Spiral Dynamics.

Spiral Dynamics is a model that describes and explains the hidden complexity codes that shape human nature, create global diversities and drive evolutionary change.

It offers an explanation of:

• How people think about things

• Why people make decisions in different ways

• Why people respond to different motivational stimuli

• Why and how values arise and spread

• The ever changing purpose of life

Here, today we are just introducing Spiral Dynamics, and the different levels which are also known vMemes.

Aspiring Spiral Wizards, Change Agents, Coaches, Psychologist should really consider looking deeper into Spiral Dynamics and it’s mastery.

Spiral Dynamics is based on the original work of Clare W. Graves, who taught psychology for a number of years and was quite upset in teaching psychology for good reasons. Dr. Clare would teach on each of the theories from Freud to Watson/Skinner behaviorism to humanistic approach of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers and at the end of the course his students would ask,

“Dr. Graves, which theory is right?”

From that, began a research activity followed by a life time of study trying to figure out why people think in different ways about virtually everything from the purpose of life, to truths, attitudes on sex, family, law, religion…..the list goes on.

From that what he discovered, Spiral Dynamics was born. It’s not about right or wrong. It’s about different thinking systems and the evolution of thinking systems.

As one passes through life, influenced by direct or indirect personal development, (often spurred by tragedy, fulfillment, life changing events), ones mind develops in a rough uniform order which can be seen, analyzed and measured.

A large part of Spiral Dynamics is the representation of the psychological development.

The widely known Maslow Hierarchy of Human Needs, can be seen as just a part of the larger picture which is Spiral Dynamics.

Original works from Dr. Clare W Graves,Researched by Slava Kozlov,

Presented here by Adrian Cahill

Spiral Dynamics

Spiral Dynamics is both a theory and a practical framework.

According to Spiral Dynamics, human nature is not fixed: humans are able to adapt to their environments by constructing new, more complex, conceptual models of the world, that allow them to handle the new problems more efficiently.

The term vMeme refers to a core value system of any given stage. The vMeme acts as an organizing set of principles/values that change through steps of psyhological development. The vMeme are represented through the levels or colours. These different vMemecan be noticed on individuals, groups, teams, companies even countries.

vMemes: 1st and 2nd Tiers

1st Tier vMemes(antagonistic)

2nd Tier vMemes(integral)

Beige Purple Red Blue Orange Turquoise YellowGreen

At this point there is the largest change.

The vMemes are color-coded. In this diagram evolution goes from left to right. From beige to turquoise.

Psychological Evolution follows steps. As a new vMeme or set of beliefs start to form, it is in conflict with its predecessor.

Once past green, the new emerging ‘integral’ vMemes behave differently. Past green, vMemes encompass or are able to reflect all of the previous vMemes into a more holistic system.

Each vMeme will be explained further.

Key Notes:

• vMemes represent a concept or group of core principals.

• Like a rainbow, the vMemes merge with the previous and next level.

Eg. An Orange culture or individual may feature elements of blue, and green.

Beige

• Instinctive / Survivialistic vMeme

- When a baby is born. Life is all about survival.

- Uses instincts and habits to survive.

- Distinct self is barely awaked or sustained.

- Food, water, warmth, sex and safety have priority.

- Forms into survival bands to perpetuate life.

- Lives ‘off the land’ much like other animals.

Do what you must

just to stay alive

Basic Theme:

Beige Minds

Looking around for resources

Doing nearly all activities together

Close family relationships

Food, water, warmth, sex and safety have priority

Beige Bodies

Protection of the naked body

Strong, robust – but suffering - bodies

Supporting each other

Uses instincts and habits just to survive

Beige Souls

Simple joys among many fears

Tokens and amulets

Collective story-telling

Distinct self is barely awaked or sustained

Beige Spaces

Living in the spaces, not in places

No borders yet, placements are opportunistic

Protective constructions

Lives ‘off the land’ much as other animals

Beige atmosphere

Forms into survival bands to perpetuate life

Warmth of fire in the night

Tribal dances

Rituals of a wise shaman

Beige Symbol

Purple

• Magical/Animistic vMeme

- The baby starts to grow into a child. The world is a magical place.

- Obey the desires of the spirits and gods.

- Show allegiance to the chief, elders, ancestors.

- Individual subsumed in a group.

- Preserve sacred objects, places, events, memories.

- Observe rites of passage, seasonal cycles, customs.

Basic Theme:

Keep the spirit happy,

and the settlement

warm, safe and in order

Purple Minds

Higher forces and powers, gods and pharaohs

Strict and unchanging social order

The world is known, described, prescribed

Obey the desires of the spirit

Purple Bodies

Show allegiance to the chief, elders, ancestors

Subordinated and serving

Obeying orders and rules

Manifesting stratification

Purple Souls

Worshipping, revering and devoting your life

Coding and decoding symbolic meanings

Working towards enlightenment and nirvana

Preserve sacred objects, places, evens, memories

Purple Spaces

Observe rites of passage, seasonal cycles, customs

Erecting walls and fences

Dividing and separating

Guarding access

Purple atmosphere

Individual subsumed in group

Mystical light and silence

Uplifting and elevating

Harmonious and uniting

Purple Symbol

Red

• Impulsive/Egocentric vMeme

- Ego has formed. Empires are formed. Boundaries are pushed. Countries are conquered.

