Soundtrack to Human Development: Vol. 2

If you weren’t exhausted by songs that remind me of human development theories and development stages from Volume 1, then you’re in the right place. This is Volume 2, dedicated to exploring the movements of Scharmer’s Theory U and Kegan’s evolutionary truces.

Soundtrack to Human Development: Volume 2 — Theory U & Kegan’s Evolutionary Truces

#1 FEARLESS — BAIYU

Introduction to Scharmer’s Theory U: “A choice is where the unbinding begins. To make this choice is to unearth the truth. To willingly reverse my center of gravity, and shred up every memory of my past. As I grasp on to what little I thought was reality, I am relieved, yet frightened. Will I like what I find? Will that even matter? The deeper I go, the more I realize that nothing is as it seems.”

#2 THEY KNOW MY NAME — BIG LITTLE LIONS

Theory U — the Voices of Judgment, Fear, and Cynicism: As we begin to embark on our journey through the U, we encounter different voices which hook us, and make it difficult to keep opening ourselves up to reality and change. The upbeat melody of this song juxtaposes against the lyrical message, “These monsters are hiding within my brain. They roar and they shout and they call my name.” The message? Make a home for the monsters. Invite them in. The work begins with who we are now.

#3 EYES WIDE SHUT — STACY BARTHE

Theory U — Downloading: The first stage of the U is all about downloading your past assumptions, beliefs, and mental models that keep you locked in a state of inattention. Stacy Barthe sings, “I’m walking around with my eyes wide shut, cause the world is just too scary to face sometimes. I just don’t know. So I keep my eyes wide shut.” This is just the beginning.

#4 POLITIK — COLDPLAY

Theory U — Seeing: To move through the U and lead from the emerging future, we start by paying deeper attention to the world with a sense of mindfulness. In this song, Coldplay’s chorus refrain is all the reminder we need: “Open up your eyes, open up your eyes, open your eyes.”

#5 HELLO MY OLD HEART — THE OH HELLOS

Theory U — Sensing: As we have gathered data from opening our eyes, we can begin to connect these new facts to our heart through empathy and compassion. The message of this song is that we become disconnected from our heart in our living in the world, so this song is a reminder to reconnect, open our heart, and use this as a way of accessing truth.

#6 IDITAROD — CAPE FRANCIS

Theory U — Presencing: When I read the lyrics to Cape Francis’ debut single, I connected it to how I interpret this stage of Theory U, which comes after “letting go” and before “letting come.” In the second verse, Kevin Olken Henthorn sings, “Let it come as it goes, let it burn with the gray. The walls I built beside me won’t last this anyway. Let it go and arise, falling ashes away. The days we live tomorrow are not the times we live today.” Henthorn says this song seemed to “come from nowhere all at once” and that “If this song is about anything, it’s about staying awake and focused in the face of violent transition,” which is how I imagine the presencing to be, when we are in tune with our being and our true work.

#7 STEP OUT — JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ

Theory U — Crystallizing: This song was composed for the soundtrack of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) and accompanies scenes of Walter (portrayed by Ben Stiller) skateboarding through Norway as he embraces a different trajectory in his life. Even the tone of this song reminds me of the energy and force that comes from moving from a state of presence into a state of crystalling your work, and beginning to live into the emerging future.

#8 GO DO — JÓNSI

Theory U — Acting in an instant/Performing: The final movement of the U is acting in an instant, which is where we have synthesized each of the previous movements into a centered state of being, and can begin to play what Scharmer calls “the macroviolin,” which is where we see that the universe is unfolding through our active, present participation. This song by the Icelandic band Jónsi conveys the jubilance that might come through this final movement. “We should always know that we can do anything.” I first became acquainted with this song through its use in a promotional video for Mural Arts Philadelphia, and I think it is a beautiful, dynamic illustration of what Performing might look like in a community.

The second half of this album is dedicated to an exploration of Kegan’s evolutionary truces. Unlike other theorists, Kegan proposes that these truces are not bound by age, nor do we move through them linearly. In a single day, you could move from balances of Imperial, to Interpersonal, to Institutional, and back to Imperial. This is because Kegan supposes that we live inside of the tilt between stages, always becoming ourselves over and over again.

However, for the purposes of this soundtrack, it’s easier to use a perspective of “archetypal truces,” borrowing from Jung and his notion of how we imitate certain identities that have been forged through time the collective unconscious. In the same way, we can imagine these truces as archetypes, and understanding the way they might show up for you can also be a way of better understanding how you tilt between them and take on their characteristics.

