This article analyzes the development of initiative as art exemplar of one
of many learning experiences that should be studied as part of positive you
th development. The capacity for initiative is essential for adults in our
society and will become more important in the 21st century, yet adolescents
have few opportunities to learn it. Their typical experiences during schoo
lwork and unstructured leisure do not reflect conditions for learning initi
ative. The context best suited to the development of initiative appears to
be that of structured voluntary activities, such as sports, arts, and parti
cipation in organizations, in which youths experience the rare combination
of intrinsic motivation in combination with deep attention. An incomplete b
ody of outcome research suggests that such activities are associated with p
ositive development, brit the development processes involved are only begin
ning to be understood. One promising approach has recorded language use and
has found that adolescents participating in effective organizations acquir
e a new operating language that appears to correspond to the development of
initiative.