- The world is a jungle full of threats and predators.

- Break free from any domination or constraint.

- Stand tall, demand respect, and call the shot.

- Enjoys self to the fullest right now without any guilt.

- Conquer, out-smart, dominate others.

Basic Theme:

Be what you are

and do what you want,

regardless

Red Minds

Break free from any domination or constraint

Fight and conquer

Dominate and suppress

Fear (and be feared)

Red Bodies

Expand and transgress

Armour your body and threaten your enemy

Fight, kill, die

Stand tall, demand respect, and call the shot

Red Souls

Enjoys self to the fullest right now without any guilt

Ranks and positions

Executing unlimited will

Honour: gaining, manifesting, defending

Red Spaces

Conquer, out-smart, dominate others

Dominate, threaten, protect

Barriers, obstacles, trenches, barricades

Locks, bars, latches

Red atmosphere

Demonstrate your power and might

Loud, shining, grand performances

Humiliate and execute enemies

The world is a jungle full of threats and predators

Red Symbol

Blue

• Purposeful/Authoritarian vMeme

- One sacrifices self to the transcendent Cause, Truth or righteous Pathway.

- The Order enforces Code of Conduct based on eternal, absolute principles.

- Righteous living produces stability now –and guarantees future reward.

- Laws, regulations and discipline build moral fibre. These also aid in the protection of conquered lands.

- Where Red controlled through might, blue is more developed and controls though guilt, law, righteousness, structure.

Basic Theme:

Life has meaning,

direction and purpose

with predetermined

outcome

Blue Mind

Discover transcendent Cause and Truth

Explore, probe, discover

Hypothesize, question, inquire

Formulate the true Laws of Nature

Blue Bodies

Laws, regulations and discipline build moral fibre

Dissecting bodies, revealing inner organs

Understand – and improve – body functioning

Design and build life through knowledge

Blue Souls

Enforces Code of Conduct based on eternal, absolute principles

Write down your knowledge, read the knowledge of others

Imagine and innovate

Deconstruct the world around you

Blue Spaces

Impulsivity is controlled through discipline/guilt

Construct rational knowledge spaces

Functionality regulates design

Technological sophistication (often for the sake of technological sophistication)

Blue (Artificial) Spaces

Constructing artificial places and spaces

Expanding the scope of habitat prescribed for humans

Building new worlds

Blue atmosphere

Righteous living produces stability now –

and guarantees future reward

Well designed and perfectly functioning spaces

Complex, sophisticated performances

Technology saturated environments

Blue Symbol

Orange

• Achieist/Strategic vMeme

- Change and advancement are inherent within the scheme of things.

- Progress by learning nature’s secrets and seeking the best solutions.

- Manipulate Earth’s resources to create and spread abundant good life.

- Entreprenuers. Privatization of blue’s assets.

- Optimistic, risk-taking, self-reliant people deserve success

- Societies prosper through strategy, technology, and competition. Orange finds opportunities in or around blue’s order to expand/conquer.

Basic Theme:

Act in your own

self-interests

by playing the game

to win

Orange Minds

Optimistic, risk-taking, self-reliant people deserve success

To be the first and the best is the key motivation

Rely on yourself, exploit everything around, win

Never give up, keep moving, just do it

Orange Bodies

Change and advancement are inherent

Everybody should be famous – at least for 15 min

Beautify and expose your body

Body as yet another device to drive you to success

Orange Souls

Materials wealth – gained by whatever means –is the criterion of success

The only place worth being at is the top one

The more the better

Prosper through strategy, technology and competition

Orange Spaces

Manipulate Earth’s resources to create and spread abundant good life

Greed is good

The shinier the better

Shopping bag is my space

Orange atmosphere

Radiating wealth and success; seven stars

Abundance of choices

Exclusive and elitist

Progress by learning nature’s secrets and seeking the best solutions

Orange Symbol

1

Green

• Communitarian/Egalitarian vMeme

- The human spirit must be freed from greed, dogma and divisiveness of the previous levels. Particularly of the orange and red vMemes.

- Feeling, sensitivity and caring supersede cold rationality.

- Spread the Earth’s resources and opportunities among all.

- Reaches decisions through consensus and reconciliation. Group consensus, equal rights,

- Endorses spirituality, seeks harmony, enriches human development.

