The Holistic Development Model is based on empirical research. It:

• has been tested in many countries and situations.
• offers new knowledge and insights.
• is profound, simple, practical and very easy to work with.
• was developed out of ordinary people telling ordinary stories.

As one participant put it , "The model does not bestow wisdom from on high but releases it from within."

Originally Marjolein Lips-Wiersma surveyed people on what gives meaning to their work. These people were from a variety of backgrounds and a wide range of roles, including professional, managerial, blue collar and administrative.

Their answers were both simple and profound and Marjolein summarised them in the Holistic Development Model.

These results were further explored by Marjolein, Lani Morris and Patricia Greenhough with hundreds of people in workshops, lectures, and in organisational and therapeutic interventions. We double-checked the model's relevance and robustness with a further twenty colleagues (academics, community workers, consultants, managers and coaches) who regularly use the Holistic Development Model in their work.

In 2010 we quantitatively tested the model on 500 participants from a wide variety of ages, occupations and cultures. This confirmed that the model captures the content and process of meaningful work.

After fifteen years of testing the Holistic Development Model in this wide range of ways, by a range of users in an ever-expanding range of countries (including Romania, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil) we have reached a point where we believe the model is robust, relevant and very useful in the field of meaningful work.