%% [[Forming Identity]] tags:: #note/idea | #on/change | #on/identity people:: #people/jennyrudolph # transitional identity Lon Setnik dates:: 2022-10-14 %% *I am in the uncomfortable state of "have not yet become".* This reminds me of [[Transformative Learning]], opening the door to something new is the hardest part. ![[Provisional Identity.jpg]] It's kind of like [[Managing Transitions.png]], going through a difficult change. ([[modeling vulnerability]]?) ([[Deliberate Practice]]?) It is a description of the identity state that feels uncomfortable when you are not yet secure in your new identity. "people adapt to new roles by experimenting with provisional selves that serve as trials for possible but not yet fully elaborated professional identities. Qualitative data collected from professionals in transition to more senior roles reveal that adaptation involves three basic tasks: (1) observing role models to identify potential identities, (2) experimenting with provisional selves, and (3) evaluating experiments against internal standards and external feedback. Choices within tasks are guided by an evolving repertory that includes images about _the kind of professional one might become_ and the styles, skills, attitudes, and routines available to the person for constructing those identities. "![[CleanShot 2024-05-20 at 07.59.38.jpg]] It matters because the discomfort of becoming something new is especially difficult for people who are experts at their current role. If we have a framework to compare against, and to understand why we are finding this transition so difficult or anxiety producing, we can harness the moment and look for the ways that we can use the feedback around us to actually improve, instead of wilting under the discomfort. ### What would the opposite argument be? Transitions are uniquely experienced moments depending on people and their traits and the context they are in, so we shouldn't over simplify and believe that we can understand everyone through this model since [[all models are wrong but some are useful]]. ## Sources: Ibarra, H. (1999). Provisional Selves: Experimenting with Image and Identity in Professional Adaptation. _Administrative Science Quarterly_, _44_, 764–791.