’s own concrete needs, interests, desires
– Dualistic (black & white) thinking
– Reliance on rules Concrete perceptions of present reality
– Tit-for-tat reciprocity
– Other’s perspectives as seen through own concrete needs
Only about 5% of adults operate at stage 2.
3. Socialized, Interpersonal Mind
– Inner states, self-consciousness
– Loyalty, obligation.
– Identification with the opinions or ideals of a group or role
– External authority & evaluation of self
– Internalized perceptions and generalizations shaped by external sources
– One relationship at a time
– Mutual reciprocity.
Roughly half of all adults operate at stage 3 or between stages 3 and 4.
4. Self-authored, Institutional Mind
– Self-defined identity, ideology, & values
– A coordination of multiple relationships according to self-authored criteria
– Internal emotion-regulation in the service of a goal
– Internal authority and evaluation of self
– Systems perspective-taking
Only about one third of adults are reliably self-authoring
5 Self-transforming, Inter-individual Mind
– Dialectical, paradoxical, complexity
– Openness, curiosity, fluidity
– Interpenetration of self-systems
– Interpenetrating perspective-taking.
Less than 1% of adults are consistently self-transforming
What is the purpose of the SOI?
The SOI is most often used in developmental coaching and in research to distinguish a person’s meaning-making capacity. For the interviewee, it provides a benchmark for assessing one’s current complexity of mind and illuminates the path towards future growth. Learning to understand the SOI itself has the potential to influence development. The SOI can also help deepen a coach’s understanding of a client’s meaning-making capacities so that the coach can respond more effectively.
How is the SOI administered?
During the 60 to 90-minute interview, the client is prompted to reflect on real-life experiences using a series of uniform probes. For example, the interviewer might ask, “Can you tell me about a recent experience of being quite angry about something”. After the interview, the certified assessor explores the interviewee’s way of discernment underlying the construction of various sections of the recorded and transcribed response.
Assessment documentation includes a transcript of the interview and an overall evaluation that details a discussion of why the chosen score is supported and why alternative scores are not.
Pricing
Without Coaching
$1,225 for summary report only
$1,675 for detailed report
$2,000 for detailed report & debrief
With Coaching Plan
25% discount if purchased in combination with any coaching plan of at least 10 sessions
Questions?
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