Basic Theme:

Seek peace within

the inner self,

and explore, with others,

caring dimensions

of community

Green Minds

The human spirit must be freed from greed, dogma and divisiveness

Communal practice and activities

Inner peace and search for harmonious balance

Golden rule of ethics applies

Green Bodies

Feeling, sensitivity and caring supersede cold rationality

Caring about your own health, both physical and mental

Caring about people around you

Caring about the Planet

Green Souls

All-connecting spiritual search

Harmonious living for all human beings (and preferable for all living creatures)

Embracing tolerance, encouraging diversity

Endorses spirituality, seeks harmony, enriches human development

Green Spaces

Spread the Earth’s resources and opportunities among all

The Planet is our Home, let’s care about it

Eco-friendly and eco-responsible spaces

Nature-resembling design and functionalities

Green atmosphere

Reaches decisions through consensus and reconciliation

Being close to nature, embedded into it

Embracing sustainable lifestyle

Shaming all non-green

Green Symbol

Reading Matrix by vMeme

Mind

Body

Soul

Space

Atmosphere

From 1st to 2nd Tier vMemes

1st vMemes(antagonistic)

2nd Tier vMemes(integral)

“What I am proposing is that the psychology of the mature human being is an unfolding, emergent, oscillating, spiralling process, marked by progressive subordination of older lower-ordered systems to newer, higher-ordered systems”.- Clare Graves

‘cold’

‘warm’

From 1st Tier to 2nd Tier there is a shift in worldviews: From one to

many truths

OneTruth

manytruths

I

We

Yellow

• Integrative vMeme

- Life is a kaleidoscope of natural hierarchies, systems and forms. Expand or conquer responsibly.

- The magnificence of existence is valued via material possessions and immaterial experiences.

- Values like flexibility, spontaneity, and functionality have the highest priority.

- Differences can be integrated into interdependent natural flows.

- Understand that chaos and changes are natural.

Basic Theme:

Live fully and responsibly

as what you are

and learn to become

Yellow Minds

Life is a kaleidoscope of natural hierarchies, systems and forms

Joyfully coping with uncertainties and ambiguities

Operating in turbulent, complex and chaotic mediums

Developing new mental capabilities

Yellow Bodies

The magnificence of existence is valued via material possessions and immaterial experiences

Multiplicity of identities, multiplicity of bodies

From avatars to cyborgs

Enhancing life experiences with diverse technologies

Yellow Souls

Flexibility, spontaneity, and functionality have the highest priority

Surfing through life using abundant opportunities

Mixing & Meshing multiple streams of meaning

Paving unique personal trajectories

Yellow Spaces

Understand that chaos and changes are natural

Flexible and dynamic environments

Smart and interactive spaces

Personalized spatial arrangements

Yellow atmosphere

Differences can be integrated into interdependent natural flows

Interactive, playful, stimulating, multisensorial

Co-authoring and involving

Emerging and non-predictable

Yellow Sign

Turquoise

• Holistic vMeme

- The world is a single, dynamic organism with its own collective mind.

- Self is both distinct and blended part of a larger, compassionate whole.

- Everything connects to everything in ecological alignments.

- Energy and information permeate the Earth's total environment.

- Holistic, intuitive thinking and cooperative actions prevail.

Basic Theme:

Experience

the wholeness

of existence

through body,

mind and spirit

Turquoise Minds

Holistic, intuitive thinking and cooperative actions prevail

Collective intelligence

Open source practices

Wiki-consciousness

Turquoise Bodies

Self is both distinct and blended part of a larger, compassionate whole

Swarming, distributed bodies

Eco-somatic awareness and self-regulation

Transformative practices

Turquoise Souls

Everything connects to everything in ecological alignments

Let’s make the universe better

Transformation through empowered passion

Holistic, integral thinking

Turquoise Spaces

Networked and interconnected

Systemic interactions

Evolving, emerging, generative

The world is a single, dynamic organism with its own collective mind

Turquoise atmosphere

Global collective actions

Collaborative art

Co-creative encounters

Energy and information permeate the Earth's total environment

Turquoise Symbol

Rhizome allows for multiple, non-

hierarchical entry and exit points,

trans-connections and interactions,

networked hyper-structures

without vertical domination.

Reading Matrix by vMeme

Mind

Body

Soul

Space

Atmosphere

Where to from here?

1. Identification: Being able to Identify

features of vMemes in self, others, culture, communities.

2. Spiral Wizardry: Able to support the psychological growth in self and others to evolve when & if necessary.

Many Change Agents, Coaches, Psychologist, Consultants, Trainers assist in the psychological development of people and organisations. Ideally these people will have a concious or unconcious understanding of the levels. You may certainly gain more effective systems and a much deeper understanding of human nature by studying Spiral Dynamics further.

As much as I would love to claim credit for this I can’t. I only put half of this together of other incomplete slideshows. I feel for those interested in Personal Development, you should certainly

spend a few hours or months looking further into this Spiral Dynamics Theory. I’ve used it a lot in all my direct and indirect coaching.

Adrian Cahill, M.NLP and ICF Coach.