The Inner Development Goals - relationship to self, cognitive skills, caring for others and the world, social skills, enabling change - are marching on Stockholm

We have observed admiringly the way that the Inner Development Goals project - attempting to sketch out the inner, psychological and cultural work required for the Sustainable Development Goals to be attained - has built and burgeoned over the last few years.

The latest crest in their wave is a summit in Stockholm, 16-18 October, titled The Space In Between: from inner growth to outer change [tickets here]. You’ll get the feel of the event from the video embedded above. But we wanted to check in and show some material they’re producing which articulates their ideas with great clarity.

We also note that the IDG has published a short paper that answers some of the major critiques of the process (available here). Some excerpts:

Could the IDG Framework reinforce unhelpful cultural norms?

The structure of the IDG Framework is intended to be simple to grasp, and intuitively understood by the modern mind. In some settings however such a communications device risks appearing like assessment criteria, and as such reinforcing late 20th-century cultural norms around ‘competencies’ and their development.

In a society that overvalues progress and personal achievement, inner development thus presented could be seen as an accessory of performative self-improvement. We emphasise therefore that inner development is not about measurement or linear steps on a journey to perfection. It is a lifelong, messy process, characterised by setbacks and breakthroughs.

Accordingly, many of the skills featured in the IDG Framework are at odds with the dominant culture that prizes achievement and progress over all. For example, those skills in the ‘being’ domain such as ‘inner compass’, ‘integrity and authenticity’, and ‘self-awareness’ equip citizens to remain true to their deeper values where these contradict prevailing culture.

Meanwhile ‘relating’ qualities such as ‘connectedness’, ‘empathy and compassion’, and ‘humility’ are themselves considered intrinsic values that inhibit extrinsic motivations such as wealth, achievement and status.

This said, it remains very difficult to develop such vital competencies for 21st century survival, so long as our cultures, systems and institutions remain dominated by 20th century ideas and mindsets. And so challenging and changing the modernist mindset of reductionism and technocratic manageability is an integral part of the IDG project.

Indeed, the challenges that humanity now faces are fundamentally irreducible and emergent - which is precisely why we so urgently need the transformative power of the IDGs. Inner development is critical in creating co.nditions for people to cope amid uncertainty and rapid change.

Here for example, ‘thinking’ capacities like ‘perspective taking’, ‘complexity awareness’ and ‘sensemaking’ help leaders and citizens alike to hold greater nuance, tolerate ambiguity and navigate complexity.