#9 KIDS — MGMT

Kegan’s 1st stage — Impulsive: MGMT’s song “Kids” is all about Kegan’s 1st stage, which is typified by our earliest stage of life when we were children. The lyrics describe these innocent impulsive acts: speaking with “voices too loud,” not thinking about consequences, and “crying out for attention.”

#10 MONSTERS COMING HOME — RUN RIVER NORTH

Kegan’s 1st to 2nd stage — Impulsive to Imperial: Kegan describes that we spend little time a resolved selves within a stage, and so these lyrics tell the story of the tilt between living in the Impulsive, but moving into the Imperial stage. The imagery of the song describes monsters moving aggressively to the sound of beating drums, but also holding back, and starting to transition into have needs, wants, and interests that begin to define them.

#11 YOUNG, WILD, & FREE — SNOOP DOG, WIZ KHALIFA (FEAT. BRUNO MARS)

Kegan’s 2nd stage — Imperial: You can pretty much hear the Imperial stage described in any song marketed towards teenagers. This song was a favorite of my high schoolers when I used to teach 10th grade. The opening lines glorify the Imperial stage, where we move through life driven by our needs and desires, not caring about how our actions impact our relationships. “So what we get drunk? So what we smoke weed? We’re just having fun. We don’t care who sees. So what we go out? That’s how it’s supposed to be. Living young and wild and free.”

#12 DREAM STATE — SON LUX

Kegan’s 2nd to 3rd stage — Imperial to Interpersonal: You can hear the shift begin in Son Lux’s lyrics for Dream State, the first single from their recent album Brighter Wounds, as Ryan Lott reflects on what it was like to be young. “Invincible skin, it’s how we all begin.” And then he sings, again and again, “Awake awake, this is a dream state.” When we move through the helix into new consciousness, it can feel like waking up and becoming someone new.

#13 BELONGINGS — MIMICKING BIRDS

Kegan’s 3rd stage — Interpersonal: The lyrics of this song describe the Interpersonal stage, although you can sense the beginning of the tilt in the final lyrics, “Things are, what they will. And I will, but you won’t belong to me long.” The whole song describes the sense of belonging that comes from living inside of the interpersonal stage, and seeing yourself in who you are to others.

#14 WONDERFUL UNKNOWN — INGRID MICHAELSON & GREG LASWELL

Kegan’s 3rd stage — Interpersonal: This stage is typified by beginning to define oneself through their relationships. In this song, Ingrid Michaelson uses strong terms to describe what it can feel like to allow yourself to become wholly immersed in someone else. She sings, “In the best, you’ll be the death of me.” In many ways, this is true. Living inside the interpersonal can feel like you do not exist, because you are so wrapped up in who you are according to others.

#15 MISS INDEPENDENT — NE-YO

Kegan’s 4th stage — Institutional: The Institutional stage reflects moving into a sense of self-authorship, and seeing relationships as something you have, but that do not define you. Instead, we begin to define ourselves through our jobs, organizational roles, and affiliations. The singer Shaffer Chimere Smith sings, “oh is something about, Kinda woman that want you but don’t need you” and “She got her own thing. That’s why I love her.” In the culture in the United States, it’s not typical for women to be encouraged to move into the Institutional stage, so the lyrics of this song describe a sense of bafflement about this independent woman who moves like a boss, and takes care of herself.

#16 HOLY — JAMILA WOODS

Kegan’s 4th stage — Institutional: Jamila Woods sings from the perspective of a woman living inside of the Institutional stage, as she sings, “I’m not lonely, but I’m alone” and a sense of empowerment about her position in the world. The lyrics are laced with references to Psalm 23, which also reflects an affiliation with religion, or at least, a cultural connection to a religious upbringing.

#17 ONE — BIRDTALKER

Kegan’s 5th stage — Interindividual: We do not tend to live inside of the Interindividual stage, but it is typified by an integral understanding of ourselves, as being beyond our institutions, our relationships, and our needs, and being interconnected through our shared humanity. In these lyrics, Zach Green reflects on the roles that he’s played throughout his life, and how they ultimately were “postures separating me from you.” Later, Dani Green references Rumi’s poem when she sings, “Beyond the land of the right, the land of the wrong, there’s a field waiting for us. All the notions of you, the notions of me. We finally agree don’t mean a thing.”