Our developmental assessment system, called the Lectical Assessment System (LAS), can be used to score (a) the performances of persons and (b) the task demands of specific situations/contexts. For example, my colleagues and I have analyzed the task demands of levels of management in large organizations, and tested managers’ developmental level of performance in several skill areas—including reasoning about leadership, reflective judgment, and decision-making.

The figure above shows the relation between the task demands of 7 levels of management and the performance levels of managers occupying these management positions. In this oversimplified image, the task demands of most management positions increase in a linear fashion, spanning levels 10-13. The capabilities of managers do not, for the most part, match these task demands.

This pattern is pervasive—we see it everywhere we look—and it reflects a hard truth. None of us is capable of meeting the task demands of the most complex situations in today’s world. I’ve come to believe that in many situations our best hope for meeting these demands is to (1) work strategically on the development of our own skills and knowledge, (2) learn to work closely with others who represent a wide range of perspectives and areas of expertise, and (3) use the best tools available to scaffold our thinking.