The Habits of Mind are often defined as the dispositions we observe being employed by successful individuals when they are confronted with problems, the solutions to which are not immediately apparent. However, as our understanding of the Habits of Mind has grown over time, we've come to realize that this definition might not be entirely accurate, and in some respects might actually be misleading.

It is misleading to refer to the Habits of Mind as the disposition of highly successful and intelligent people as it infers that only successfully people have these dispositions. All people possess these Habits of Mind. We all manage our impulsivity, we can all think flexibly, we can all apply past knowledge to new situations. What many of us fail to do, is to apply these dispositions in mature, skillful, appropriate and well developed ways.

The Habits of Mind aren't something you have or don't have. They aren't something you use or don't use. Rather, the Habits of Mind are dispositions we all have and that we must seek to develop, extend, mature and grow though out our life time in order to more successfully confront the problems that come before us.

I would argue that when we see people that are unsuccessful at confronting problems, the solutions to which are not immediately apparent, it's not because they don't have these Habits of Mind, but rather because they don't have well developed Habits of Mind.

With this in mind, I'd like to invite a discussion which redefines the Habits of Mind. As a starting point I'll suggest the following:

A New Definition for Habits of MInd

Habits of Mind are the dispositions we employ when confronted with problems, the solutions to which are not immediately apparent. Highly successful and intelligent people have been observed displaying well developed, mature Habits of Mind

Using this as a starting point we can then use the developmental dimensions (described in chapter 4 of "Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind") to describe the ways in which we develop / mature / extend our Habits of Mind. Which is to say, that people with highly developed or mature Habits of Mind have:

• a deep understating of the meaning of the Habits of Mind
• a wide and sophisticated skill base from which they are able to employ the Habits of Mind
• the ability to accurately recognize cues in the environment which alert them to the opportunity to engage in one or more of the Habits of Mind
• a deep appreciation for the value of the Habits of Mind and are able to clearly recognize how the application of the Habits of Mind bring them success
• Are self directed, self monitoring and self directing in their commitment to the continuous development of the Habits of Mind.

Defining and describing the Habits of Mind in this way helps clarify our purpose, and set our goals clearly on the continuos development and maturation of the Habits of Mind.

The developmental dimensions, when looked at in this light are not a step wise process to "achieving" the Habits of Mind, but rather the multiple paths we must continue to travel in order to develop our Habits of Mind throughout our lives. This is of course how myself, Art Costa and Bena Kallick sort to describe them when we wrote the chapter in "Leading and Learning with Habits of Mind" but since then the dimensions have been see by some as steps on the pathway to achieving the Habits of Mind.

I'd invite anyone interested in the Habits of Mind to help us explore these ideas. How might a new definition help us work with the Habits of Mind (or not)? What are some of the qualities and characteristics we might need to include to refine this definition that clearly captures the idea that the Habits are something we all have, and that we need to work on the continuos development of?

Please leave your thoughts and comments below.