Development is all about relationships. The Institute for School and Parish Development define “Development” as “The meaningful involvement of people in your mission.”

In my work with schools, I’ve developed the “Relatonship Likert Scale” to demonstrate, on a scale of 1 to 5, where they need to be. Here it is:

Interested
Participating
Involved
Engaged
Committed

I describe it as boy and girl who are “interested” in one another, then they take the next step to “participating” in a ritual we call dating. Then they become “involved” with each other by going steady. Eventually (after a period of time), they become “engaged,” since, engagement should lead to a more permanent relationship where they become committed to one another.

It goes along with another Likert scale, since, the higher the relationship level, the higher the emotional level as well.

Expectation
Need
Want
Desire
Passion

It’s easy to define the middle point – “Want” – since a small child (or grown up child) sees something and says, “I want that.” It’s a both side of the brain response. They are excited about it AND can think of an application as to how it can be used (even if that application is to make them happy). Then, the good parent says, “But do you really “NEED” that?” which allows the id to take over and “think” about the decision. The lowest end of the scale is pure logic to the point that logic is not necessary – it’s a no-brainer – it’s an expectation. (This is why when businesses ask, “Did we meet your expectation?” it’s really an insult to the customer.)

Take it to the other extreme, “want” becomes “desire” and logical reasons begin to go away in favor of fervor. The complete emotional response is when someone becomes “passionate” about what they’re doing. Some give up sleep, money, time, and energy to devote to something they are passionate about.

The interesting thing is that the two scales can be matched to one another. When a person we’re interested in doesn’t meet our expectations, the relationship is over. Yet, when we’re committed to them, we should be passionate about keeping that relationship at that level.

The same is true for organizations.

This reminds me of a post by Charlie Melichar VP of Communication at Colgate U. You would enjoy his blog.

http://intermedia.typepad.com/intermedia/2008/01/measuring-alumn.html