Stage 2 · For working practitioners
SOI Training
Training in the Subject-Object Interview — the structured diagnostic tool for assessing where an individual is in their adult development.
Register for September 2026About this program
The most technically demanding training in the Minds at Work portfolio — and one of the most powerful.
SOI training is for practitioners who want to move from understanding adult development conceptually to applying it diagnostically. The program runs across six three-hour sessions and includes practice interviews, scoring workshops, and supervised assessment — building the judgment and reliability required to use this instrument well.
Participants who complete additional practice and transcript analysis can pursue certification as a Reliable SOI Scorer. A strong grounding in Adult Development Theory is required before beginning — if you haven't done that work, start with the Introduction to Adult Development Theory.
Format
Six sessions · 3 hours each · 15 total hours — online via Zoom
Next session
Sep 16, 23, 30 & Oct 7, 14, 2026 · 5:00–8:00 PM Eastern
Optional Q&A
October 21, 2026
Tuition
$4,345 · Non-profit: $3,025 · Students: $2,475
Optional credential
Reliable SOI Scorer certification (+$550)
ICF credit
15 hours (8 Core Competency + 7 Resource Development)
Prerequisite
Strong grounding in ADT required — see Introduction to Adult Development Theory
Faculty
What is the Subject-Object Interview?
Most assessments measure what someone thinks. The SOI measures the underlying structure of how they make meaning.
Developed by Robert Kegan at Harvard and used across sectors for over forty years, the SOI is a structured interview — roughly ninety minutes — scored against a systematic framework to reveal where someone sits in their developmental journey.
What the interview reveals
Most assessments measure what someone thinks or knows. The SOI measures the underlying structure of how they make meaning — specifically, what they hold as subject (so embedded in that they can't see it or examine it) versus what they hold as object (something they can step back from and work with). Developmental growth is precisely the process by which what was once subject becomes object: what once ran us can now be held and examined.
What it means for coaching
Knowing someone's developmental stage changes everything about how you work with them. It tells you where to stretch and where to support, why certain changes feel truly impossible from where someone stands, and what kind of help will actually land. It shifts the coaching conversation from what someone needs to do differently to what kind of growth would make that possible.
What it means at scale
At the organizational level, the SOI enables the Leadership Profile of Organizational Population (LPOP) — a developmental map of an entire leader cohort. This is among the most sophisticated uses of developmental assessment available, with significant implications for strategy, succession, and the design of leadership development programs.
What you'll learn
How to conduct, score, and responsibly apply a clinical developmental assessment.
How to conduct the Subject-Object Interview
The structured protocol for eliciting the kind of speech that reveals a person's underlying meaning-making structure — how to ask, how to follow, and how to create the conditions for genuine disclosure.
Scoring and interpretation
The scoring system for assessing developmental stage from interview material — how to work with ambiguity, how to identify transitional positions, and how to reach a well-grounded interpretation.
Recognizing developmental stage in practice
How to hear developmental stage in how someone talks about their work, their relationships, and their challenges — developing the practitioner's ear that doesn't require a formal interview.
The ethics of developmental assessment
How to hold developmental information responsibly — what it means to know where someone is developmentally, and how to use that knowledge in service of the person rather than as a label.
Connecting assessment to coaching
How knowledge of developmental stage informs what you offer as a coach or facilitator — where to stretch, where to support, and how ITC maps connect to developmental stage.
Organizational applications
How the SOI is used at the population level — the Leadership Profile of Organizational Population (LPOP) and what a developmental map of a leader cohort makes visible for organizations.
Who it's for
Practitioners ready to add formal developmental assessment to their work.
SOI training is most valuable for practitioners who have developed a strong conceptual grounding in adult development and are ready to apply it diagnostically — in individual coaching, organizational assessment, or research. A prior grounding in ADT is required, not recommended.
- —Coaches and practitioners with a strong grounding in Adult Development Theory
- —Researchers and organizational psychologists working with developmental frameworks
- —ITC practitioners who want to add formal developmental assessment to their practice
- —Internal HR and OD practitioners in organizations deeply committed to developmental work
- —Practitioners preparing for or already engaged in the Coach Certification Program
Where it leads
Toward certification — and toward the most advanced work in the field.
Coach Certification Program
Pursue full certification
SOI training is strong preparation for the CCP — the twelve-month intensive where practitioners deepen both their ITC and their developmental practice. Many CCP participants have SOI training in their background.
Organizational work
Apply developmental assessment at scale
The LPOP — Leadership Profile of Organizational Population — applies developmental assessment at the population level. Practitioners with SOI training are the people who can deliver this work inside organizations.
Next session: September–October 2026
Six sessions · Sep 16, 23, 30 & Oct 7, 14 · 5:00–8:00 PM Eastern. Tuition from $2,475–$4,345 depending on sector. Register through the Minds at Work registration portal.
Register now →