Inner Development Goals (IDGs)
Inner Growth for Outer Change: Developing Capacities to Navigate Complexity and Contribute to Sustainable Futures
What are the Inner Development Goals?
The Inner Development Goals (IDGs) represent a science-based, globally co-created framework for the inner capacities, skills, and qualities we need to effectively address the world's most pressing challenges. Launched in response to the slow progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the IDG initiative recognizes a fundamental truth: technical solutions and policy changes alone are insufficient. We also need to develop our inner abilities—our ways of being, thinking, relating, collaborating, and acting—to work effectively with the complexity we face.
The IDG Framework emerged from a global collaboration involving researchers, leaders from business and civil society, sustainability experts, and organizations like IKEA, Google, the Stockholm Resilience Center, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Through surveys of over 1,000 experts and leaders worldwide, they identified 23 transformational skills and qualities organized into five dimensions that are essential for navigating complexity, fostering collaboration, and driving meaningful change toward sustainable futures.
💬 The Power of One Question at a Time
Consider how a simple question deepens inner development: "What values guide your most important decisions?" or "How do you recognize interconnections between social, environmental, and economic factors?"
These questions don't demand expertise—they invite introspection and growth. FlourishTalk brings the Inner Development Goals to life through conversation, helping you develop the inner capacities needed to face complexity, collaborate effectively, and contribute to sustainable change—one thoughtful question at a time.
Unlike traditional development frameworks focused solely on external metrics, the IDGs emphasize that outer change requires inner growth. Progress on climate action, poverty reduction, education, health, equity, and all other global goals depends fundamentally on our collective capacity to think systemically, relate across differences, collaborate across divides, and act courageously in service of something larger than ourselves.
Why the Inner Development Goals Framework Works for Everyone
The IDGs aren't just for sustainability leaders or organizational change agents. These inner capacities benefit all of us as we navigate increasing complexity in every domain of life:
- Navigate complexity: Develop systems thinking, perspective-taking, and comfort with ambiguity
- Lead with authenticity: Cultivate presence, integrity, and alignment with values
- Build meaningful relationships: Enhance empathy, appreciation, and connection across differences
- Collaborate effectively: Strengthen communication, co-creation, trust, and mobilization skills
- Act courageously: Find courage, optimism, and perseverance to work toward long-term change
- Think critically: Question assumptions, examine perspectives, and see interconnections
- Contribute to sustainability: Align personal growth with collective action for a thriving planet
- Face uncertainty: Develop resilience and adaptability in rapidly changing times
- Create meaning: Connect your inner life to purposeful contribution in the world
- Foster wellbeing: Integrate personal flourishing with service to something greater
The Five Dimensions of Inner Development
The IDG Framework organizes 23 transformational skills into five interconnected dimensions of inner development. FlourishTalk's questions span all five dimensions to support your comprehensive inner growth:
Being
Questions developing inner compass, integrity, openness, learning mindset, and self-awareness—cultivating presence, authenticity, and connection to values amid complexity
Thinking
Questions developing critical thinking, complexity awareness, perspective-taking, sense-making, and long-term orientation—understanding systems, interconnections, and multiple viewpoints
Relating
Questions cultivating appreciation, connectedness, humility, empathy, and compassion—deepening care for humanity, other species, and nature
Collaborating
Questions building communication skills, co-creation abilities, inclusive mindset, trust, and mobilization capacity—working effectively with diverse others toward shared goals
Acting
Questions strengthening courage, creativity, optimism, perseverance, and agency—taking action and sustaining commitment in service of meaningful change
Who Benefits from Inner Development?
Everyone navigating complexity and seeking to contribute meaningfully—because inner capacities are essential for thriving in our interconnected world:
- Sustainability leaders and change agents working to accelerate progress on global challenges
- Organizational leaders and managers navigating adaptive challenges requiring new ways of thinking
- Teams and collaborators working across differences toward shared goals
- Educators and students preparing for complexity and contributing to sustainable futures
- Community members and citizens engaging with social and environmental issues
- Anyone feeling overwhelmed by complexity and seeking inner resources to respond
- Coaches and facilitators supporting others' development and transformation
- Parents and families cultivating inner capacities across generations
- Anyone seeking alignment between inner values and outer contribution
- People committed to lifelong learning and continuous inner growth
Why Inner Development Works
This isn't wishful thinking—it's backed by interdisciplinary research and validated through global implementation:
📊 Research-Validated Impact
The science demonstrates that inner development produces measurable benefits:
- SDG progress accelerates—organizations integrating inner development show faster advancement on sustainability goals (IKEA, Google, Stena, and others report significant impact)
- Leadership capacity strengthens—inner development enhances adaptive leadership, enabling leaders to navigate complexity and drive transformational change
- Collaboration improves—developing social and emotional skills increases team effectiveness, innovation, and collective intelligence
- Resilience and wellbeing increase—inner capacities like self-awareness, empathy, and optimism correlate with psychological resilience and life satisfaction
- Systems thinking develops—deliberate practice of perspective-taking and complexity awareness enhances ability to see interconnections
- Collective action mobilizes—stronger inner capacities enable people to work together across differences toward shared goals
- These capacities are learnable—research confirms that the 23 IDG skills can be developed through intentional practice, reflection, and dialogue
- Global validation—over 35,000 members across 500+ international hubs in 80+ countries are implementing the IDG Framework
The IDG initiative brings together leading researchers from institutions including IMD, Lund University, Stockholm Resilience Center, Harvard's Flourishing Network, and University of York, alongside implementation partners across business, education, government, and civil society worldwide.
Benefits of Developing Inner Capacities
- Navigate complexity: Face adaptive challenges with systems thinking and perspective-taking
- Authentic leadership: Lead from values with integrity, presence, and self-awareness
- Meaningful relationships: Connect across differences with empathy and appreciation
- Effective collaboration: Co-create solutions through trust, communication, and inclusive mindset
- Courageous action: Sustain commitment to long-term change with optimism and perseverance
- Critical thinking: Question assumptions and see interconnections across systems
- Personal resilience: Maintain wellbeing and adaptability amid uncertainty
- Purposeful contribution: Align inner growth with outer impact on sustainability
- Continuous learning: Cultivate curiosity and openness to new perspectives
- Sustainable futures: Participate meaningfully in creating a thriving planet
How FlourishTalk Develops Inner Capacities
Reading about the IDGs is informative. Engaging with them through thoughtful conversation is transformative. FlourishTalk makes inner development accessible and practical:
Personal Reflection and Growth: Explore questions like "How do you stay connected to your sense of purpose during difficult times?" or "How comfortable are you with not knowing or being uncertain?" Develop self-awareness and authenticity through regular reflection.
Leadership Development: Work through questions: "When creating a vision for the future, how do you ensure it's compelling yet realistic?" Strengthen capacities for navigating adaptive challenges.
Team Building Conversations: Use questions to enhance collaboration: "What helps you recognize when you're thinking about parts versus the whole system?" Build collective capacity for complexity.
Sustainability Initiatives: Explore questions in sustainability contexts: "How do you balance urgency with long-term thinking when facing complex challenges?" Align inner development with outer change.
Educational Settings: Teachers and students develop inner capacities: "What helps you see connections between seemingly unrelated issues?" Prepare for complexity and contribution.
Coaching and Facilitation: Guides use questions to support others: "How do you cultivate agency—the sense that your actions matter?" Foster transformational growth in individuals and groups.
Explore All Five Dimensions of Inner Development
Ready to Cultivate Inner Development?
Develop capacities for navigating complexity and contributing to sustainable futures—one meaningful question at a time